The History and Care of Finland’s National Costumes

History - Background: Birthday of the national costume

On May 8th, 1885 Czar Alexander III and Czarina Maria Feodorovna visited Lappeenranta, Finland.
The Czarina was gifted a row boat from the women of Finland as an expression of Finland's uniqueness. The boat was rowed to the venue by eight young women of different ranks dressed in national costumes. As the boat’s stern keeper, the wife of the Kuopio battalion commander was dressed in the costume from the region of Jääski. The costumes worn by the rowers represented the different regions of Finland. The national costumes do not represent rank but are reproductions of the formal costumes worn by the people in the 1700s and 1800s. The monarch couple were greeted on the beach by a group of more than a hundred people wearing national costumes.

This occasion was the first large-scale public appearance of national costumes and the beginning of the evolution of a culturally significant avocation. This is the reason why the occasion is considered the birthday of the national costume. You can read more about the event in Toini-Inkeri Kaukonen's book “Finnish Folk and National Costumes (WSOY, Porvoo. 1985) p. 281.

The rowboat was given to the Czarina in Lappeenranta in 1885. The women on board were chosen with an eye to different provinces, rank and Finnish female beauty. In front was 27-year-old Tavastian-born Ida Aalberg in a "Häme costume," sitting was Emmy Cannelin, the daughter of the Rovasti (senior pastor) of Korsholm donning the costume from Lapväärt, at the back was Alma Ahnger, daughter of a public servant from Kuopio in a costume from Northern Savo, and Lydia Haaranen, a landowner’s daughter from Tohmajärvi representing Karelia. Lydia was wearing a suit from the Äyräpää region where the apron was tied in an unusual way over a kostul. Missing from the picture was Anni Junttila, the daughter of an artisan in Lappish costume from Oulu."

Finnish community colleges and adult education centers continue to organize courses on making national costumes. They are organized based on demand. Staff representatives of the Finnish National Costume Centre organise the training provided by the Centre in Jyväskylä, for course teachers and manufacturers of national costumes, or those intending to do so.

The birthday of the national costume is August 5, and around that time the “airing out” days of national costumes are celebrated. The custom started in 2010 in Imatra and now it has spread all over Finland. National costume manufacturer Soja Murto has launched this event called Airing Out of National Costumes.
(It's been 15 years since the first such celebration therefore it is fair to say that Airing Days has already become an annual tradition.) "We want to inspire people to wear their national costumes. We hope that thanks to the campaigns, the tradition will be preserved and future generations will be able to appreciate the costumes as well."

Finnish National Costume Centre, (formerly Finnish National Costume Council, which ceased operations in 2010, when its functions were entrusted and moved to the Finnish National Costume Centre), is responsible for national costume research in all Finnish-speaking areas of Finland, the assembly of new costumes, costume inspections, and costume-related training and advice. The National Costume Centre presents and records Finnish national costumes and other traditional dressing, and maintains a presentation of Finnish national costumes on the Kansallispuvut.fi site. Similar work is being done for Swedish-language costumes from Swedish speaking areas of Finland by Föreningen Brage.

There are more than 400 different models of national costumes assembled in Finland. The figure includes the national costumes of Finland's Swedish-speaking regions, which are managed by Brage's costume office in Helsinki. The Finnish National Costume Centre is responsible for the costumes of the Finnish-speaking regions, of which there are more than 200. Of these, about 106 costume models approved by the national costume jury have been assembled so far. Costume revision means that under the guidance of the national costume jury, the historical background of the national costume that has already been assembled has been studied and a model costume has been produced, with the coloring, sewing structures, zoning and materials corresponding as closely as possible to the original museum materials. Work instructions and pattern sets have been drawn up for the costumes, so that those who want to have a national costume can make it themselves. National costume revisions and new national costume designs | Museum of Handicraft. The latest costume model to be assembled is the Vyborg Region Woman's Savakko Costume: Vyborg Region Woman's National Costume - Model Costume | Kansallispuvut.fi.

Reproductions of formal dresses worn by people in the 1700s and 1800s began to be modelled at the end of the 1800s. The popularity of national costumes is more broadly related to national awakening and aspirations for independence. https://www.taito.fi/ajankohtaista/kasityoblogi/kansallispuvut-osan....

The manufacture of national costumes is a craft item on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
https://wiki.aineetonkulttuuriperinto.fi/wiki/Kansallispuvun_valmis....

The Finnish National Costume Centre recommends wearing all the parts of a costume, including socks, shoes and headgear instead of mixing parts of different costumes.

Elements of national costumes can be combined even with ordinary dress. In such cases, the recommendation of the National Costume Centre is to wear only one or two parts of the national costume at a time, combined with ordinary dress, in order not to confuse it with the national costume. For example the skirt of a national costume could be combined with a neat monochromatic T-shirt. Jewelry in national costumes can also be worn as part of ordinary festive dress.

Enthusiasts of national costumes have gone one step further with the so-called "national costumes," in the spirit of "tune up my tradition." They freely combine parts of different costumes with each other. The National Costume Centre is not enthusiastic about this. Costume tuning is a divisive activity.

www.kansallispuvut.fi website is maintained by the Finnish National Costume Centre. There you can find a lot of information about costumes and also on the website of the National Costume Centre: National costumes | Kansallispuvut.fi / Finnish National Costume Centre | Museum of Handicraft

The National Costume Centre has also produced videos of a few costumes that provide information about the costume in question, such as the revised Ikaalinen Woman's National Costume:
Ikaalinen woman's national costume - model costume | Kansallispuvut.fi. The link to the dress video is found on the right-hand side and here https://vimeo.com/499926267


Acquisition of national costumes

Local Taitokeskus (arts centres) and Suomen Perinnetekstiilit Oy, formerly Helmi Vuorelma Oy, sell costumes and their accessories. There are about a dozen private costume manufacturers in Finland.

Vuorelma, Suomen Perinnetekstiilit Oy, Kisällinkatu 5, 15170 Lahti, Email: helmi@vuorelma.fi, More information is found at www.kansallispuvut.fi.

Used national costumes can be purchased through the tori.fi website.

National costumes Facebook "National costume – Folkdräkt" is another resource.
 

Instructions for the care of the national costume

If properly maintained, the national costume will remain as good as new for many years. Different parts of the costume are made of natural materials that are dirt-repellent and easy to clean. With proper care, they often do not need to be washed. The shirt and socks, on the other hand, may be washed after each use.

It is recommended to keep the costume dust-free; shake, and ventilate it after each use. Store the suit away from dust, sunlight and heat – best in a cloth storage bag in an airy place. Keep the costume clean.
If stains appear on the costume, take it to the laundry as quickly as possible to be cleaned.

Before ironing, always make sure that the garment is clean, as any dirt will be fixed indelibly when ironed. For more information, read Helmi Vuorelma Oy's national costumes booklet, 1985 II edition, page 35, and instructions prepared by the conservator for the maintenance of the old national costume: Taking care of the old national costume | Museum of Handicraft. The same instructions are largely applicable to the care of a new national costume.


Care of yellowed blouses

Place blouse in 5 liters of warm water. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of OxiClean stain remover and soak for 6 hours. OxiClean powder can be purchased at Canadian Tire. The use of bleaching agents should be used carefully.

After treatment with OxiClean the blouse is washed in a washing machine with warm, not hot water, so that the blouse does not shrink. The blouse can be placed inside a pillowcase during washing, away from other washable clothes. After washing, when the blouse is dry, it is hung on a clothes hanger and stored in the wardrobe. Ironing is carried out only before the national costume is worn. This will prevent the blouse from yellowing.

https://www.craftmuseum.fi/palvelut/suomen-kansallispukukeskus/kans...
https://peda.net/iisalmi/lyseo/eha2/sk/vpl/sk3
https://folkloresuomifinland.fi/b/suomalaiset-kansallispuvut/
https://yle.fi/a/3-9622374
https://www.kansallispuvut.fi/

The above information has been confirmed by Taina Kangas, National Costume Consultant, Craft Museum of Finland/Finnish National Costume Centre, Kauppakatu 25, Jyväskylä | Kilpisenkatu 12,
FI-40100 Jyväskylä
https://www.naistenaani.fi/taina-kangas-taitava-ja-monipuolinen-kan...


Acknowledgements

The inspiration to write the history began of summer 2024 when Aili Korkka was refurbishing Pirkko Shalden’s national costume. The national costumes are Finland’s national treasures and often passed on from one generation to another. Aili is the specialist in Finnish national costumes in the Toronto Region and a costume maker. Pirkko was interested in documenting the Finnish national costumes as well as how to purchase them and take care of them.

Heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped to complete the history and care of Finland’s national costumes.

Marja-Leena Suosaari from Naantali sent us data on the history of Finland’s national costumes in the
summer 2024. This information was included in our final document. We received magnificent assistance from Taina Kangas, who works as the national costume consultant at the National Costume Center in Jyväskylä. A thousand thanks to Taina for her unique professional skills and knowledge. We also want to thank Liisa Qureshi, the editor of Kanadan Sanomat for her assistance in writing the Finnish version of this document. Abdul Awan was our competent technology consultant. For the English translation we like to thank Hannele Väättänen, Bruce Crown and above all Hilkka Luus for her extraordinary Finnish and English translation skills and editing assistance.

Toronto Agricola Congregation, January 26, 2025

Heritage Sunday celebrations originated in the region of Ostrobothnia in Finland as celebrations of local history and customs. More recently, the scope of the celebrations at Agricola church in Toronto has been expanded to be celebrations of Finnish Heritage.
Agricola Congregation has continued this significant Finnish cultural tradition. The purpose of the celebration is to continue to cherish Finnish national traditions, including national costumes, folk dancing, music, literature and Finnish culinary traditions.

Aili Korkka, Specialist in Finnish National Costumes in the Toronto Region and costume maker
Pirkko Shalden, Chair of the Agricola Congregation Programming Team in Toronto