The traditional costume of the ethnographic group of gypsy-Kelderars is considered by researchers to be among the most developed and interesting variants of gypsy clothing.
Men's traditional costume in the past consisted of jackets and vests embroidered and ornamented with appliqués, trousers, high boots with patterned dressing. Its formation was influenced by the Hungarian national dress. By now, the male gypsy costume has long lost its ethnic flavor and is no different from the modern urban costume. But many still remember men's gypsy belts, leather or woven, embroidered with beads, sometimes decorated with metal or gold plaques, boots with high tops, wide loose shirts.
Women's clothing, on the contrary, up to the present time retains a national identity. The basis of the women's costume is the traditional gothya skirt. It belongs to non-sewn forms of clothing and is made from a rectangular fabric pleated at the waist. The front of the skirt is not stitched. To a women's skirt in gypsy culture there is special treatment She is considered "unclean". The custom did not allow to put on a skirt over the head. According to the ideas of the gypsies, the lower part female body is considered unclean, so the gypsy skirt is treated as an unclean item. These ideas also explain many household prohibitions and prescriptions. In order not to pollute the water, in the past, the gypsy wore a bucket of water on her head. If a woman stepped over a dish on the floor, the dish was considered unclean and was thrown away. It was considered a cruel insult for a man if a woman hit him with a skirt.
A kytryntsy apron was put on over the skirt, which closed the cut of the unsewn skirt and neutralized its "impurity". The cut of the apron was also quite simple - a rectangular panel folded along the waist. In a modern suit, the apron and skirt are often made from the same material.
A set with a skirt makes up a jacket, which is currently sewn in an arbitrary style.
The traditional hairstyle and headdresses are kept by married women. After marriage, a woman twists her hair on both temples into bundles, and then braids two braids. These tourniquets on the temples are called amboldinari. This peculiar hairstyle, as noted by gypsies, has Indian roots. Today, amboldinari can still be found in older women, but young gypsies no longer always twist their hair at their temples, but simply braid them into two braids. A diklo scarf is worn over the braids - the traditional headdress of a married woman. Before tying a scarf, its ends are twisted. Festive ones are wildly different from everyday ones: they are often decorated with a net or fringe of beads, embroidered with shiny threads, and in the past, small gold coins were also sewn to such scarves.
Jewelry made of gold is considered traditional for gypsy women.
In the past, a large scarf or shawl was an addition to a women's costume. Being a necessary part of the costume, he also performed other functions. From a wide scarf they could arrange a small tent for a woman giving birth, a newborn was swaddled in a large woolen scarf.
AT color solution costume preference is given to bright colors, richly ornamented color patterns. Until now, there are certain color prohibitions. A young woman who has recently married is not allowed to wear clothes for up to a year yellow color. Black is also considered undesirable for a women's suit.
The traditional dress of the bride was somewhat different. Previously, the bride's traditional gypsy costume was only complemented by a wreath of white wax flowers with a veil; multi-colored ribbons and flowers from bows were often attached to the wreath. Today, the gypsy bride, like all brides, is dressed in White dress with a veil.
The women's costume of Moldovan gypsies continues to retain its traditional look. Women of this particular group of gypsies can still be distinguished by their costume from Russian gypsies and others. Until now, the traditional costume is made by the gypsies themselves, some of the things, as before, are sewn by hand. However, only married women wear it today. Girls are allowed to wear regular clothes.
Gypsies are a cheerful and nomadic people who sacredly honor their traditions. Songs, dances - this is something without which it cannot be imagined. Therefore, it is not surprising if you decide to choose the image of a gypsy as a quality.
What does the outfit look like?
Now you can buy various ready-made costumes, including gypsy ones. But if you want to try yourself in the role of a designer and a seamstress, then the following information will be very useful to you. A gypsy costume for a boy consists of such details as:
- pants;
- shirt;
- headdress;
- shoes;
- additions to the image.
You can use the example of adult costumes to see what one of the variants of the gypsy image looks like.
Pants
To begin with, I would like to note one thing - this is the opportunity to alter or use the things in the wardrobe. So, if a child has dark color pants, you can use them. If not, then you'll have to make your own. In this case, it is better to choose satin or silk, because we need to create a festive and elegant gypsy costume. Correctly take measurements from the child and start sewing.
AT ready-made pants should be wide and loose. Ideally, you should use a black fabric, but in the absence of one, dark brown or gray is also suitable. Optionally, you can decorate the bottom of the legs with gold fittings or braid.
There is another option for trousers - these are wide breeches, knee-length. At the bottom of the legs, you can create the effect of torn fabric. But when choosing this option, you need special shoes, which we will talk about later.
If you do not want to create a gypsy costume too bright and shiny, then choose a fabric without shine and chic, it can be linen or cotton.
Top of the suit
This part of the costume is a shirt with wide sleeves. If you decide to sew a gypsy costume with your own hands, then we advise you to follow the basic rule - use the same material. If your pants are made of satin, then use the same material for the shirt, only in a different color.
As you can see in the photo, the shirt of this suit is not like what we are used to wearing. Therefore, the use of existing clothes is not suitable here.
The shirt is sewn without buttons, only a few on top, and that is not necessary. You can make a V-shaped neckline, which will look very impressive.
We figured out the fabric, now we turn to the choice of color. As mentioned above, the gypsy costume has no clear rules and boundaries. This applies to the color scheme of shirts, so feel free to choose red, yellow, green and other bright colors.
I would also like to note that the gypsy, if desired, can be supplemented with a vest. We recommend sewing it from the same material as the entire outfit. But color scheme it is not necessary to comply. That is, the vest may contrast with the color of the pants and shirt. The result is an interesting and bright gypsy costume. A photo of this option can be seen below.
Headdress
For greater harmony of the image, a scarf is almost always used. It can cover the entire head or look like a bandage. If after sewing the costume you still have shreds of fabric, you can use them as a bandage.
The color of this accessory does not have a fundamental difference. you can use bright colors, which are combined with the general background of the costume.
But that's not all, a hat is often used as a unique headdress. Moreover, it is put on directly on a bandage or scarf. I would like to point out what bold decision makes the gypsy costume more interesting.
Now we note that the headdress is not an obligatory part of the image. Therefore, if you do not have the opportunity or desire to use it, then it is quite possible to do without it. In the next photo you can see an example of what a gypsy costume without a headdress might look like.
Shoes
Do you think that no carnival costume can do without shoes? You are mistaken, the gypsy costume is just like that. Gypsies are a poor people who love freedom. Therefore, they are often barefoot. But we are talking about children's costumes, which means that we must remember the safety of the kids. This option is appropriate if the suit is worn on the beach. Carnivals are often held in children's camps, for such an occasion a barefoot gypsy costume is suitable.
For another option, black shoes or boots are chosen. Any available will do. And now let's talk about shoes that are chosen under the breeches. We have already said that instead of trousers, you can sew breeches that have a torn bottom. So, high boots, dark in color, are best suited for them.
Although boots go well with trousers, it is not always convenient to wear them because of a large number fabrics. In general, as you can see, choosing shoes for a gypsy costume is not difficult.
Add-ons
One of the main additions to the costume is the belt. In almost every variation of the costume, you can see that the trousers and shirt are connected with a belt. You don't need anything special to make it. Long dense fabric - and there is a belt that we need. But again, I would like to emphasize that it is better to sew it from the same fabric as the entire suit.
The color of the belt can be combined with a scarf, or, on the contrary, you can make it contrast against the background of the suit. It should be wide enough and tied to the side so that the ends remain free.
As we have already said, gypsies are musical people, so you can choose a small instrument as an addition to the costume. It can be a tambourine or a nozzle.
For performances.
And recently I thought about why this type of costume - a fluffy skirt with frills, a blouse with wide sleeves, gold jewelry - is considered a standard? After all, we all know that gypsies should be dressed in colorful, very bouffant skirts, with the obligatory rose in her hair and lots of gold jewelry. Men - in red shirts, with a ring in their ear and always with a bear. Where did this show come from? I began to read, to be interested, and this is what information I found about the gypsy costume. It seems interesting to me. I hope you do too.
Gypsies - ancient people, immigrants from India. It is believed that in India they belonged to one of the lower castes, and this was one of the reasons for their exodus from there. Then the gypsies settled all over the world. From all the countries and places where they lived, they absorbed the culture of the local population. This also affected clothing. Gypsies have always been poor, so their clothes were obtained from the local population, or bought cheaply, or simply stolen.
All gypsies have common features and traditions that are common to all groups.
The first is the concept of "badness". It is believed that the entire lower part of a sexually mature woman is unclean. Therefore, gypsies always cover their legs, although they can walk with a practically bare chest, without being embarrassed at all. Everything that comes into contact with the legs of women is unclean: skirt, shoes, floor, etc. By the way, interesting fact, some groups of gypsies believe that a woman will desecrate the whole house if she goes up to the second floor. Therefore, they either live in low houses, or do not allow adult women to go up to the second floor. But not all gypsy groups think so. Some believe that the overlap is a good protection against filth.
By the way, I heard this story. In one gypsy settlement one morning a gypsy saw women's shoes on his car. Whether someone played a joke, or decided to desecrate his car, is unknown. But, the car was sold the next day.
Returning to filth, I will say that some gypsies complement their costume with an apron so that the skirt does not defile things that other people will touch.
Also a noticeable feature of the gypsies can be called the fact that they carry their children on their backs. It became a necessity in their nomadic life, when the child had to be taken everywhere with him.
Also, we all know the great love of gypsies for jewelry, especially gold. But this is very easy to explain. If, for example, a European person has earned a lot of money, he will buy good house, earth. And the gypsies from ancient times did not have a permanent home and they had no desire (or opportunity) to become settled. Therefore, with the money they earned, they bought jewelry and put everything on themselves so that they would not get lost.
It is also interesting that gypsies go barefoot. This habit originated in India.
Gypsy costume changes can be divided into periods
1. Byzantine period.
In the XII - XVII centuries. gypsies, first appearing in Europe, looked very unusual. They are long time lived in Byzantium, and this left an imprint on their costume. They wore a long undershirt and a cloak.
The men wore long beards and earrings in their ears, which was unusual in Europe at the time. The women had turbans on their heads, they were dressed in long, spacious shirts, and on top they wore a veil in which babies were wrapped.
The colors of the clothes were quite dark, gray, brown. This can be explained both by the fact that colored beautiful fabrics were expensive in those days, and by the fact that the gypsies wore their clothes for a long time, it faded and got dirty, acquiring a gloomy shade. 
2. Adapted costume period XVII - ser. 19th century
In the 17th century, anti-Gypsy laws were passed throughout Europe. Therefore, the gypsies began to try to dress in European dresses that were worn in the country where they were.
During this period, clothes and furnishings were borrowed from the inhabitants of the places where the gypsies were located. In Russia, for example, gypsies wore kokoshniks, sundresses, icons and samovars appeared in their homes. The same thing happened in European countries. Gypsies boldly wore lace-up bodices, bonnets and corsages.
At this time, the Romanian and Hungarian gypsies begin to show signs of a costume that we now consider traditional.
I would especially like to single out such a group of gypsies as the Kalderars (or Kotlyars). This is a gypsy ethnic group that was formed on the territory of Romania. It was they who created the “real gypsy costume».
Their contribution to the emergence of the familiar gypsy costume can be distinguished in a separate period:
3. It is believed that the Kotlyars synthesized in the costume all the best that Western and Eastern Gypsies had.
A skirt, a scarf and an apron became obligatory attributes of a gypsy costume. 
Ankle-length skirt was pleated at the waist. A cut was usually made in front so that a woman could wear a skirt not over her head, so as not to defile her upper body. The apron also served the same purpose. Also, the gypsy always wore a scarf, which she knew how to tie with many different ways. And under the apron, women wore small aprons with a pocket where they put money and toilet items.
The gypsy craving for gold and jewelry has now found its outlet. At this time, the gypsies had money, which was immediately reflected in the outfit of the gypsies. They began to weave gold coins into their hair and decorate their necks with monists. Only married women adorned themselves with monists, young girls could afford to wear only one coin around their necks.
By the way, the Calderari first saw the frill on the skirt of the Spanish gypsies and immediately introduced it into their costume. True, the Spanish gypsies preferred to make several thin frills, and the Kalderarki sewed on one wide one. A beautiful sleeve expanding downwards was also borrowed from Spanish gypsies.
The men's suit of kotlyars was also quite interesting. It can be seen that he was greatly influenced by the Hungarian National Costume. Jacket with large silver buttons, waistcoat and pants decorated with beautiful appliqués, high boots, headpiece, leather belt. Also attached to the costume was a scarf attached to the jacket for beauty, a staff and a pipe.
4. Last period development of the gypsy costume.
XX century almost completely destroyed all national costumes, leaving them a place on the stage, in museums and private collections.
What do you associate gypsies with? Gold, fire, tarot cards, horse-drawn carts, the sweet smell of berries intertwined with the bitter aroma of tobacco, sunsets, the ringing of monistos, fluffy skirts fluttering in the wind ... It seems that we know everything about this people, but in reality we not even a fraction of a thousandth is known. They have always been some kind of mystery, mystery, magic. Even the national costume of a gypsy is a whole set of traditions, customs and echoes of history...
Remember the most famous national costumes of women and try to catch who the gypsies look like the most?
Having a hard time? And so?
I think the answer is obvious - India! Love for color, an abundance of jewelry, dark hair - there really is a similarity.
You should start with the fact that the gypsies came precisely from the Indians, or rather, from their lower castes. This explains the fact that, for the most part, the gypsies were impoverished nomads with no home and no money.
It is the Indian costume that is the aspen of the gypsy, but only the basis. The fact is that this nomadic people has enough interesting feature adapt to the culture and customs of the country in which they live. Their national clothes are extremely diverse: from one country or another, the gypsies took something and brought it into their costume. This is noticeable in comparison:
Finnish gypsies
Spanish gypsies
Russian gypsies
Romanian gypsies, etc.
Closed legs and bare chest
"Pacalimos" is a taboo system that is directly reflected in the costume of gypsies. She suggests that the "bottom" of a woman is "not clean", so the body from the waist and below must be covered without fail. At the same time, the chest can be practically open (remember deep neckline gypsy women), but the legs should be wrapped in at least an old rag. Pekalimos has pagan roots, and despite the fact that the faith of the gypsies has changed, this custom is still observed.
It is worth noting that in the old days, there were also cases when women wore knee-length skirts. True, this decision was forced: they either simply did not have enough money for a banal piece of fabric, or for purely domestic reasons, the long hem simply interfered.
The apron was present on every gypsy skirt, but not at all in order to protect it from dirt. So the bottom of a woman was considered "dirty", it was strictly forbidden to touch it (even if a gypsy passed over something: for example, she stepped over a bench, she was immediately thrown away, since from now on they were considered just as unclean, spoiled), it was impossible to come into contact even with woman's skirt. Since it is very difficult to avoid this: for example, a gypsy could touch a heavy dish on a dress when she carried it to the table - women wore aprons.
Every second article about gypsies begins with a reminder of what gypsies look like: colorful skirts, monista and scarves. Journalists, writers, artists and film directors are so sure that the gypsy costume is well known to them that they place gypsies in the same skirt in roses and frills in medieval Europe and modern India, Napoleonic times and the era of musketeers. Who wears roses and frills? And what are the others wearing? In fact, the national gypsy costume varied from country to country and changed from era to era, until it took on several more or less definite forms. Basically, gypsies consider traditional clothes to be those that they wore for the last time before they switched to something that you can just buy and wear. 
Nikolai Bessonov, Kotlyarka. Kotliary - a tribe of gypsies that came out of Romania That in the minds of most people - a universal folk gypsy costume, nomadic gypsies of Romania began to sew at the end of the nineteenth century. After Romania canceled serfdom on a racial basis, and the gypsies received freedom. This is a wide skirt, with frills or, more often, without, and a spacious blouse with a collar that opens the neck, and the married ones also have a scarf tied in a knot at the back of the head, and a huge apron tied like another overskirt. 
Kotlyarka Gypsies, XIX and XX centuries Nomadic Romanian Gypsies began to travel around the nearest countries, and soon many East European Gypsies picked up their style. Including Russian. Perhaps our choirs resisted the new fashion the longest. After all, they already had an established costume: a kazakin for men, a shawl over regular dress women (sometimes also a turban on their heads from the second shawl). However, the audience wanted more brightness, exotic, nomadic look, and the choral gypsies had to abandon those outfits that they had worn for generations. But, of course, not from shawls on the shoulders! 
Choral Russian gypsies, watercolor by Prince Gagarin A skirt with frills, a blouse with an open neck became the basis for a variety costume. Today we see in him dancers in the theaters "Romen" and "Romance" and restaurant ensembles. In life, no one wears it for a very long time. It should be added that the special love for roses is not accidental: the gypsies considered the rose to be the gypsy among flowers. 
Nikolai Bessonov, "Gypsy Dance" 
Arkady Plastov, "Gypsy" 
Photo by Evgeny Domansky. The Kotlyars wore the folk costume for the longest time. Quite a bit from Russia to the north and west, and the gypsies already have a different traditional costume. Gypsies in Finland, like the Saami, are paid by the government to work as living museum exhibits if they agree to always and everywhere wear folk costumes. Wear it once and throw it will not work. Their compatriots are jealously watching, in modern or traditional clothes. If you don't get paid to wear a suit, you won't be allowed to wear it; but if you do, you'll get a scolding for a regular, store-bought skirt. 
Joakim Eskeldsen, a gypsy couple in Finland As a national Finnish gypsies recognize the clothes in which they appeared in Finland once. More precisely, her ceremonial version: a velvet skirt with fizhma, with silver braid or white lace, and a velvet sweater to her. Most often, the costume is sewn from black fabric, sometimes from dark blue, restrained green or burgundy. To walk and sit in such a skirt at ease, some skill is required. In summer it is quite hot in it, so many people change their jacket for a lacy white blouse, but in winter no one forbids putting on a short sheepskin coat or just a down jacket. 
Joakim Eskeldsen, Finnish Gypsies in national costumes In the Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia) and Turkey, Gypsies very often wore colorful trousers. As well as harem pants with a skirt, harem pants from a skirt and, much less often, a skirt without harem pants. A scarf on the head was tied so that it hung down the back at one corner. Gypsies (even Muslim women) differed from Muslim neighbors in that they never covered their faces and, in general, their clothes were lighter, in fewer layers than those of their neighbors. Arms up to the elbow, neck could also be calmly open. Hair almost always peeked out from under the scarf. Gypsies in the Slavic countries greatly valued local shirts with embroidery. 
Greek gypsy with a child To wear bloomers or not - was a choice not related to religion. Orthodox Balkan gypsies also calmly put them on. And belly dancing! 
Gypsy girl, Greece, postcard from the beginning of the 20th century German, French, Hungarian gypsies were distinguished by the fact that they often wore rather short skirts - not by our standards, of course, but compared to German women and other European women. The skirt could initially be long, but as the hem frayed, it was simply torn off to look more decent. Many people know the bright national costume of Spanish gypsies: polka dot skirts with frills and a long tail, blouses with puffed sleeves, and a lace shawl. True, it is usually associated only with the flamenco dance ... which was traditionally performed by the Spanish gypsies. This type of national outfit also took on quite late, until the second half of the nineteenth century, khitans dressed much simpler and more modestly. Often their clothing was limited to a skirt with a relatively short hem and a blouse that opened the neck. But then they were called to sing and dance much less often, there was no need in a bright folk costume. 
Anthony Reni, Spanish Gypsies in France The traditional costume of English Gypsies looks interesting. It is surprisingly similar to ... the costume in which the English Little Red Riding Hood rides through the forest! The gypsies of England loved red capes with a hood (however, there were also capes of other colors, for example, there were green ones). In addition, they constantly and everywhere went outside the camps with baskets, selling various trifles, like pictures on the wall or homemade clothespins, and they preferred to cut the path through the forest. Often a gypsy woman also had a headdress bright color, yellow or black. Such brightness was needed so that potential buyers (and divination lovers) saw the gypsy from afar. 
English gypsies. George Elgar Hicks As for the rest of the clothes, the English gypsies preferred to wear about the same as the locals, except that they could easily walk without a jacket, in one shirt on the body. They had their skirts torn down when necessary, just like their sisters on the Continent. 
A gypsy or a girl pretending to be a gypsy. Author unknown Finally, one cannot ignore the clothes in which the gypsies of Europe passed for quite a long time, leaving Byzantium. This is a combination of a shirt, a cloak over the shoulder and a turban or ribbon on the head. They liked to decorate the hem of the shirt with stripes of braid. Separate details of this costume were kept by different gypsies for a very long time - remember the turbans of Russian gypsies, for example. 
Painting by Caravaggio, for which he literally took a gypsy on the street in Italy In our time in his folk costumes, variations on the same theme in frills and flowers, some Romanian gypsies, chokenari gypsies and Brazilian gypsies go. Only, unlike the Finnish ones, no one pays them for it, of course.