Museum of Regional Costume
1930
The Museum of Regional Costume is located inside an elegant building constructed in the ‘30s, currently hosting the Municipal Antiquarium, too. The museum is meant to be a research and study centre on the ethnographic heritage; more specifically, the research is focused on the historical evolution of traditional clothing as a distinctive feature of Calabrian culture and history. The exhibition’s itinerary covers two rooms and allows us to appreciate 35 dresses typical of the Calabrian tradition.
Some of the clothes displayed in showcases are the result of a research and recovery activity; in other cases, they are faithful copies of original models, created through the patient and meticulous work of embroidery by the cratswomen of Tiriolo, in the highest scientific rigour of reproductions.
The protagonist is the traditional dress of Tiriolo, the so-called “pacchiana”, worn by women starting from their adolescence. Handed down from mothers to daughters, created and enriched with quality embroidery, it was part of the dowry for weddings.
The dress showed the social status of the woman, it had different colours and decorations according to the occasions (daily life, festivals, mourning) and to the age of the woman (childhood, adolescence, adulthood).
For the male clothing we have few clues. The main features, above all the conical hat called “certune”, were linked to bandits’ clothing in the collective imagery.