Vaatteet Varoja Myöten- Exhibition At Kuopio Museum

Hello guys!

You all know that I like fashion and dressing up. That is why I was very interested of seeing Kuopio museum's exhibition called "Vaatteet varoja myöten", direct translation for that is "Clothes according to one's wealth". The exhibition showcases old national costumes of Northern-Savo region (it is the area where I live) from the 19th century. I was very excited when Kuopio Museum donated me two free admissions to go see the exhibition. Thank you Kuopio Museum!!

It was really cool to see how people dressed up back in the day. All the clothes were handmade of course. Materials that were used varied depending on the wealthiness of person wearing the clothes. Poor people used materials like wool and flax. More wealthy people had materials like silk and cotton. I was pleasantly surprised that the clothes were quite colorful. They had shades of blue, red, purple and yellow among other colors. Of course poor people once again had less colors than rich people.


Kuopio museum is a great place to visit. They usually have different exhibitions going on at once. They also include kids very well because many of the exhibitions are arranged so that kids can get their hands on to the topic at hand (*pun intended*). It's not only the kids that like to touch the things on display. At least for us the best part of the national clothes exhibition was that you could actually try on some of the clothers yourself! Scott and I dressed up as a couple from the 19th century. It was so much fun!

Nowadays many museums have forbidden photographing inside their premises. Kuopio museum on the other hand allows people to take pictures. That is why I have a ton of cool pictures to share with you. But I recommend that you go see the exhibition at the museum as well. There was so much interesting information about the clothes that I'm not able to tell you. Also, you are able to see the texture of the clothes better live than in the pictures. Anyway, here's my photos from our visit to the museum.

Old hats. The fur lining is made out of dog!

Old style suit for men and shirt&skirt-combo for women. Typically these were so called " better clothes" that were worn to church.

Old shoes.

21st century sandals vs. 19th century shoes.

This was a typical winter outfit worn by old ladies all the way up to the 1920's.

Interesting design and cut for men's pants.

Old underskirts and boots.

Women's undershirt.

Men's shirt.

Shoes used to be very expensive and that is why people tried to use shoes sparingly. Summertime people often walked barefoot or used shoes made out of tree bark. Sometime people even put tar on the bottom of their feet to protect them. I imagine that only poor people used tar. It is sad to also know that poor people didn't necessarily have money to buy or make leather shoes and they were forced to wear tree bark shoes even in the winter!

Details on the men's shirt.

Scott liked this exhibition too.

Men's outfit made out of cotton and flax.

Little wooden pieces were used as buttons.

Men's winter coat with beaver fur lining.

Men's winter coat made out of sheep skin.

Women's winter coat.

Colorful knitted belts.

Belt pockets were used before clothes had sewn pockets. Belt pocket was attached to the waist with a belt or a decorative string. 

Many different kind of belt pockets.

Gorgeous knitted socks! The very top ones are made from cotton and they were finished 1879. The socks on the right were knitted by Heta Sofi Väänänen. She made them for herself to be used when she dies. She wanted to wear them to the grave. The story tells us that the socks were never used for this purpose.

Handmade decorative ribbons that were used to hold for example belt pockets or just simply worn as decoration.

I'd like to have that one.

Wooden frames that were used to make the ribbons.

Close up on the ribbon.

Old hair comb.

Old key and key rings.

The best part of the exhibition; dressing up as 19th century folk! Here's Scott in the typical men's outfit.

19th century Scott fixing the weaving frame.

19th century Riittalicious.

I had two underskirts and a top skirt. My outfit was so heavy!

Do you think I can pull off this look?

Making yarn. Or at least looking like I'm making it.

Family portrait.

Scarves were used a lot to cover your head back in the day

For fancier head gear, our great-great-great grandmom's used this hat called tykkimyssy. It is a small paper hat covered with embroidered silk. Under this hat they wore a lace called tykki.

Embroidered details on the tykkimyssy.

Lace that was worn under the hat.

Samples of old fabrics from Northen-Savo area. The big patch on the top left is made by Kaisa Ränen between 1860-1870.

Besides makings fabrics Finns also made a lot of every day use items out wood and wood bark.

Wooden plates and spoons.

Wooden toys and drinking cups.

Näkö on kuin luoja luop', tavat kuin itse tahtoo, vaatteet varoja myöten.

Looks created by God, manners as one wishes, clothes according to one's wealth.
Old Finnish saying