Drejø Island
Drejø Island has a population of approximately 65 people today. The economy is based upon dairy farming.
Women's Costume
The above photo was taken in 1939 at the Old Parish Bailiff Farm (Gamle Sognefogedgaard) before it burned down in 1942. Sadly, most of Drejø's folk costumes were stored at that farm. Thus, they were destroyed in the fire. A few costumes still exist and are pictured below.
Drejø Easter (left) and Pentecost (right) Costumes, 1860-1870
from "Folkedragter i Danmark" by Ellen Andersen, 1952
Easter Costume: The girl on the left, above, is wearing a green Easter costume. Her bonnet/headgear is lavishly studded with piped frills and twisted silk ribbons. Her lace headgear is an imitation of those worn by the upper class. She is wearing a so-called "block cloth" apron, which is relatively unusual.
Pentecost Costume: The girl on the right, above, is wearing the red Pentecost costume. Her headgear is of an older style, as it possesses a wire which holds the lace out from the head like a halo.
Married woman from Drejø
from "Danske Nationaldragter," 3rd Ed. (1915)
by F.C. Lund with illustrations by Luplau Janssen
Image Credit: Midtjylland Museum
Image credit: Mikael Bjerregaard
Men's Costume
Despite considerable efforts, I have not yet been able to determine which, if any, of the men's costumes patterns below "belong" to Drejø.
Motif drawn by Eyvind Hansen for Lise Porcelain
Hjallese Folk Dancers, 1964
This is speculated to be the men's Drejø costume, as it matches the drawing above, which appeared on a porcelain plate as part of a folk costume series.
Image credit: Arkiv.dk
Drejø, 1840
The model for this suit is a vest from Drejø held at Møntergården in Odense. This pattern of vest was not specific to Drejø, as it was used all over Denmark. Some were sewn from fine purchased fabric while others were made from hvergarn like this one. Almost all vests from 1840 had a brown glossy canvas back. Long trousers were common in the 1840s. Regarding headgear, a red knit cap was still common in the countryside. However, if a jacket was to be worn, a black felt top hat would adorn the head.
Text credit: "IE" from Danish Folk Costume Society, 1991
Image credit: Licensed from Folkedragt.dk
Image credit: Frederikshavn Folkedansere
