Woman’s festive costume

From the 1930s on, the fashion for feast days in several villages of the municipality of Viana do Castelo dictated that girls wore plain, square or checkered skirts. Women wore a poplin blouse, crepe or even silk with these skirts. These blouses usually had elastic on the cuffs and waistband. This way of dressing was also composed of embroidered aprons, embroidered with Richelieu, on which a well-done bow was a reason for the girls to fuss. While on their heads, they wore a printed woollen scarf, the so called “Chinês”; on their feet, they wore either a pair of mules or clogs. Although we associate this way of dressing with the Bairro da Ribeira, its use has already been extended to other parishes of the municipality of Viana, namely Castelo do Neiva, Chafé and Vila Nova de Anha.