The Clothing Identity of the Gábor Roma Community in Tîrgu Mureş, Romania

Gábor Roma Community:

    The Gábors are a Kalderash (traditionally coppersmiths or metal workers - speak a Vlax dialect) Romani group who live mostly in Tîrgu Mureş and the greater Transylvania area. However, you can find them in major cities all over Europe, but those are just temporary abodes for them. You see, family and the idea of the community are major facets of the Gábor culture. To not come to either a wedding, funeral, or All Saint's Day, is seen as being greedy and only caring about money because one is not coming to an event where there is "a communal sense of belonging." Religion is also a major unifying feature, with everyone belonging to the Adventist Church, which they said helped them renounce their "gypsy-like habits" and become more "civilized." They are a very closed-off group that tends to believe themselves superior over other Romani groups in the area, such as the Gergovanis, who represent a state passed that the Gábors already passed in their quest to become more "civilized."

The Customary Outfit:

    While these are not rigid dress codes, they are still considered ideal. However, some aspects such as wearing slippers or using a waistcoat have started to slip out of fashion lately. 

    Men wear a broad-brimmed hat (usually black, from, and grey), loose-fitting trousers that are black in color, dark overcoats, and a shirt. They also have a mustache and side-whiskers. Elders distinctly wear a waistcoat with silver buttons, which can be passed down through generations. They wear black, closed-toe shoes.  When going to Church, men wear clean clothes, carry their briefcases, and often wear glasses. These changes in outfits often reflect catering to practical needs. Men have quite a bit more freedom regarding dress as well. They are able to think of clothing as a choice and only wear the hat when they want to. The distinction of freedom starts at a young age. 

    Women wear a colorful pleated skirt, a colorful patterned blouse, and a long pleated apron which is made from the same material as the skirt. All women, regardless of marital status, wear a red ribbon on their hair. The day a woman gets married she starts wearing the kerchief in her hair and will continue to do so for the rest of her life, regardless of the marriage still exists. Girls have to wear a pleated skirt from the ages of 9 or 10 but are allowed to wear more masculine styles of dress such as trousers before this. Color signifies both age and marital status. Women under the age of 25 or married traditionally wear white and other light-colored skirts, while women for the ages of 25 to 60 wear green or purple skirts, Once a woman is considered elderly, they will wear dark blue and brown. Black is exclusively for mourning. Women often wear slippers, sandals, or boots.  For Church, women wear long skirts, long-sleeved blouses, and a kerchief on their hair. Privately, the dress code may be relaxed considerably or not exist at all. In the presence of males, women tend to dress more nicely and more conformed to the dress code standards. For women, the dress is one of the biggest facets of their identity and is a representation of tradition. This is because their outfit is distinctly tied to their ethnicity, which causes them to face more racism and persecution than their male counterparts.  Women have to wear traditional items of dress in comparison to their male counterparts.

    Both women and men have abandoned the practice of wearing gold jewelry. This is because of how The Adventist Church preaches the lack of gold jewels. This makes them very distinct in comparison to other Romani tribes, where gold coins as earrings are common. Their culture dress itself is an ode to their roots. According to some of the Gábor population, while their culture has been revolutionized through their religion and their "customs have been transformed", their dress has remained the same. This is something that is utterly continuous, a distinct sense of pride for the Gábors, and something very connected to their cultural identity.  

                                                

                                                                        

                                                                        Extra Video showcasing Gábor cultural identity

Bibliography:

Geoscience News and Information. “Romania Map and Satellite Image.” Geoscience News and Information. Accessed October         25^h, 2021. https://geology.com/world/romania-satellite-image.shtml. 

Doghi, Lorena. “ROMANI GABOR WOMEN IN ROMANIA.” Romedia Foundation. November 30^th, 2012. Accessed October         25^th, 2021. https://romediafoundation.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/romani-gabor-women-in-romania/.

Tesfay, Saba. “Wearing Gypsy identity in a Gábor Gypsy community in Tîrgu Mureş.” Project Muse. Romani Studies 19, no. 1             (2009): 1-17. muse.jhu.edu/article/266753.