Welcome to Ellis Island Vintage, a unique collection of historic ethnic clothing from the homes of our ancestors.
Our mission is to preserve traditional forms of clothing worn throughout the rural regions of Europe by making them available to discerning collectors worldwide. By focusing exclusively on this niche of fashion history, we are able to provide unsurpassed customer service in the field of traditional European dress. Our selection of vintage and antique garments has been personally selected and sourced from remote villages, antique markets, and fine collections on both sides of the Atlantic. Every item we sell is guaranteed authentic and is presented with accurate historical information based on 20 years of experience and ethnographic research.
You will also find a wide range of specialized reference books and postcards related to ethnic fashion, folk jewelry, and traditional textiles from around the world. We invite you to browse our selection and join the growing number of museums, fashion designers, private collectors, textile enthusiasts, and cultural institutions already investing in these one-of-a-kind treasures.
Newest Arrivals
Woven Bands | 2013
$32.00Book Title: Tkanice Translation: Woven Bands Author: Juraj Zajonc Language(s): Slovak with English summary Published: Bratislava, Slovakia - 2013 Format & Size: Softcover - 8" x 8" Pages: 54 Book Condition: Like New Condition Description: Interesting book about traditional band/belt weaving from Slovakia. The book presents a history of this type of peasant weaving along with information on regional styles, tools, looms, and more. This type of weaving was primarily the domain of gypsies living in Slovakia in the 19th and early 20th century and was used to decorate many different regional folk costumes. Illustrated with hundreds of color photos showing the diversity of these woven bands.
Resplendent Dress from Southeastern Europe – A History in Layers
$60.00Book Title: Resplendent Dress from Southeastern Europe - A History in Layers Author: Elizabeth Wayland Barber et al. Language(s): English Published: California - 2013 Format & Size: Hardcover with Dust Jacket - 9" x 12" Pages: 276 Book Condition: Very Good Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Description: In the past, girls from rural southeastern Europe spent their childhoods weaving, sewing, and embroidering festive dress so that upon reaching puberty they could join the Sunday afternoon village dances garbed in resplendent attire. These extremely colorful and intensely worked garments were often adorned with embroidery, lace, metallic threads, coins, sequins, beads, and, perhaps most importantly, fringe, a symbolic marker of fertility. Over time new forms of dress were added so that by 1900, a southeastern European village woman’s apparel consisted of millennia of layered history. Even today this dress continues to be worn on festive occasions and by older people in rural areas. Lavishly illustrated, Resplendent Dress from Southeastern Europe features fifty stunning nineteenth- through twentieth-century ensembles from Macedonia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, and neighboring countries (Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), plus one hundred individual items including aprons, vests, jackets, and robes. The lead essay by world-renowned textile scholar Elizabeth Wayland Barber traces this twenty-thousand-year tradition of dress in fascinating detail. Chapters contributed by Charlotte Jirousek, Joyce Corbett, Elsie Ivancich Dunin, and Barbara Belle Sloan provide insight into historical variations, commonalities, and influences within this complex region. An important work in recent museum scholarship.
Krakow Regional Costumes | 2004
$75.00Book Title: Stroje Krakowskie Translation: Krakow Regional Costumes Author: Barbara Kozuch Language(s): Polish & English Published: Krakow, Poland - 2004 Format & Size: Hardcover - 9.75" x 12" Pages: 128 pages Book Condition: Like New Condition Description: Beautiful book about the regional folk costumes of the Krakow region. 145 breathtaking photographs of every component of folk dress and detailed descriptions of the various forms of the Krakow folk costume. Includes a glossary of important terms and the entire book is written in both Polish and English, side by side.
Spain – Regional Costumes | 1997
$95.00Book Title: Espana - Trajes Regionales Translation: Spain - Regional Costumes Author: photos by Cesar Justel Language(s): Spanish and English Published: Madrid, Spain - 1997 Format & Size: Hardcover w/ Dust Jacket - 9.75" x 13" Pages: 128 Book Condition: very good Dust Jacket Condition: very good with minor curling to edges Description: Elegant book presenting large, color photos of the traditional folk costumes of Spain. A few pages of text in both Spanish and English followed by wonderful images by Cesar Justel. A nice album to add to your collection
Folk Costumes of Bohemia | 2020
$125.00Book Title: Lidove Kroje - 1. dil, Cechy Translation: Folk Costumes - Part 1: Bohemia Author: Monika Tauberova Language(s): Czech Published: Prague, Czechia - 2020 Format & Size: Hardcover - 8" x 9.75" Pages: 480 Book Condition: New Description: Excellent overview of traditional dress in the various parts of Bohemia. Based on the collections of the National Museum in Prague. Lavishly illustrated with photo of complete costumes as well as individual garments from the 19th and 20th century. A great source of information for anyone interested in Czech kroje.
Folk Dress in Eastern Slovakia | 2021
$65.00Book Title: Vychod v kroji Translation: Folk Dress in Eastern Slovakia Author: Elena Sotakova Language(s): Slovak and Rusyn - plus full English translation included separately Published: Presov, Slovakia - 2021 Format & Size: Hardcover - 8.5" x 12" Pages: 100 Book Condition: New Description: Nicely published book about the folk costumes of northeastern Slovakia. Includes 33 villages from all 13 districts (okresy) of Presov region - Bardejov, Humenné, Kežmarok, Levoča, Medzilaborce, Poprad, Prešov, Sabinov, Snina, Stará Ľubovňa, Stropkov, Svidník, and Vranov nad Topľou. Illustrated with large color photos of couples in folk dress and descriptions of their various elements. The author is of Rusyn heritage and wanted to publish a book that included the folk costumes of many Rusyn villages along with their Slovak neighbors. The book is published in a bi-lingual edition, Slovak and Rusyn, but to make it more useful for non-readers I have translated the entire book into English. I will include a PDF of the English translation with every purchase at no additional cost (please contact me if you would prefer to receive a printed hard copy). While the book is not a comprehensive overview of all the villages in the region nor a scholarly ethnographic study, it's a welcome first step to presenting the folk costumes of Presov region to a larger audience.
Folk and Popular Jewelry in the Czech Lands | 2021
$88.00Book Title: Lidove a zlidovely sperk v ceskych zemich Translation: Folk and Popular Jewelry in the Czech Lands Author: Alena Krizova Language(s): Alena Krizova Published: Brno, Czechia - 2021 Format & Size: Hardcover - 10.5" x 9" Pages: 360 Book Condition: New Description: Phenomenal book about the traditional folk jewelry worn with regional kroje (folk costumes) throughout Czechia. Includes a section devoted to each ethnographic region plus thematic chapters about Roma jewelry, amulets and devotionalia, buttons, and folk-inspired jewelry creations. Beautifully illustrated with photos of artifacts and artworks from museum collections. Only 400 copies published - a unique addition to your collection!
Goddess Embroideries of the Balkan Lands and the Greek Islands | 1999
$175.00Book Title: Goddess Embroideries of the Balkan Lands and the Greek Islands Author: Mary Kelly Language(s): English Published: New York - 1999 Format & Size: Softcover - 8.5" x 11" Pages: 182 Book Condition: very good Description: Interesting study of traditional motifs and designs in Balkan and Greek embroidered textiles. Looks at the development of symbols and rituals from ancient early times and the use of these designs in traditional textiles of the 19th and 20th century in Bulgaria, Greece, Crete, Ukraine, Romania, Macedonia and related eastern European cultures. Illustrated primarily with drawings and a handful of photographs.
Folk Costumes from the Polish-Slovak Borderlands | 2012
$110.00Book Title: Z Nowego Targu do Kiezmarku: Stroje Ludowe Pogranicza Polsko-Slowackiego Translation: From Nowy Targ to Kezmarok: Folk Costumes from the Polish-Slovak Borderlands Author: Stanislawa Trebunia-Staszel, Jan Olejnik Language(s): Polish with Slovak and English summaries Published: Nowy Targ, Poland - 2012 Format & Size: Hardcover - 6.5" x 9.5" Pages: 256 Book Condition: Very Good Description: Scarce publication discussing the folk costumes on both sides of the border between Poland and Slovakia. While the book attempts to introduce the topic in a somewhat comprehensive nature, the main focus is on the folk dress of Podhale on the Polish side and the villages of Lendak and Zdiar on the Slovak side. Includes historical information about early forms of folk dress and examines how it developed during the 20th century. Illustrated with contemporary color photos and reproductions of historic black/white photos. Texts authored by folk dress specialists from the respective regions. An uncommon title and a unique cross-border approach to the topic.
Russian Costume in Photographs | 2009
$85.00Book Title: Russkii Kostium v Fotografiakh Translation: Russian Costume in Photographs Author: A. Petrova Language(s): Russian with English summary Published: Moscow, Russia - 2009 Format & Size: Softcover - 6" x 8.25 Pages: 320 Book Condition: Very good with light wear Description: From book summary: Clothes are man’s ‘second skin’, an everyday necessity, a work of art, a projection of identity, a political weapon, retail merchandise, a means of seduction, the subject of photography. National dress or folk costume is a fascinating historical phenomenon that exists by its own specific logic and has a distinctive structure and palette, that is stored in museums and collections, reconstructed and recorded in millions of photographs. This project is a photographic digest of Russian folk costume: from ethnographic photography till contemporary art.
Peasant clothing of Radomsko Region | 2021
$100.00Book Title: Stroje chlopskie regionu radomszczanskiego - Studium historii i problemow rekonstrukcji Translation: Peasant clothing of Radomsko Region - A Study of the History and Problems of Reconstruction Author: Aleksander Blachowski Language(s): Polish Published: Radomsko, Poland - 2021 Format & Size: Softcover - 8.75" x 10.75" Pages: 224 Book Condition: Like New Description: Scholarly study of the traditional clothing of Radomsko region near Czestochowa in central Poland. The book examines the historic sources documenting the local dress as well as that of its neighbors in an effort to create a fuller picture of how the clothing developed over the centuries. Illustrated with archival black/white photos as well as color images of museum artifacts from the region. A fantastic reference with excellent information on the topic.
Folk Culture of Lowicz – Photographic Memories | 2020
$125.00Book Title: Lowicka Kultura Ludowa - Pamiec Fotografii Translation: Folk Culture of Lowicz - Photographic Memories Author: Maciej Malangiewicz & Jacek Rutkowki Language(s): Polish Published: Lowicz, Poland - 2020 Format & Size: Hardcover - 8.5" x 12" Pages: 184 Book Condition: Like New Description: Remarkable book presenting 550 historical photographs from numerous archives and collections documenting the traditional dress, customs, and rural life of Lowicz region in central Poland. The book is the result of an extensive research project to gather regional photographs together in one publication. The photos are mesmerizing and will keep you coming back to this book time after time: the faces, costumes, children, and old village streets so full of life. This is a treasure trove of scarce photographs and a welcome addition to any serious library of Polish folk culture, traditional costumes, and history. Only 400 copies of this marvelous book were published.
Wrist Cuffs | 2014
$28.00Book Title: Zapastky Translation: Wrist Cuffs Author: Jarmila Rybanska Language(s): Slovak Published: Bratislava, Slovakia - 2014 Format & Size: Softcover - 8" x 8" Pages: 40 Book Condition: Like New Condition Description: Interesting book about traditional wrist cuffs from Slovakia that were once worn with regional folk costumes. The book presents a history of this type of peasant garment along with information on weaving techniques, tools, and patterns.
In the Land of the Reindeer | 1974
$75.00Book Title: In the Land of the Reindeer Author: N. Kaplan Language(s): English and Russian Published: Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia - 1974 Format & Size: Hardcover w/ Dust Jacket - 8.25" x 11.75" Pages: 120 Book Condition: very good Dust Jacket Condition: very good Description: Great book about the traditional folk art of Siberia. Color photos of handicrafts of various native cultures: Dolgan, Evenk, Nennish, Khant, Koryak, Chukchi, Eskimo, Yakut, and more. Illustrations showing fur clothing, ivory carvings, rugs, metalwork and much more.
National Folk Costumes | 1987
$40.00Book Title: Nationale Kleederdrachten Translation: National Folk Costumes Author: Fea Livestro-Nieuwenhuis Language(s): Dutch Published: Zutphen, Netherlands - 1987 Format & Size: Hardcover w/ Dust Jacket - 9.25" x 12" Pages: 150 Book Condition: very good Dust Jacket Condition: very good Description: Fascinating book presenting a collection of photographs from ca. 1916 documenting Dutch regional costumes. The photos show mannequins dressed in costumes collected at the end of the 19th century for a museum exhibition. These costumes were subsequently mostly lost during WWII so the photos are a priceless document of historic folk dress from the earliest eras.
Galicia – 20th Century Photographs by Yulian Dorosh | 2021
$70.00Book Title: Halychyna - XX st. u svitlinakh Yuliana Dorosha Translation: Galicia - 20th Century Photographs by Yulian Dorosh Author: Larisa Karabaeva Language(s): Ukrainian Published: Lviv, Ukraine - 2021 Format & Size: Hardcover - 11.25" x 9.5" Pages: 120 Book Condition: Like New Description: Excellent book presenting historic photographs of Galicia region in southwestern Ukraine. The main focus of the book is the traditional costumes of the the region, which includes parts of Pokuttya, Boyko and Hutsul lands, There is also a section which shows photos of regional crafts, architecture, and rural life. The photos date from the 1930s-70s and are both in color and black/white, depending on the era. A unique collection of images of this region of the Carpathians.