Ethnic: Stuff That Never Goes Out of Style

In all the fashion thinking I've been doing these days, I realize that one of the safest options for clothing that never goes out of style is ethnic.

Think Frida Kahlo.  I've been thinking about her a lot these last few days, due, in part, to this marvelous book I received as a gift:

The Fashion of Frida Kahlo

Frida was on to an important fashion principle.  Unique, hand-made clothes, particularly regional ethnic clothing, never goes out of style because it's never IN style.  Current fashion may take its inspiration, say,  from embroidered Gypsy garb, but it's not the real stuff.  The real stuff never goes out of style, so it's safe to collect it and to wear it for decades.  I was fascinated by Frida Kahlo's wardrobe collection.  Of course, I knew she had a preference for Tehuana costumes, but I had no idea her wardrobe spanned China and late 19th century Europe as well. 

When I was a young woman living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was always fascinated by the women who'd trot out their amazing vintage silk and satin embroidered scarlet and turquoise Chinese coats for the opera.  Good thinking.  There was a shop in Santa Fe in those days that sold treasure troves of ethnic clothing and jewelery.  But those were the proverbial salad days of my youth, and, alas, I was not then in a position to start collecting it. 

I was thinking about the ethnic clothing in my own wardrobe these days.  Many of the pieces are nearly a decade old, but I keep wearing and wearing them.  They always make me happy.  For instance, I'm quite keen on Dutch wax batik, and I have a number of skirts (purchased on ebay for about $20 including postage from Thailand) that I love.
Thai "Afrikan" print skirts

Before my birth, my parents were living in Bavaria.  When I was a little girl I was madly in love with dirndls, due to my parents' photographs.  I actually started buying them in 2008 on a trip back to Bavaria, and I will cop to the fact that I am absolutely likely to rock a dirndl, especially around Christmas time.  But I like to style them with Moulin Rouge boots and white crocheted thigh-high stockings.  The dirndl's something that seems to reappear to serve as a fashion inspiration about once a decade.  From here on out, I'm just holding onto my authentic dirndls and rocking them when I feel like it.  I once rocked a dirndl in Paris nearly every day for a week -- and was treated like a queen everywhere!  And was yodeled at by Northern Africans wearing their own traditional garb :)
The dirndl I wore in Paris -- only brown with pink

I'm quite keen on Indian kurtas.  I like the sheer voile ones as nightgowns, bathing suit cover-ups and thrown on as shirts over jeans.  I've purchased a few from this on-line U.S. dealer.
Beane's Indian Clothes
They travel incredibly well and multi-purpose on the trip.

And I'm a big fan of sarongs, both the tube variety and the flat kind.  Skirt, bathing suit cover-up, robe -- the ultimate in multi-purpose garment.  Again, ebay has been a treasure trove for authentic sarongs. 
Indredible Malaysian tube sarongs
And the flat ones multi-purpose as shawls and pashminas!
I'm pretty crazy about these traditional sarongs from Bali.

The digital world creates the opportunity for global shopping.  I find incredible ethnic pieces on ebay and etsy all the time.  The next thing I'm adding to my own wardrobe collection is a custom, made-to-order Romanian peasant blouse -- black, with red embroidery.  It took its maker six weeks to embroider, and now it's on its way to me via DHL for $136, including shipping.
My Romanian blouse