3 thoughts on “La Bretagne Pittoresque: La plus belle fille de Pont-Aven”
Dear Matt ! greetings from Paris !
Very nice pic ! Possibly a mardi-gras feast, the end of lent where the ancestral fool’s day authorized the inversion of values in dress and behavior. The origin of carnivals in facts ! You must know, brittany has been very attached to tradition (and still is in many aspects however recomposed in our time). However, it may be something totally different who knows, just a supposition from me. This is very traditional woman dress, there are a few very interesting movies about traditional life in Brittany.
Hello Franck, greetings from the Acadian region of North America! I spent a little time en Bretagne a while ago. An interesting corner of France and visually pretty similar to where I live across the Atlantic. Odd that there was a cross-dressing tradition there given how conservative the area seemed.
Yes at first, but it was a special day where the social order could be reversed as a way to return to normal life at the end of lent ! The poor dressed as rich, men as women, and women as men (the only accepted case until renaissance, risking death penalty: part of the demise of Joan of Arc), laics as priests (but perhaps not the reverse, who knows ?), fools as wise, and wises as fools…
This led to the carnivals where one of the very much known in France is Dunkirk with a strong crossdressing tradition:
MATTHEW'S ISLAND 
Dear Matt ! greetings from Paris !
Very nice pic ! Possibly a mardi-gras feast, the end of lent where the ancestral fool’s day authorized the inversion of values in dress and behavior. The origin of carnivals in facts ! You must know, brittany has been very attached to tradition (and still is in many aspects however recomposed in our time). However, it may be something totally different who knows, just a supposition from me. This is very traditional woman dress, there are a few very interesting movies about traditional life in Brittany.
all the best.
Franck.
Hello Franck, greetings from the Acadian region of North America! I spent a little time en Bretagne a while ago. An interesting corner of France and visually pretty similar to where I live across the Atlantic. Odd that there was a cross-dressing tradition there given how conservative the area seemed.
Yes at first, but it was a special day where the social order could be reversed as a way to return to normal life at the end of lent ! The poor dressed as rich, men as women, and women as men (the only accepted case until renaissance, risking death penalty: part of the demise of Joan of Arc), laics as priests (but perhaps not the reverse, who knows ?), fools as wise, and wises as fools…
This led to the carnivals where one of the very much known in France is Dunkirk with a strong crossdressing tradition:
http://www.northernfrance-tourism.com/Art-Culture/Heritage/The-Dunkirk-Carnival-its-origin-history-and-traditions
very famous and one complete week !
Brittany is a very agreable and beautiful region. A very nice place to live or have vacation…
All the best.
Franck.