Kaukola Woman's National Costume Through the Years 5.4.–13.10.2024

Since its publication, the Kaukola woman's national costume has been a popular and loved national costume model for Finns. 1921 U.T. Sirelius published the national costume model of a woman from Karelian Kaukola in the booklet "Suomen kansallispukuja", and its popularity has been steadfast ever since. 

During its long history, Kaukola national costume has lived with the times and its appearance has varied. This change is presented at the exhibition of the National Costume Center of Finland, where Kaukola woman’s national costumes from the collections of the National Costume Center of Finland are on display. The exhibition is on display in the Alley Gallery of the Craft Museum of Finland from April 5 to October 13, 2024.

The exhibition features costumes from the 1920s until today. Each of them is a slightly different implementation of the Kaukola woman's national costume. These costumes have been donated to the collection of the National Costume Center of Finland. The revised Kaukola woman's national costume, which is part of the model costume collection of the National Costume Center of Finland, is also on display at the exhibition.
Helmi Vuorelma started the Kaukola costume production in the early 1920s, and the drawing showing it was in Vuorelma's first national costume collection, and it has been in production the whole time. The changing of the costume model with the times can be seen from the national costume catalogs of different ages.

In 1990, the national costume of Kaukola women was revised by the Finnish National Costume Council. Helmi Vuorelma Oy commissioned the costume revision, because the costume had changed substantially when compared to the original museum sample material. As a result of the revision, the national costume was returned to match its original material found in the collections of the National Museum in terms of materials, sewing structures and planning.

After Vuorelma ceased operations, their work will continue with Suomen Perinnetekstiilit Oy. In their production, like Vuorelma, there are two costume models of Kaukola women's national costume of different ages: and the national costume compiled by U.T. Sirelius in 1921, and the revised national costume published in 1990. Regardless of the dress revisions, all existing different national dress designs are equally official and valuable as such. They are part of our history of national costumes, products of their own era, and each one shows the maker's own style.

Finnish national costumes are reproductions of the nation's traditional and individual festive costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries compiled for modern use by costume history experts. The costumes are based on the typical ways of dressing the people of their region and era, and the principles of their assembly have varied over the decades.