Collection: Jämaja

The parish of Jämaja ( Jamma in German ) was located in the central and southern part of the Sõrve peninsula. The parish, which was almost entirely surrounded by sea, had a short land border with the parish of Anseküla. Of the overseas neighbors, the people of Sõrve had closer contact with Courland, Ruhnu, Pärnu, Gotland and even further afield. 

The folk costumes of the two parishes of Sõrve – Jämaja and Anseküla – stood out among the other parishes of Saaremaa. In the early 19th century, a black half-length kurdus robe was worn in Sõrve, as in almost all of Saaremaa. Light gray tüss , or old woolen cloth, dominated men's clothing .

Along with freedom, in the mid-19th century, both high fashion and aniline dyes reached the peasants. Thus, in a few decades, the black kurdus robe developed into a church robe reaching from the ankles with red horizontal stripes, into which bright white cotton stripes were also woven. In the 20th century, the red of the church robe turned into bright orange, and when possible, light green, bright purple, bright yellow, electric blue, and rhodamine pink were used in clothing. The pinnacle of the Sõrve women's suit can be considered the pailade jökki worn in the Anseküla parish - a jacket made of dark blue wool fabric with rich applique decorations and flared sleeves. 

Individual Sõrve women wore their church robes as everyday clothing even before World War II. The custom of women wearing Sõrve robes on festive occasions has not been interrupted in the Jämaja parish. Individual families preserve both the sets of clothes worn from generation to generation and the skills to make them. The gray cap typical of Sõrve men's wardrobes disappeared by the end of the 19th century.

A large number of Jämaja women's clothing has been preserved in museums. Since the tradition of wearing folk costumes was still alive in the 20th century, there are many photographs of people wearing folk costumes. The situation is worse for men's clothing, but a few items of clothing worn in the mid-19th century have survived. There are also some historical photographs of men from the Jämaja parish wearing a complete set of folk costumes. Historical photographs and memories collected from Sõru children give an idea of ​​children's clothing.