Collection: Jõelähtme

The Jõelähtme parish included the present-day Jõelähtme and Viimsi rural municipalities and part of Kuusalu rural municipality in Harju County. 

The current Jõelähtme rural municipality has undergone extensive administrative mergers and separations of areas on several occasions. The villages of the historical Kuusalu, Harju-Jaani and Jüri parishes have been merged with the Jõelähtme rural municipality. However, the Jõelähtme rural municipality has given its former areas to the current Kuusalu rural municipality. A large part of the areas of the former Jõelähtme rural municipality now lie within the Viimsi rural municipality. Such a shift in borders explains the abundance of similar features in the clothing of the neighboring parishes. In addition, the abundance of similarities also stems from the fact that the entire area belongs to a relatively unified group of North Estonian folk costumes.

The folk costumes worn in the Jõelähtme parish generally belonged to the folk costumes of eastern Harju County. On Sundays, when the people of the parish gathered in church, they would look at what others were wearing and show off their own clothes. These church visits were also clothing and pattern fairs, which gave a measure of the nature and development of the uniform clothing of the people of the parish. However, there were also some differences in clothing within the parish, for example, the descriptions distinguish between Jägala, Saunja and ranna.

An important influence on the parish's clothing fashion was the proximity to the city of Tallinn and the use of the services of the city's craftsmen. The influences of early urban fashion were evident, for example, in women's and girls' headgear, outerwear, etc.