Western gipsy gardian shirt - black - Indian women of Nîmes

With its straight cut and patch pockets, it is comfortable, especially for horse riding. With its western inserts and imitation mother-of-pearl snap buttons, the Western combines two fabrics separated by a border. Its samphire pattern comes from archival drawings deposited on a historical database of Provencal prints "les indiennes". The shirt is true to size, choose your usual size, for women take a size below your usual size.

In India, textile printing is a craft with age-old know-how that has been passed down from generation to generation. The first "Indiennes" prints were imported to Europe by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The intensification of trade relations between the East and the West during the 17th century ensured the triumph of these lightweight fabrics, very resistant to light and washing, with bright and varied designs. The secret of manufacturing Indiennes is based on the principle of the "mordant", a metallic salt printed on a wooden board, which fixes the coloring matter on the cotton fiber when the fabric is immersed in a dye bath. Indian weaving workshops opened in England, Holland and Switzerland. In a society accustomed to heavy silk and wool fabrics or plain linen canvases, the success was dazzling. The East India Companies had no trouble selling increasingly considerable freight. To face this competition, Louis XIV and Louvois wanted to protect French textile manufacturers. In October 1686, a decree from the King's Council of State prohibited "cotton canvases painted in the Indies or counterfeited in the kingdom". However, the more the prohibition measures intensified, the more the monarchical power failed to stop this real fashion phenomenon that affected all social classes. A very strong contraband was born from this prohibition of which Aix en Provence would be the capital. Indian textile workshops were nevertheless created on the territory, in Marseille, Le Havre, Rouen or Angers, but could only sell abroad. In the Comtat Venaissin (part of the current Vaucluse), then under the authority of the Pope and thus escaping the regal laws, the manufacturers continued to prosper. This was the rebirth of the "indiennes" known today as Provençal fabrics. This context was also favorable to the Indian fabric factories in Mulhouse, a small independent republic (attached to France in 1798) which acquired a technical and commercial lead until the lifting of the prohibition in October 1759 which marked the beginning of the industrial era. The Jouy-en-Josas factory, created by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf in 1760, would become famous for the monochrome motif ("toile de Jouy") generally representing characters in a rural setting.

In the rural world of 19th century France, the gardian was none other than a mounted cowherd and dressed like the peasants of the time. Before the First World War, there was no specific gardian costume. It was the Marquis Folco de Baroncelli-Javon (known as Lou Marquès), founder of the Nacioun gardiano in 1904, who codified the current gardian outfit at the request of Frédéric Mistral. In order to give more unity and allure to the choupo (group of guardians in the Provençal language) during the guardian festivals he imposed the velvet jacket, the moleskin pants (moleskin), the brightly colored shirt with Indian patterns and the Valergues hat.