Withdrawal of traditional dress

Urban styles started gaining ground from the middle of the 19th century onwards, though the pace and extent varied both regionally and individually, depending on people's economic situation or age. The first to adopt urban fashion were usually men, women's dress went through various stages. In the middle of the century the former vertical stripes were replaced by horizontal ones or squares in skirt fabric. In the 1860s and 70s North Estonian peasant women adopted kaapotkleit, a one or two piece frock of lighter fabric with horizontal stripes or checked patterns.

In North and Central Estonia traditional dress was replaced by urban vestment more rapidly near larger cities and towns during the 1860s and 70s, taking longer in South Estonia. In peripheral or isolated regions, like the islands or Setomaa, older tradition continued and developed into the 1900s, and in Kihnu women weave and wear striped skirts even today. In Muhu the dress evolved particularly rapidly: in the 1870s earlier black pleated skirt was replaced by striped orange fabric that gradually turned lighter: from yellow in the First World War period to lemon in the 1930s. Thus while the general tendency was withdrawal, some regional differences could persist or even increase.