Today, the well-known canon of the Latvian folk costume is largely considered to be a set of costumes based on traditions, yet newly created in Latvia in the 1930s. Although almost all Latvian national costumes have been constructed by assembling them according to region and using the samples available in museum collections at the time, over the years, the folk costume has become a very important visual and emotional expression of Latvian identity.

In the inter-war period, folk costumes were not available to everyone in Latvia; they were made in home economics schools or ordered from special artisan salons. Folk costumes were worn on formal occasions – at events of national importance, such as song festivals, official state visits, etc. Folk costumes were a benchmark of beauty – portraits taken in photo salons show that folk costumes were the garment of choice at the time. It is no coincidence that when refugees fled Latvia at the end of WWII, folk costumes were packed and taken along as the greatest of treasures.