Polka "Polka". Nejedlý also writes that Václav Vladivoj Tomek also claims the Hradec Králové roots of a Polka. OED also suggests that the name may have been derived from the Czech "Polka" meaning "Polish woman" (feminine form corresponding to "Polák", a Pole). The word was widely introduced into the major European languages in the early 1840s. It should not be confused with the "polska", a Swedish dance with Polish roots (cf. polka-mazurka). A related dance is the redowa. Polkas almost always have a time signature. Folk music of Polka style appeared in written music about 1800. The beginning of the propagation
Polonaise (clothing) Polonaise (clothing) The robe à la polonaise or polonaise is a woman's garment of the later 1770s and 1780s or a similar revival style of the 1870s inspired by Polish national costume, consisting of a gown with a cutaway, draped and swagged overskirt, worn over an underskirt or petticoat. From the late 19th century, the term polonaise also described a fitted overdress which extended into long panels over the underskirt, but was not necessarily draped or swagged. As early as the 1720s, English painters had begun to portray fashionable ladies dressed in romanticized versions of the costume of a century