Serbian folk costumes

петак, 10. јун 2016.

Srem

Srem is the most interesting part of Vojvodina as for as geography, history and tourism are concerned. It is situated between the Sava, the Danube and the border of Slavonia. Most of the area is flat, but there are also hills leading to the second highest mountain of Vojvodina (the highest peak, Crveni Čot - 539 m). Apart from the Sava, the Danube and the Bosut, the most outstanding hidrography object is Obedska Bara, one of the largest ornithological stations in the country. The picturesque villages and towns surrounded by feritle fields are oriented towards Belgrade rather than Novi Sad. Apart from agriculture, trade is also developed as well as industry and different crafts. The best-known towns are: Ruma, Šid and Sremska Mitrovica. Sremska Mitrovica, also known by its Latin name Sirmium, was on of the four Roman towns in Serbia.

Fruška Gora became a national park in 1960. Its historical, cultural and touristic value is reflected in its sixteen monasteries, which is the reason why it is often called Serbian Mount Athos.

In Srem, women started wearing waistcoats before men. The female waistcoat were narrow-waisted, unlike the male ones. They also had fewer buttons (only 5-6) and were buttoned only halfway, to the navel. While men wore them over the shirt, women wore them over all the other garments except for the apron, which was worn over the waistcoat. Female waistcoats had more adornments, like leather or woollen ornaments. The most beautiful ornaments adorned those worn by brides and girls. Socks were usually red, dyed by a manufactured colour called čirkiz. Vunenka was a female home-crafted woven skirt. Although different colours were used, it was usually dyed red. Apart from home-crafted cloth women sometimes used a manufactured fabric called šiška-mariška to make this garment.

Pršnjak (older type) was a waistcoat made of lambskin. The woollen side was worn next to the body and the leather was on the outside. It consisted of two parts: the front and the back. It was buttoned on the left-hand side with two leather buttons and two loops. It also had three buttons and three loops under the armpit. It ended with a pointed part called špic, which was long enough to be tucked into the tousers. At first, it did not have any adornments. It was bordered with thin leather. Later, it was dyed with a yellow colour made of mushrooms growing on mulberry trees. The waistcoats worn by young men were later decorated with multi-coloured yarn.

Pršnjak (new type) reached the hips just like a short coat. It was buttoned on the front side with 10-12 loops. It was a sleeveless waistcoat made of lambskin. One each front part it had a pocket where a smoking kit was held. The pockets were bordered with leather of different colour and their upper side was adorned with a narrow strip of leather sewn with black yarn. Both types of this garment were made by craftsmen called kožuvari.

Banat

Girls and young women wore granate (beads in different colours and sizes), threaded on one or two string around their necks. Instead of this, wealthy girls wore a few strings of big or small ducats or seferini (gold coins larger than ducats) threaded on golden chain. The number of strings depended on the wealth.

Oplećak (female shirt) - a garment for special occasions was made of thin Serbian cloth (svilenac or ćenar). The sleeves were short, bordered with lace, multi-coloured threads, looped crochet or embroidery. A small camisole known as mider was worn under it. It was made of manufactured fabric or any stronger cloth and it clasped and supported the bosom. A waist coat was worn over the oplećak. It was made of black balestin. The name of this fabric was derived from the German - English word halblasting and it was a half-wool-len cloth woven in England and Germany. The waistcoat was usually laced with a cord or a piece of multi-coloured yarn.

Džega - was worn only by married women. The bride covered her head with it on the wedding day, in the evening, when she took off her wreath. Married women did not appear in public without it. They took it off only when they combed their hair. At home, they could do without a scarf, but not without the džega. The simplest form of džega was a small triangular scarf which at first covered the whole head (it was tied at the back of the head) and later only the bun was covered with it. The ones worn on Sundays and special occasions were made of black (or dark blue) silk (or satin) and adorned with golden embroidery or lace. The embroidery decorated both parts, the one which was covering the bun and the one which hung down the neck. The common designs on the golden embroidery were: twigs, wreaths made of various flowers, roses and even geomterical shapes.

The most common ornaments on gold embroidered female hats had their symbolic meaning: the rose symbolized a girl, oak leave - strenght, carnation - love, cross - bliss after suffering, wreath - happiness, acorn - health, star - joy, lily - courage, eye - happiness and finally, plume was a symbol of honour.

Zlatara or zlaćanka was a hat worn on holidays. Brides wore it on their wedding day and for two or three years after the wedding. The upper part was long, in the form of an ellipse, the lateral parts were crescent-shaped, with a straight border sewn on the top of the hat. The size of the hat depended on the circumference of the head. It included two long strips (60-80 cm) at one end 5 cm and, at the other, 15 cm across, and two ribbons, 10 cm long and 5 cm wide. Zlaćanka was fully embroidered with silver threads. The design called big branch covered the top of the head so that the silk surface could hardly be seen. This design included several flowers, with a stone (dijamant) in the middle of each. The stones were brightly coloured: red, blue, green, yellow. The leaves around the flowers were also embroidered with silver threads and glitter was placed between the leaves. The ribbons were decorated in a similar way but their borders were adorned with short silver thread fringes.

Banat - Kikinda district

The guberaš hat was worn in summer but also in winter if the weather was not cold. It went out of use during the First World War. It was black roughly crafted, and not very thin so that it was suitable for everyday chores. The crown of the hat was low while the brim was wide, with a black woollen braid, tied in a bow, wrapped around it, instead of a ribbon. The braid was plaited by hatmakers. The hat worn on holidays (stajaći šešir) was made of shiny black felt, it had a narrower brim, a higher crown and it was decorated with a black bow. Its brim was folded up unlike the guberaš hat, which had a straight brim and a narrower ribbon.

Čakšire - white trousers dated from an earlier time in the past. They were decorated with thin black baize ornaments below the so-called rastriši (slanted, pocket-like openings). The legs were decorated with a black braid sewn into the seam with some smaller braids or multi coloured silky threads embroidered over it. They had no pockets but two slanted openings cut on the front, called rastriš or rkmče. The openings were embroidered just like the seams. The flaps above them were covered with thin black baize which was sometimes embroidered with multi-coloured threads.

Košulja (shirt) - It was worn as an undergarment and it was made of home-made, so called Serbian cloth. It was quite long (but not as long as in neighbouring Romania). Some people wore shirts which were 2-3 cm longer than ordinary ones. The shirt consisted of: a collar padded with thick cotton cloth (pargar) which was buttoned below the neck with one or two buttons, shoulder pads fastened to the collar, sleeves with cuffs (zaponci) lined with pargar, which were usually white and had one or two buttons and, finally the front, also padded, with three buttons. Boys and young men covered their chest with the so-called formet embroidered with white cotton or šika threads. The formet was tied around the neck, chest and waist. Some also wore a tie with golden embroidery called poša. It was sometimes red, blue or green.

Bačka

Bačka is a historical and geographic region dating from the Middle Ages which used to consist of two administrative parts: Bačka and Bodroška County. After the Turkis had been expelled from the region, these two counties united, using the name Bačka which was derived from Bač, the name of a fortress near Odžaci. This geographic region is located between the Danube, the Tisa and the Hungarian border. The predominant forms of relief are: plains, sandy regions and alluvial fans near big rivers. There are a few lakes which attract the attention of tourist: Palić, Ludoško, Krvavo and Slano. The traffic is well-developed due to the fact that Bačka is a busy transit region. The area is characterized by demographic stagnation and in the past the population was increased mainly due to migration.

The biggest towns are: Novi Sad, Subotica and Sombor. The region is famous for granges inhabited by generations of farmers, who gave them purpose and original appearance. The granges have given inspration to many poets and painters for centuries.

Ubrađaj is a kind of headdress worn by Serbian women in Sombor and on the surrounding granges. It was worn by young women who got it from their mothers-in-law. On the first Sunday after the wedding the bride would wear it to church, accompanied by her mother-in-law. It was worn only on Sunday and holidays, until the birth of the first child but not longer than three or four years. Rarely, women wore them until they could pass them on to their daughters-in-law. Sometimes, the mother-in-law wore it on her son's wedding day and gave it to her daughter-in-law later in a ceremonial manner.

Ubrađaj consisted of three parts: a piece of wide golden lice, a large rectangular white scarf and artificial flowers. The lacy part, around 15 centimetres across, bordered the whole face and was tied below the chin. The lace completely covered the hair so that it could not be seen. Since the lace was very stiff, the chin was usually protected by a piece of velvet. The scarf was made of a rectangular piece of a very thin white cloth (its dimensions were 1.75m x 1m). In the corner, at the joint of the two sides and along their borders, it was decorated with a wide piece of golden lace, about 10 centimetres across. On the shorter side of the rectangle, alongside the lace, was a relief golden embroidery with floral ornaments, about 20 centimetres wide. This part of the ubrađaj was worn in such a way that the side with the golden lace and beautiful frills covered the chest, and the shorter part with the lace and embroidery hung down the back. The flowers were mostly artificial, made of velvet or silk. Those were usually roses, poppies and wheatgrass. They were placed on both sides of the face, near the ears. If the flowers were big, they even stuck out high above the head.

Folk costumes of the Panonian Region

Folk costumes of the Panonian Region- were widespread in central and northern parts of Serbia, Banat, Bačka, Srem, as well as in Baranja, Slavonija, Bela Krajina and Bosanska Posavina, regions partially inhabited by Serbian population. In the southern border strip around the Sava and the Danube, folk costumes were Dinaric and Central Balkan elements, and in the large space open to the rest of the Panonian Basin in the north, the influence of Central European styles, especially baroque and, since the end of the 19th century, Central and West European city fashion, could be noticed.

The vivid style of traditional garments and adornments was reflected in the use of light colours, creased linen clothes, wide garments made of stuff and fur suitable for everyday chores, the use of floral designs as well as geometrical ornaments in multi-coloured, white and golden woven and embroidered pieces of clothing and accessories.Clothes were usually made of hemp and linen cloth, and, starting from the middle od the 19th century, home-made cotton cloth was also used.

Several versions of traditional female clothes in this region included a wide, long shirt, rubina, as their common feature. It consisted of the upper part called oždrelje or oplećak and the lower part, skuti, which were joined at the waist. Another characteristic feature of this folk costume is the apron worn by maried women, both at the front and at the back, and only at the front by girls.

The main items of the male summer clothes are the linen shirt and underpants, with a common name - košulje, rubine. The underpants with narrow legs worn in Bosanska Posavina had lacy trimmings at the bottom and, in Serbian regions, they were usually tucked into brightly coloured socks and knee-length socks (tozluci) which covered the shins from the ankles to the knees. Over the shirt which was, in the Panonian region, always worn over the underpants, men wore a woven woollen belt or a leather belt (silav, besnilah) on special occasions.

The winter costume consisted of a waistcoat (gunjić, jelek, ljetak), džemadan with overlapping fronts and an overcoat (gunj) with long sleeves, as well as trousers (čakšire) with narrow legs, but a bit wider at the back. Garments worn on holidays (ferman, koporan, anterija, čakšire) were usually made of dark blue baize.

As far as headgear is concerned, a straw or a felt that was worn in summer as well as a fes and in Serbia a fur hat called šubara and the traditonal hat (šajkača) starting from the end of the 19th century. The footwear usually consisted of woollen socks and traditional shoes - raw leather opanaks made by craftsmen.

Both summer and winter costumes included: the woollen apron (pregača) with woven geometrical designs, and, on special ocassions, velvet, silk or satin pinafores (kecelje) often decorated with relief golden embroidery and floral designs, as well as the waistcoat (prsluk, prosluk) or a large shawl richly ornamented with fringes, worn around the shoulders.

Mačva

Mačva is the northernmost micro-region in Western Serbia. As far as relief is concerned it is a flood plain, formed by the sedimentation of the Drina river. It is bordered by the currents of the rivers Sava and Drina and the region of Cer mountain. Some diversions of the riverbed of the Sava happened due to she sedimentation and the vortex of the Drina. In that way, river lakes like Bitva and Zasavica were formed. Originally, Zasavica was the reiverbed of the Sava, then of the Drina but now it meanders parellelly with the Sava. Mačva is the mot fertile plain in Serbia, famous for growing wheat, corn, vegetables, and indsutrial crops like hamp, soybean and sunflower. The agriculture influenced the development of cattle-breeding, especially horse-breeding.

The biggest town of the region is Šabac. At the beginning of the 20th century it was called Small Paris due to its fast development, but later they called it Serbian Verden because of the damage during the First World War. Šabac was the first town in Serbia to have a hospital, pharmacy, music school, piano and foreign language teacher.

In Mačva, girls used to inform passers-by that there was a girl of marriageable age in the house in an original way. If a girl was old enough to get married she would make a rag doll, about 40 centimetres tall, dressed in red with white decorations, in order to attract young men's attention. She would put the doll on the inside part of a window, between two flowerpots. It was kept there until she was engaged to be married. If there were two girls of a marriageable age in the house, two dolls were made.

The outskirts of Belgrade

As of the hairdo, women wore buns (konđa) at he back of their heads,. The konđa was fastened with a black velvet chin strap adorned with two strings of silver coins. Over the konđa they tied a white scarf called doglavljača which was covered with a white towel or manufactured scarf wtih fringes hanging down the back (ubradač). The shirt was made of linen (or hemp) cloth. The upper part was fastened to the lower part, so it was made in one piece. The sleeves, neck and hem were bordered by thick cotton lace crochet. The skirt was creased, with dark - coloured vertical stripes. The front was open and the borders were folded up and fastened to the belt, so that the skirt looked like an unfolded fan. Between the apron and the folded skirt embroidery could be noticed on both the shirt and the sleeves.

The apron is the most beautiful part of this costume. Women and grils made them on their own, which gave them such great variety in technique and colouring. The chest was covered with a waistcoat (jelek) which was worn over the shirt. Over the apron and shirt, but under the waistcoat women wore a kolan - a sash embroidered with beads and multi-coloured buttons with the socalled pafte - metal buckles which fastened the sash under the bosom. The chest was covered with ducats (gold coins). Socks were knitted and adorned with brughtly coloured woollen ornaments with floral designs.

Gruža

Smiljevac - Even Vuk Stefanovič Karadžić noted down that in Bukovica, a village in Podrinje, female hat were decorated with coins, in the small wreaths at the front so that "when women walked the coins kept swinging and rattling". At the front, the hat had fringes which were also adorned with fringes. Some women wore round hats - "just like pumpkins with flowers and peacock's feathers sticking out of them. This hat was also decorated with coins which were swinging and rattling as the women walked. Women also wore necklaces, long embroidered shirts, multi-coloured sashes, one or two embroidered pinafores, brightly coloured socks, opanaks with straps etc."

The smiljevac or cmiljevac was made in the following way: a hazel twig was hewn, bent and tied. Then, a circular piece of cloth was cut, and fastened to the bent twig so that it formed a dent which made it posible for the bride to put on a fez. That part was called potsmiljka. The other part was trmčica. It was made of strands of dried basil sewn together with the bent twig using lime bast (bark). A piece of manufactured red fabric or cloth dyed with madder was sewn on it. Two or more ribbons cascading down the bride's back, all the way to her waist , were sewn on the tip of the smiljevac. Cascables were fastened to the end of the ribbons. Smiljevac was kept in place with a chin strap (podbradnik). At the end, it was adorned with dried corn flower (smilje). The hat was named after this light yellow flower. The front part of it was adorned with rooster's or peacock's feathers which were bent at the back. In the middle, just above the forehead, was a small mirror surrounded by a string of silver coins. The chin strap was also decorated with silver coins and it was called oglavlje. This money was given to the bride to be by her future husband and it could not be given away without her consent. Smiljevac was usually made by the groom's relatives and it was sent to the bride by her mother-in-law on the wedding day. That was the first time the bride wore it on her head. At the bottom, around it, the hair was plaited into thin braids which were fastened with hairpins. People say that the bride had to show great respect for other people while she was wearing a smiljevac. If she saw someone, even from a distance, she had to bow to them a few times. Brides had to bow even to children. The smiljevac went out of use during the 1870-ies. Legend has it that the reason fot this was an accident which happened when a bride met a horseman and, according to the custom, bowed to him a few times. The horse got frightened and unsaddled the horseman who died in the accident. Since then, the smiljevac has never been worn again.

Male socks (pletivare) - were knitted of red and black yarn and had unique geometrical ornaments. They reached the knees and their border was knitted by one needle only. That was called poplet or memica. Later on, poplet was replaced by ramfla (looped knitting) below the needle (klot) and above the needle (frket).