|
By Jasna Bjeladinovic-Jergic
Among the creative aspects of the culture of the Serbian nation,
traditional costumes occupy one of the most important places
because of their role in everyday life, their significance for
ethnic identity, and their value artistically and aesthetically.
Among the creative aspects of the culture of the Serbian nation,
traditional costumes occupy one of the most important places
because of their role in everyday life, their significance for
ethnic identity, and their value artistically and aesthetically.
They are known mostly because of the costumes which have been
saved from the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth
centuries, characterised by a great diversity in form and
decoration. This variety and richness is present in both men's
and women's costumes. Each region had its own special form of
dress. According to the way a person was dressed, one could
distinguish not only where they were from, but also of which
nationality they were in multi-ethnic milieus. Various national
costumes with manifold significance among the people were
exposed to a wide range of influences in the history of their
development. Thus, they incorporated a variety of elements from
preceding periods, together with the features of the period when
they were made and worn.
Serbian urban dress,
Belgrade, mid-nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.
In the wide variety of costumes, apart from the special traits
of costumes which varied from village to village, there were
also other differences between villagers and urban dwellers in
terms of the way they dressed. Urban clothing in most of the
Serbian ethnic territories developed under Turkish and oriental
influences. Later, as in Pannonia and along the Adriatic, that
influence was largely European. Urban costumes in the
Balkan-Oriental style, made of expensive cloths and bearing gold
and silver embroidery, were of high artisan craftsmanship. Up to
the twentieth century, on the other hand, peasant dress was
mostly the product of home and other village handwork. They were
fashioned by women, though certain parts of the costumes were
done by village artisans. Experience and tradition were passed
from elder to younger, from generation to generation.
The very first glance at the diversity of village dress reveals
certain specificities in the combination of the functional,
artistic and aesthetic characteristics of the clothes worn in an
entire region. Identical or similar economic circumstances,
brought on by the geographical setting, by historical, social
and cultural development, all influenced the generation of
certain elements of clothing in the framework of larger cultural
and geographic regions, such as those in the Dinaric, Adriatic,
central Balkan and Pannonian regions. In each region a basic
type of dress is characteristic, appearing in many different
costuming and decorative forms. The differences originated in
the variety of materials for making and decorating which the
particular region offered, the pattern-forms and decorative
means, and the costuming tradition and level of cultural
development.
Women's village dress,
viewed from the back, Imljani, western Bosnia, second half of the nineteenth
century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.
The dress of the Dinaric mountain region includes the
territories of Serbian Krajina - Kordun, Lika and northern
Dalmatia, along with a large part of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the
continental part of Montenegro, and the southwestern regions of
Serbia. In that vast mountainous region, cattle and sheep
breeding was the main source of income, and the entire lifestyle
of the people was adapted to that end. Folk dress was mostly
made of wool. After weaving, the woollen homespun cloth was
taken to special mills (valjavica) which were once in abundance
along the smaller rivers. The processed cloth, a rough fabric,
was a natural white or brown colour in some areas, while in
other regions it was dyed black, dark blue or red. Many items of
clothing where made of homespun wool and heavy cloth, in whose
strictest forms one can see old Balkan and Turkish-Oriental
elements. The basic element of both women's and men's dress was
a hemp or linen shirt in the form of a tunic with sleeves,
abundantly decorated with embroidery done in yarn.
Zubun,
a sleeveless dress for women, Janj, western Bosnia,
second half of the nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.
Indispensable parts in the woman's outfit were a woven woollen
belt and apron, harmonious in motif and colour, worn over a long
shirt. The most common forms of heavy cloth articles of clothing
were the "zubun", "sadak" or "koret" - kinds of long bodices.
They were joined by dresses with sleeves, decorated with
embroidery and coloured appliques done in fabric. Girls' heads
were adorned with red caps, and married women covered these caps
with scarfs folded in various ways. In men's clothing, narrow
trousers were common, and in some areas roomy "pelengirs" with
flared legs were characteristic - they are very ancient forms of
clothing. They were accompanied by vests with straight and
overlapping halves (gunjic, zubun, jecerma, dzemadan) and short
overcoats with sleeves (known as gunj, gunja, koporan, aljina).
A multi-coloured woven belt was indispensable, as was a red cap,
which was wrapped with a woollen scarf in the winter in many
areas.
Decorations, richly applied to men's and especially women's
dress, were characterised by harmony in their ornamentation and
colour schemes. The delicate colours of the yarns in weaving,
achieved through the traditional process of dying with herbal
dyes, contributed greatly to the highly refined harmony in
colour. In the ornamentation of the rich multi-coloured
embroidery and in the appliques of homespun and other
decorations, which cover practically all visible surfaces on
articles of clothing, and equally so in woven fabrics, geometric
and geometrized vegetative motifs prevailed. In creating
decorative and aesthetic elements, various kinds of silver
embellishments played an important role in woollen Dinaric
clothing. These embellishments amplified the heavy monumental
form of the clothing. One of the most significant forms were
men's "toke" for the chest, made up of several silver plates or
studs, which were often gilded. They were a symbol of heroism,
and weapons were worn along with them. The weapons were of high
quality craftsmanship, tucked into a special pocket of a wide
leather belt.
A belt - "cemer",
an essential part of women's festive
attire, Montenegro, end of the nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.
Traditional costumes of the Adriatic regions covered a
significantly smaller area when compared to the expanses of the
Dinaric massif. The narrow strip along the Montenegrin coastline
and Bay of Boka Kotorska developed under the conditions of
Mediterranean commerce and culture, while maintaining constant
contact with the mountain hinterlands. Thus, Mediterranean and
urban European elements in clothing are encountered, mixed
together with the Dinaric elements of the mountain hinterlands.
Home-made linen fabric was used for making the costumes, along
with hemp and cotton. Likewise, woollen fabrics such as homespun
and coarse wool were used. Apart from home-made materials,
factory made materials were also used (especially for festive
attire), including fabrics, velour, brocade and silk. Along with
expensive materials, sailors brought various kinds of valuables
and fashionable items (parasols, fans, and so on) to their
families during the height of maritime activities, especially
during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Apart from
coloured embroidery and braids, white embroidery and fine lace
were also common. Gold and silver jewelry, items of fine
workmanship, complemented the refined simplicity of coastal
costumes. The visual specificity of those costumes was the
colour scheme, set in two or three colours, at times in
combinations of several colours.
In women's attire, an outer dress in the form of a long faulted
skirt with a bodice sewn on was common. Individual variants
differed in the kind and colour of the fabric, accompanied by
differing names. Over-shirts with lace inserts and skirts
("sarca", "raca", "kamicot"), a woollen or silken belt were
worn, and an apron was added. Sleeveless dresses and light
overcoats were also worn. The head was wrapped in a scarf, and
in some areas flat caps were worn. In men's attire, caps also
had thin brims; the caps were made of waterproof cloth and
covered with silk. The remaining parts of the costumes were
shirts with decorative inserts, wide faulted pants, a belt, a
vest ("jecerma"), and overcoats with long sleeves. Some of the
most important decorations were braided appliques, and a leather
girder (cemer) around the belt, into which two pistols were
slipped, made in domestic gunsmith shops.
The chest adornment
of men's village attire, Kninska
krajina, nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.
In the coastal oases,
the Dinaric touch was seen in the adaptation of traits of
hinterland clothing, tamed for the coastal areas.
The attire of the central Balkans was found in the southern and
central regions of Serbia, with the communications hub in the
Morava Valley, and in part of Kosovo and Metohia, as well as in
parts of Raska. In this region, the mountains and flatlands
alternate, and the costumes are a combination of elements of
attire worn by farmers and herdsmen, with traces of the Greek,
ancient Balkan, Byzantine and medieval Serbian and
Turkish-Oriental elements of dress.
Women's village dress,
parts of the blouse sleeves,
bodice, belt and short "bojce" skirt - Kosovo polje, region of
Kosovo-Metohia, nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade.
In many variants of the basic costume style, especially varied
in women's attire, men characteristically wore homespun white
and brown jackets. A specific form of decoration were appliques
of black and dark blue woollen yarn. In women's attire, with
numerous characteristics of an elongated visual form, one
notices a remarkable wealth of forms, materials, embroideries,
appliques with a variety of decorations, and harmoniously
composed geometric and vegetational motifs and colours. The
frequent usage of red in combinations with other colours, as
well as with gold and silver threads, contributed to the great
liveliness of these materials. The basic element of attire was
the straight cut blouse, with richly embroidered sleeves, breast
and bottom hem. The embroidery was done with wool, cotton and
sterling silver thread on a hemp, linen or cotton base. The
other characteristic piece of clothing was the wool or cotton
skirt, open full-length, which had different lengths,
decorations, colours and names from region to region. The
elegant, single-coloured "bojca" from Kosovo with its dainty
embroidery, as well as the fine, multi-coloured "futa", "bokca"
and "zaprega" of other regions, with stripes and fine woven
geometric designs, all fit in harmoniously with the whiteness of
certain kinds of long linen blouses. Likewise, the other pieces,
and especially the "zubun" (a long hemp waistcoat with a floral
design), represent the accomplishments of folk handicrafts and
their high artistic value.
Women's village attire,
view from the back, Sava river basin near Belgrade,
turn of the twentieth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade
The special head-wear of women should
be added to these elements. Various kinds of pins were put in
the hair, which was then covered with cloths and covers in the
form of caps and veils. The embroidery, ornaments and some of
the tailoring, along with a variety of fixings - earrings,
hairpins, necklaces and rings - are reminiscent of the costumes
and jewelry of the Serbian Middle Ages.
Embroidery on the sleeve
of a woman's blouse, Kosovo polje,
Kosovo-Metohia region, nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade
The attire of Pannonia, a predominantly lowland region, was
found over the central parts of Serbia, in Vojvodina, Baranja,
Slavonia, and along the Sava in Bosnia, where a significant
portion of the population was Serbian. Along the southern
border, elements of central Balkan and Dinaric attire are
intermixed, and in the remaining regions one finds central
European influences and styles, especially the Baroque.
Likewise, from the mid-nineteenth century onward, the urban
fashion of western and central Europe was also quite
influential. Old Slavonic elements were also quite significant,
and they were best preserved in these regions.
The Pannonian plain, with its complex cultural interactions, its
fertile soil and its abundance of grain and other produce,
ensured the inhabitants economic security which was expressed in
all areas of life. In attire, that security contributed to the
boisterous variety and vividness of the forms, decorations and
colours. Finely faulted rough woven attire, worn both summer and
winter, is both light and lively. Vegetational motifs are
frequent, as is gold embroidery, and the colours are generally
bright.
A golden cap, part of women's festive attire, Banat,
Vojvodina, second half of the nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade
The long one-piece roughly woven faulted blouse is prominent in
women's attire. It bears woven decoration or embroidery in one
or more colours. The two-piece blouse is decorated in a similar
way, although the lower part is worn in several layers. Along
with linen cloth skirts, woollen skirts were common as well,
with wide or narrow faults. A belt and apron were worn over the
linen clothing, and in some regions two aprons were worn -- one
in front and one in back. Beside the wide use of floral motifs
and woven geometric ornamentation, the head-wear was also
specific in nature -- specially woven cloths, scarfs folded into
caps, and brides and young women wore crowns of flowers and gold
embroidered caps. Menswear of linen consisted of "rubine"
(shirts and trousers), worn in the Pannonian way (the shirt was
not tucked into the trousers). Decoration of the menswear was as
prominent as that of the women's attire. Among the various
floral designs, the motif of the shock of wheat done in gold
embroidery was distinctive as a symbol of fertility.
In winter, both women's and men's attire was complemented by
articles of clothing made of heavy cloth and fur. On white, dark
and brown cloth, motifs took the form of cut shapes of cloth and
homespun sewn in, and leather motifs were sewn onto leather.
These stitched-in forms in combination with bright-coloured
embroidery contributed to the liveliness of vests, peasant
jackets, cloaks and sheepskin coats.
As a whole, all these types of traditional costume are
characterised by uniqueness in creativity and appearance,
considering the wide variety of styles in mountainous, coastal,
hilly and plains regions, each with its specific conditions for
folk life and folk culture. Based on the age-old experience of
the people and on their needs and know-how, this tradition was
manifested in the visual harmony of basic constructive elements
which were created by the harmonious uniformity and placement of
the ornamental compositions. In their artistic character and
aesthetic value, the traditional costumes of the Serbs in the
nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth century
are at the very pinnacle of traditional forms of the collective
folk spirit, not only in this milieu but even far beyond it.
Kabanica, an outer garment with short,
closed sleeves in
which shepherds carried food and other things instead of in a
bag; Srem, Vojvodina, nineteenth century.
Ethnographic Museum,
Belgrade
From the end of the nineteenth century onward, when the
traditional means of dress gave up their place to the urban
attire of Europe, traditional costumes essentially became a
thing of cultural-historical value. Thereafter, they were worn
in daily life only on special occasions, in certain closed
milieus or on certain festive occasions.
|
