The bride is dressed in a long shirt, embroidered on the sleeves with the ancient "zapeski" - carnations, and the sleeves and skirts are framed with hand-knitted lace. On the shirt she is wearing a “zabun” made of factory cotton fabric - red base with white stripes. The cut is sleeveless, open at the front, with folding fronts and a deep bosom, length above the knees, and the end is trimmed with a strip of black velvet.
The trapezoidal shape of the garment from the waist down is achieved with high wedges on the sides, and the lack of sets gives a slender outline of the figure.
The bosom is deeply cut, oval, richly trimmed with braid. It is covered with a patterned breastplate and braids in white and yellow. At the wedding, as a ritual outerwear, on the “zabun” a dark blue frieze (“sinyavitsa”) was put on and it is an obligatory bridal wedding dress. It was worn as usual for a certain period of time after the wedding (from 40 days to 1 year), and the young brides wore it for the bigger holidays. This is a festive sleeveless frieze, which is placed on the upper garment, sewn from a nice dark blue baize, hence its name.
From the waist down on all sides it is decorated with feathered wedges with slits. Its ends are long to turn back to the "opretulkya" to see the beauty of the “zabun”, “aladja” or “anteria”. Around the shoulders and entirely at the edges the frieze is surrounded by two rows of braids. The armpits on both sides are often decorated with green stripes - “archove” and embroidery. This outer garment is also a sign of recognizing the woman whether she is already married or still a girl.
A red belt is fastened at the top, which tightens the woman's waist, but also supports the skirts of the “sinyavitsa” facing backwards. On it they tied a "futen preskutnik" - with horizontal multicolored stripes, dotted with geometric elements in them, whose role was to protect the bride and future mother. She was the main bearer of ornamentation and symbolism in women's clothing.
The bride from Razlog wore a velvet or embroidered bead belt on top, fastened with silver wrought round buckles, which are part of the "engagement “mena” " (engagement gifts) on the male side.
In cold weather and on holidays, the woman wore a “kontosh” from blue frieze with long sleeves, inverted lids and a fox-skinned front. She is wearing white knitted socks with a weight on her foot and toes and is wearing Wallachian slippers with a tassel.
A silver plate (tepelak) with coins applied on the front is sewn on the head on a small cap. This is a metal piece of jewelry that is believed to protect a woman's fountain, because from the birth of a man it is an open soft part of the skull, which can receive the divine energy, but also the negative one. As a result, the silver plates are placed on the top of the head, whence their name is made - “tepelatsi” , and additional ornaments - metal or beads, strengthen the protective function by opening the "evil eyes".
The hat is covered with 4 towels, loosely slung over the shoulders. Below, the head is covered with a "kushak - sindzhirliyz" in red, to protect the young bride's head from evil, followed by a belt in sunny yellow to feel the warmth of family life, followed by dark blue to know that there are also difficult moments that she has to overcome. The finish is with a green stamped “shamiya” and a wreath of boxwood to know that a man's love is like the infinity of green forests and grasses in the Razlog Mountains.
After marriage, women for a period of time continued to wear the ritual parts of their clothing when going out, one to show their new marital status and the other to protect them from "bad thoughts and “uroki”."
The bride is known by the embroidery of the “govyalnitsa” and the”klanyalnitsa”, by the richly decorated “saya”, frieze or “jube”. It is recognizable by the decoration with a green wreath on the head, by the hat with “tepelak” and money and by the few towels on the head. The bride wears a wedding towel in her girdle, with which she covers her hands during the ceremony and with which she bows to relatives and friends.
Iliana Moneva from Razlog put on the costume.
This costume is owned by a family from Razlog.
The project "Study of the specifics and richness of national costumes from the Razlog region in the light of cultural diversity" is realized with the financial support of the National Culture Fund under the program "Cultural Heritage".
In fulfillment of the goals of the project we present some of the most beautiful traditional costumes, typical for the Razlog valley in the last 2 centuries.
We offer our sincere thanks to our hosts from the Historical Museum - Razlog, and to all local people who helped with the realization.
Special thanks to all participants and team members who took their time and with useful information, knowledge and valuable advice made possible the work on the project.
A reverence to the girls and boys from the town of Razlog, who stood in front of our camera and with their enthusiasm, youth and beauty revived for a new life the most beautiful costumes from old Mehomiya.
Kommentare