This costume is called "klashnik", it came to Razlog from the Bulgarians - settlers from the villages of Banitsa, Karakoy, Gorno Brody, Serres (today Greece), in the period around 1920.
It consists of a long shirt (koshulya), which in the past reached the woman's ankle. The fabric for the „koshulya” is woven with a width of about 35 cm - from hand-spun cotton for warp and weft on a horizontal loom. „Koshulyata” has thick embroidery with geometric ornaments on the skirts. The predominant color is red, and as additional colors are used blue, yellow, brown, green. There is also needwork on the ends of the sleeves, which is similar to embroidery. The embroidery has thick cotton threads - the so-called contour filling stitch. The same ornamentation was once performed on a loom.
With a wide open bosom of the outer garment, a breastplate appears. It is made of a cotton or velvet piece of fabric, which is hung with a string around the neck. The outer garment is called a „klashnik“, which is made of shayak. Most often it is sleeveless, with strongly protruding wedges and ornaments of multicolored braids on the shoulder curve, armpits and lower bosom. The braids are in seven colors, beautifully arranged next to each other. From the bottom of the skirts is sewn "pala" - a strip of velvet piece with black braid.
In cold weather, the „klashnik“ becomes an outer garment and is complemented by sleeves made of velvet and ending with fine lace. The sleeves are tied with ties or a thin piece of cloth that is transferred over the shoulders. The klashnik is girded with a belt - black, in stripes: brown, green, yellow. Under the apron is placed a colored rectangular cloth, wrapped with a very fine furket, ending with aspri. It is belted with a narrow woolen apron in a predominantly red color.
An integral part of the women's costume are the various types of metal jewelry. Double-sided silver breast buttons are hung on the „klashnik“, with a filigree one at one end and an eagle's head at the other, fastened with several chains. An interesting symbol is the eagle, which is common in women's jewelry for the chest or waist (buckles). It is still debated whether it is associated only with Christianity, as a symbol of the Constantinople Patriarchate, or with the hopes of the Bulgarians for liberation from Russia, for whose coat of arms it was chosen. Nevertheless, the eagle has always been perceived as the strongest and most freedom-loving bird in our lands, especially since it emphasizes Christian religious affiliation, because animal images are forbidden in the Qur'an.
There is a belt with buckles on the waist. Typical of settlers are large round or oblong in shape, most often made of silver.
The veil is with a woolen headscarf called a "sindzirliya", with small flowers and fringe at the edges. It is wrapped under the neck, with the ends diverging under the neck and tied at the nape of the neck.
Socks are a ubiquitous means of footwear. They are knitted from thinly spun white wool, decorated with a colorful motif and are red on the toes and heels.
Elitsa Parparunova put on this costume.
The costume is owned by the heirs of settlers from the village of Banitsa, Greece.
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.