DepartmentTextiles-Europe
Wedding dress ensemble
NameEnsemble
Artist
Artist unrecorded
Dateca. 1910
Place madeSkopska Blatiya, North Macedonia, Balkan Peninsula/Southeast Europe, Europe
MediumCotton, wool, metal, metallic thread, silk, plastic, glass beads
Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, mixed MNM and IFAF collections.
FA numbers: Gift of Bernard W. Ziobro, The Ronald Wixman/Stephen Glaser Collection, IFAF Collection, Gift of the Macedonian Arts Council
Object numberV.2018.1.1-9
ProvenanceThe Macedonian Arts Council, from 2007-2010, presented as a gift to the Museum of International Folk Art 25 ensembles of multiple pieces. While a small number of the pieces were purchased, the majority of the costumes were donated to the Arts Council by collectors based in the United States and Macedonia
DescriptionThis ensemble features a chemise with colorful and metallic embroidery. The model also wears two sleeveless wool jackets called elek. The elek replaced an older garment called saya. Although both unmarried and married women regularly wore the saya until the early twentieth century, it remained in use longer as a special occasion garment. Women living further east in the Shop region wore the elek as well, a garment that probably developed from the yelek, a sleeved or sleeveless jacket that was worn in Ottoman Turkey since at least 1618. The head scarf, or krpa, is an example of Ottoman embroidery, which often decorated towels, sashes, and other types of clothing and textiles in the Empire (Young Brides, Old Treasures: Macedonian Embroidered Dress, edited by Bobbie Sumberg, 2011).Parts of Ensemble: A.2008.7.52, Under Jacket: Elek, c. 1910
Parts of Ensemble: A.2008.7.54, Apron: Skutina, c. 1920
Parts of Ensemble: A.2010.6.16, Chemise: Kosula cernetica, c.1910
Parts of Ensemble: A.2010.6.19, Scarf: Krpa, c. 1910
Parts of Ensemble: A.2010.6.21, Outer-Vest: Kurdya, c. 1910
Parts of Ensemble: A.2010.76.37, Flower bouquet: Flower bouquet, 20th century
Parts of Ensemble: FA.1972.26.3 B, Jacket: Elak, c. 1910
Parts of Ensemble: FA.1972.26.3 D, Sash: Pojas, c.1910
Parts of Ensemble: FA.2008.23.20, Belt ornament: Kustek, c. 1920
