Young Brides, Old Treasures: Macedonian Embroidered Dress

Macedonian ethnic dress has it all – it is full of meaning and significance, visually stunning, quite possibly overwhelming, and embodies the skill, expectations, hopes and fears, creative use of materials, and aesthetic sense of the individuals who made and wore it. Saturated with cultural meaning, these many-layered ensembles rank among the best examples of textile art anywhere.

The exhibition Young Brides, Old Treasures: Macedonian Embroidered Dress is on line. Until the mid-twentieth century, Macedonian women wove, embroidered, and wore magnificent ensembles of dress that indicated to a knowing eye what village and region they came from and where they were in the cycle of life. From puberty through betrothal, marriage, child bearing, and old age, dress changed to reflect status change. Historic ensembles, no longer made but preserved in the museum, also illustrate the tumultuous political history of the region; pan-Slavic, Byzantine, and Ottoman influences can be seen in embroidered motifs, materials, garments, and jewelry. The outstanding collection the Museum has dates primarily from 1890 to 1920 with some later pieces from the 1950s. The exhibit featrured 27 mannequins in multi-layered ensembles as well as individual garments and pieces of jewelry belonging to Museum of International Folk Art; the Collection was made complete with a large donation from the Macedonian Arts Council so that it is today the largest and most comprehensive museum collection in the United States. The exhibition was complemented by a catalog of the same name.