Serbian clothing pattern in VuÄŤitrn,
late 19th and first half of the 20th century
Traditional Women's Clothing in Central Kosovo
The basic garment is a linen shirt in the form of a straight-cut tunic with sleeves, which in the Metohija-Kosovo belt develops into a wide bell-shaped garment with several inserted wedges. The exquisitely made embroidery is found on visible parts – sleeves, chest with a collar, and along the shirt's edge. Woolen yarn, often in several shades of red, was used for embroidery. On the Kosovo shirt, other colors are incorporated, along with silver and gold thread, as well as beads, sequins, and tassels.
Among the upper garments worn, particularly notable are the very widespread short vests – jelek, jeleče, gunjić, characteristic of Kosovo costume.
Headgear, mainly consisting of trvelji, vitice, sapleci, komare for married women, is made up of two braided woolen plaits that intertwine with the hair or just bend beside the ears. On such combed hair, a towel-shaped headgear called ottoz was laid, folded in a particular way.
The distinctive skirt, a fundamental defining element of the women's traditional costume in Kosovo, is a characteristic skirt shaped from two transversely joined poles, gathered and open along its entire length, known as bojÄŤe.
Various decorative forms of jewelry enriched the clothing – pins, ukošnjaci, earrings, beautifully shaped diadem-like headbands. Common were necklaces and breastplates, bracelets and rings, as well as the widespread pafte – belt buckle. A known adornment for brides in the Metohija-Kosovo area was the coin belt, composed of brass plates with inserted colored stones and agates. Strands of coins and bead ornaments with geometric patterns, which women wove, were also significant.
Footwear consisted of opanci made from tanned pigskin, often decorated on the front with cotton braiding.
Over the hair, into which women plaited trvelji – black woolen braids above the ears, a linen hoop ottoz and a towel with short fringes facing the face were placed. The long, straight-cut shirt made from hemp, linen, or cotton fabric – with wedge-shaped expansions in the skirt area and flat wide sleeves – stands out for its embroidery, considered one of the most beautiful Serbian embroideries.
The motifs in the embroidery on the shirt are representations of crosses, diamonds, hooks, stylized flowers, triangles, and other geometric shapes. Besides dark red, purple, green, dark blue, and black wool, gold or white metal thread, as well as sequins, were used in the embroidery. The sleeves are bordered with narrow linen or cotton lace called kombe. The short skirt bojče also featured richly embroidered motifs in metal thread, often adorned with sequins. The wide belt, bisizan, perkalia, kolić, is decorated on the front with geometric patterns made from woolen and cotton yarn and metal thread.
