Because today, March 8, is the International Women's Day, firstly I want to wish to all the representatives of the fair sex who follow this blog to have many happy years. For the same reason, today I will post four postcards depicting women from four continents. The first one is from Europe, more accurate from Macedonia, and show young women in beautiful traditional costumes. The national costumes in Macedonia (created over a long period of time), preserved the traces of old cultural influences, and in their way of development fit the elements of old Balkan, Slav and Oriental culture.
Above all the product of domestic textile manufacture, the national costumes are characterized by richness and ornamentation. Especially Western Macedonia, divided into smaller regional units with different ethnic characteristics is a real mosaic of various costumes. Macedonians had paid a particular attention to the design and decoration of their clothes, so that national costumes and jewellery are the most expressive and the most numerous examples of their traditional creativity. Decorative embroidery, characteristic in the forms, technically complex and of picturesque colours give special expression and distinction to the costumes. Mostly made of wool and silk, they impresses with its polychrome where all the shades of red dominate. Light red is particularly characteristic of the embroidery of the Prilep, Bitola, Debar and Ohrid regions. The women's gowns from Dolen Polog and Skopska Crna Gora are decorated with black moulded embroidery which reminds the early Christian textile decor.
Macedonia's traditional, intricately embroidered folk costumes include garments made of coarse, tightly woven wool yarn. Women wear ankle-length dresses, a wide apron, a white linen shirt, a waistcoat which overlaps at the waist (elek), a belt (pojas), which protect women from outer danger, and a head scarf, the predominant colors being red and white. Certainly are from Galičnik, a village in the western part of Macedonia, known mainly for its Wedding Festival, about which I wrote here.
About the stamp
To my joy, Ana had used a stamp with the same theme, belonging to the series Folk Costumes, which was issued on March 1st, 2011, and contains five stamps:
• Folk Costume of Dolni Polog (6 MKD)
• Albanian Folk Costumes of Skopje (12 MKD)
• Folk Costume of Rijeka (18 MKD)
• Folk Costume of Skopska Crna Gora (30 MKD) - It's on this postcard
• Folk Costume (30 MKD)
References
Folklore - Macedonia Timeless
Traditional Macedonian Costumes - scribd.com
sender: Ana Racić (direct swap)
sent from Skopje (Macedonia), on 22.10.2012
photo: Nace Popov
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