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Brides' wedding costume from Zornitsa village, Yambol region, early 20th century


model: Anna Yancheva

The costume is from the Fund of RHM Yambol.


In the presented form, the costume is worn by the bride in the first week after the wedding. It consists of a shirt, a sukman (pinafore), a waistband, two aprons, a belt, two headscar and a bridal kiurk.

The shirt is made of white cotton canvas with colored kenari. It is decorated with vesed small figurines around the neck and a multicolored, hand-knitted lace sewn at the end of the sleeves.

The sukman has a rich emboidered decoration on the skirts and is known as a kitchen popolnyak soukman (pinafore). It is made of woven black woolen fabric. The deep triangular neckline is decorated with an appliquéd strip of three multicolored strips. Stylized plant ornaments, embroidered with multicolored threads, form a waisband, 37 cm high.

The two aprons to the suit are woolen, red colored. Two techniques were used in their weaving – babchena and digana board, the top of the aprons is monochrome and the bottom – colorful, with woven geometric shapes located horizontally. The upper apron, which is shorter, is known as a rabkite/ because of the motifs woven into four of the horizontal fields/.

A compulsory outerwear to the bride's suit is the bridal kiurk. It is sewn from thick black woolen fabric, cut to the side and padded on the inside with lamb skins. The garment is with leather from fox around the ends.

It is presented bride's covering up "turposh". The hair is covered with two cotton headscarces – the bottom is red and the upper white. At the front end of the red headscart is tucked into the finished "turposh" – a cotton piece of fabric about 20 cm long, at both ends of which long threads hang. The threads are crossed under the braids and tied behind the "turposh". A white cloth is s swept over the top so that the entire "turposh" is visible on the front. The two extreme braids are pulled out from under the cloth and stabbed over it. Under the bridal "turposh", on the forehead of the bride, is placed resa – lowed black and white beads, and in the middle – a gold coin. The bride's decoration is complemented by a kosichnik /foreign hair/, plitnyak /coin ings/, silver needles, flowers, chalk, etc.



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