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This floral motif, embroidered in floss silks and metal thread, decorates one corner of the stiffened gauze square which forms the headcovering of a wedding dress worn by a bride in a village near Tetovo. Until recently this area was part of Serbia, but it is now in Macedonia. The wedding outfit, shown below, follows a style traditional for at least a century in this area of the Balkans, but which by 1930, the date when its owner sold it, had been largely abandoned in favour of clothes in the style of Western Europe. The outfit was bought by the wife of a British Red Cross official who was working in Serbia administering international aid following widespread destruction there caused by the First World War.

The outfit is formed of layers, some of which would have been new garments, embroidered by the bride herself for the occasion, and some are family heirlooms. The floor-length robe of heavy white cotton has deep borders of embroidery in black silk, similar in technique to embroideries of Roumania and Bulgaria, Serbia's neighbours. The fine wool cloth waistcoat with its gold braid applique (largely covered by the white cotton sleeveless coat worn over it) would have been an old family garment handed down, and its shape and decoration suggest that it came from Turkey. The embroidery on the head square is also shows Turkish influence, including the use of gold thread, and the choice of bright pink as a colour. Clothes and embroideries of the Balkan regions reflect very clearly the conflicting influences of race and religion in this politically volatile area where East meets West.

Full item descriptions:

"wedding dress" [1943.45/15]

Related Themes:

Wedding Dresses
Embroidery