NATIONAL COSTUMES OF ZLATIBOR
Author Snezana Tomić, ethnologist, museum adviser
National costume of Zlatibor region has not been specifically studied so far. However, the wider area of Užice was studied, and it was one of the reasons to collect necessary material and write a book on folk costumes in the immediate area, i.e. in the Zlatibor region.
The book, based on available data, presents the development of folk costumes in Zlatibor villages from the mid-nineteenth century until the 1970s, when it practically got lost; there is reference to its origin, changes in pattern, material and method of decoration, similarities and differences in relation to neighboring regions, as well as the process of designing the costumes. A separate section contains guidelines for its reconstruction and application in stage presentations, which enables its further duration, but in a different context.
In the period covered by this book – from the middle of the nineteenth century until the 1970s, one can, on the basis of relevant material, track national costume in Zlatibor villages through its variants that emerged under the influence of various factors. The oldest variant of the traditional costume of the researched space is one characteristic of the Dinar type costumes. This is followed by versions created under the influence of Šumadija costumes and in the changed conditions of life during and between the big wars. In the period after World War II, which was characterized by great economic, social and cultural changes, there was the growing influence of contemporary fashion, whose style was completely accepted even in clothing of the rural population.
