The Folk Costumes of the Prilep and Bitola Plains

The Folk Costume of the region Pole (Prilep and Bitola) is a large flat territory in the central part of the Brsyak ethnic region. In the past it was famous for the number of clothing items and their adornment – it was consiedered one of the most embellished costumes and the heaviest cstume that women wore in Macedonia.

The long tunic-like shirts are ornamented with densely embroidered motifs where the red color dominates in all shades. The opulence and diversity of motifs, their congruency and precision make them very characteristic and one of the most radiant and most creative in Macedonia.

The summer saya and the winter woolen white klashenik decorated with embroidered motifs, glitter décor and beads, the woolen interlaced ornamented apron – opregach intact in a congruency of colors, adornment method and ornaments complement the entire costume.

The valanka is a winter clothing item made of a thick black klashna embellished with specific items used to decorate such as braids, shiriti and beads. Woolen, knitted, patterned socks and kaltsi (woolen socks without their bottom part) with opintsi make up the foot wear.

The bridal costume is most attractive and impressive with a specially decorated bridal apron chultar, the accessory kotsle made of black woolen fringes, the embroidered head cover obrus whose woven ends are made up of geometrical ornaments and fringes and the richly embroidered head piece used for covering - sokay. The opulent folk embroidery is impressive in the design of the clothes with an extensive selection of forms and the dominant red color. Even the imposing, diverse and abundant national jewelry complements the enitre costume adding a special embellishment.

The male costume of the Prilep and Bitola Plains consists of a number of items: the aba – made of a white woolen fabric, a shirt decorated with embroidery, a jamadan made of black klashna, a sash made of a dark red wool, as well as a knee-length resachka – an upper clothing item made of a black klashna. What is characteristic for this region is the use of the apron unechka as a part of the male costume. The winter male costume is entirely made of a woolen fabric shaek which used to be white, then black and as a fashion trend especially for the younger people in dark red. The many clothing items that are a part of this costume – the mintan, vest jamadan, the bechvi decorated with black optoki, complement each other with the patterned woolen sash. Woolen knitted socks and leather shoes are worn on the feet and a shubara made of sheepskin is worn on the head.