Man’s wedding costume from Galičnik

This costume came from the widow of the man who wore it for their wedding in 1910.
The dark red under-jacket has an inner flap across the front and is decorated with metal-thread braiding. In her book, St Peter’s Day in Galičnik (1935), Olive Lodge noted a long wool sash wound round the waist, over the trousers which were ‘kept on by means of a narrow leather belt threaded through their tops and drawn very tightly, extremely low down, round the hips, so low it is a wonder they do not drop off.’ The trousers were made by village tailors from locally woven wool cloth.

Text from Eth Doc 1892, no. 27a: 'Made by men village tailors from home produced plum coloured woollen cloth, red and black braid, and purchased gilt braid and wire, and brass 'gunshot' buttons. The jacket is lined, except for the back panel, with white, or red and white manufactured cotton.
The back panel is of thick felted cloth, the remainder of the garment is of a finer and better quality. The two front panels, 'poli', are linked by a panel which goes across the chest from right to left (as worn). It is attached to the centre of the right panel, both inside the panels. The centre panel has a curve at the top, decorated with rows of black, red, and gilt braid: the decoration continues in a reduced manner down the edge and without the gilt braid. The narrow collar 'kori' is linked to the edges of the front panels and has rows of black, red, and gilt braid around the neck and has an additional two rows of gilt braid on each side of the front opening. The jacket fastens at the bottom with two buttons and braid loops. There is a narrow panel inserted at each side to give extra width, 'kligre'. The sleeves, 'rokavi', are set in at right angles. All seams and edges are covered with black braid. The cuff opening, about one third of the sleeve length, has a row of thirteen buttons on one side and a flap with black braid loops on the other. This is purely ornamental. On the outer edge of the sleeve there is a motif, a symbolic frog, 'kolčaci', worked with rows of black and a row of red braid, with the head of the frog in gilt wire. The frog is a rain charm. The edge of the sleeve opening and cuff are covered in gilt braid. There is also a twig design, 'polajki', in twisted gilt wire and black thread. The jacket has both European and Turkish influences. This type of jacket was also worn in other isolated villages in the Šar Planina mountains in south west Macedonia, the border area with Albania. Other villages include Lazarapolje, and Gari and are inhabited by Mijaks, of Albanian origin.
Religion: Macedonian Orthodox.'
For other parts of this attire see: 53: jacket (short sleeves); 54: trousers; 55: sash; 56: cap; 57: coat; 58: hat.
Information supplementary to Eth Doc:
This costume was acquired by the donor from the widow of the man who wore it for their wedding in 1910. The Galičnik wedding ceremony and groom's costume is decribed in detail in Olive Lodge, 'Serbian Wedding Customs: St Peter's day in Galičnik', The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 13, No. 39 (April 1935), pp.650-73. For the man's wedding costume from Galicnik, see 'The National Dresses of Macedonia', Ethnographic Museum, Skopje 1963, pls. 27-29.
Text from Lodge 1935, p. 651: 'Men's Clothes.—In olden times all the men wore a long, full, white home-spun coat. This is nowadays worn only by the old men. Over it is a short, brown woollen jacket reaching to the waist, with elbow sleeves, and a very deep collar which can be hooked together in bad weather to form a hood. Nowadays press buttons begin to fasten its edges together, instead of the old-time hooks and loops. Under this is worn a long-sleeved waistcoat; the sleeves below the elbow are often made of hand-woven material, and embroidered in variegated circling patterns and stripes. The upper part of the sleeves is made of thinner inferior stuff, as it is always hidden by the short sleeves of the brown jacket. A brightly-coloured sash, in which red predominates, is swathed several times round the waist outside the white coat, just below the ending of the jacket. The trousers are full, and decorated with patterns in black braid. They are kept on by means of a narrow leather belt threaded through their tops and drawn very tightly, extremely low down, round the hips, so low that it is a wonder they do not drop off. Still, the belt is always pulled so very tight that it keeps them firm. Leggings are made of the same white cloth, with braid up the back. A low reddish-brown or black cap, like those worn in Hercegovina, from which depends a long black tassel, covers the head.'
The Galičnik wedding rituals are also described in Julijana Vuco (ed.) 'Yugoslav Folk Tradition' (n.d.), p. 89: On July 12 in Galičnik and on August 2 and 28 in Lazaropolje friends and relations gathered to take part in the wedding festivities. ... It sometimes happened that twenty or more weddings would take place on the same day, twenty wedding processions moving along the steep, winding paths of Galicnik. These wedding festivities with their ritual songs and ancient customs lasted a whole week. One of the many rituals observed on these occasions was a ceremony the bridegroom was expected to perform on his wedding day. Early in the morning, accompanied by musicians, he would visit the family graves to seek the blessing of his ancestors. When he returned from the cemetery he had to undergo the ritual of 'shaving the bridegroom' which was performed by one of his friends.'
For further discussion of mens' costumes and mens wedding rituals, see Olive Lodge, 'Džamutra, or the Bridegroom: Some Marriage Customs in the Villages around Tetovo in Serbian Macedonia or Southern Serbia (Part One), Folklore, Vol. 46, No. 3, (Sep., 1935), pp. 244-267.