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Traditional Costume in Urban Dalmatia
Mirjana Kolumbić
Abstract
The traditional style of clothing which was used over an extended period of time in certain geographical areas is called national costume. Clothing has been an identifying factor for man since the cave-dwelling times when he covered himself with animal skins. In truth, clothes do not make a man, but they do reveal something about him. In many cases clothes tell us which climatic area a person comes from, how he is placed economically, what his social status is, how much taste he has, what times and artistic style he belongs to, and often his ethnic origins. The urban style of clothing described here is that of the towns of central Dalmatia: Split, Hvar, Kaštela and Trogir, also from Korčula and Orebić. It dates from the middle of the 19th century, and in most of the towns was preserved up to the Second World War. This region belongs to the Adriatic ethnographic zone within which clothing belongs to the urban style of dress. This urban style is a late version of European 19th century fashion, which came to these parts through maritime links and trading, and emanated from east and west. Quite often the clothes are stitched from imported materials, with decorative edgings, lace and various embellishments (jewellery, fans, hats and other decorative elements).
Venice had the greatest influence on how people dressed in this region, both in style and in the use of colour and decoration. Many influences, especially in menswear, came from the east, such as the knee breeches called “brageše” which emerged in Dubrovnik, Hvar and Krk, each place having its specific version. This was also the case for the long cylindrical headgear, known as the levantine cap, which was characteristic on Hvar. Also from the east was the long sash which held in the men’s nautical style trousers and the white shirt with stitched collar and gathered cuffs which was worn in this region from renaissance times. The costumes of the region underwent an interesting linking of influences. Women’s clothing was influenced by Venice and later by Spain in the Counter-Reformation, so it was more of the aristocratic, town type, whereas the men’s was more influenced from the east or the Dalmatian hinterland (Split, Trogir, or Kaštela male dress with the characteristic red cap which differs very slightly different from place to place). This conjunction of urban and rural influences would lead one to expect a mismatch between male and female dress styles, but this was not so. On the contrary, the admixture of different influences created exceptional harmony in the costumes of this area. Even though the towns were open to outside influences through their overseas and mainland links, almost all of them took on those influences and modified them according to their own particular traditions and taste. That is how it came about that, in a relatively small geographical area, there were several really elegant town costumes which were very similar in style, and yet were individual and different from each other.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
129875
URI
Publication date:
26.11.2014.
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