National dresses from Veles

The spirit of the folklor abundance of the Macedonian people has grown over the centuries in the Veles region, too, reflecting it on the dresses that outlived the time, the symbol of the national creation. To this very day, the national dresses from the northern Veles region villages have remained to be the most distinctive national dresses in the Veles surroundings. The men’s dress was made from white canvass, consisting of a shirt, underpants, klashna vest (hand-woven fabric), baggy-kneed salwars, breeches with coverings made from white and black woolen fabric (shayak), klashna overcoat and cotton tunic worn with the vest. On their legs men wore socks twined around with woolen fabric or coverings (a type of klashna-gaiters worn over the lower part of the legs). The women’s dress consists of cotton shirt embroidered on the lower part of the sleeves, Kjurdija (vest-like garment) made from white and black klashna with lengths reaching to the middle of the lower leg, dzunica (yarn belt), striped-canvas vest, and apron weaved on red basis. On their heads women wore scarves in different colours. Specific hairstyle feature were the hair extensions attached to the hair tails. In the opening decades of the 20th century, the women’s national costume was being replaced with a dress called iv’stanki (two-piece garment), consisting of skirt and a blouse made exclusively from silk or satin. This dress was known as kroaze. On their heads women wore scarves and shoes on their feet.