Traditional dress of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina which is commonly known as Bosnia is a fabulous state of the Eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. This beautiful landlocked country is very rich in its traditions, customs, folklore and culture and probably the best thing in the Bosnian culture is thetraditional dress of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A Bosnian couple in their traditional costumes 

Most of the traditional costumes of Bosnia and Herzegovina were made of wool, flax, hemp and leather. The rural population of Bosnia and Herzegovina loved the traditional attires were mostly stitched by themselves or the professional craftsmen.

Some Bosnians in traditional dresses 

At the start of the nineteenth century the cotton and wool was introduced as a precious fabric for preparing the traditional costume and this new trend was adopted by the both rural and urbanBosnians. The favorite color of the Bosnians for the fabric was white but black and dark blue was also liked by them.

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         A wonderful portrait of a traditional Bosnian girl 

Due to the geographical division of Bosnia, the traditional dress of Bosnia and Herzegovina was categorized in three main groups that make three types of the rural folklore costumes of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dinaric costumes /costumes of the Western Bosnia and Herzegovina/, Central Bosnian costumes that include the Eastern Bosnia and the third type make the Costumes of Posavina.

The traditional dress of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also developed by the Croatian and the Serbian influences. Presently the people around the Sarajevo region love the traditional peasant attire.

The Bosnian women wear dzecerma (home-made relief linen shirts), curdia (richly embroidered vests) and long white dresses. Their heads are covered with cenar (colorful kerchiefs). Men have slightly different type of shirts and vests, black trousers made of heavy cloth and embroidered cap, called krmez. They wear the opanci.

Similarly the women of Herzegovina region use home-made linen dresses with darker embroidery around sleeves, weaved fringed apron, dark-blue zobun made of heavy cloth hemmed with dark-red narrow stripes and a cap on the head. Men’s costume consists of white trousers, long gunj, dark-red weaved belt and also a cap on the head. They wear the opanci.

In the festive occasions, wedding ceremonies and national festivals the traditional dress of Bosnia and Herzegovina stuns for its sophisticated design and elegance. It makes the rich cultural heritageof Bosnia and Herzegovina more fascinating and attractive.