Traditional festive costume – Biga Pomak / Turkey – young girl (C). - Gallery

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Traditional festive costume – Biga Pomak / Turkey – young girl (C).

Posted by Jean-Marie Criel on February 12, 2016 at 2:41pm

A traditional festive costume for (not yet betrothed) young women. From Pomak villages near Biga (Çanakkale prov.). Mid-20th c. This setting (‘C’) occurs when the loosely worn headscarf is taken off (which happens as soon as possible, according to Islamic decency), revealing both the triangular waist cloth and the lavishly adorned ‘imitation hair’ (black cotton plaits, falling down on the back) in their full glory. (Kavak Costume Collection - Antwerpen/Belgium).

Comments

Jean-Marie Criel February 12, 2016 at 3:49pm

The 'Biga Pomaks’ are Bulgarian Muslims, who emigrated from southern Bulgaria to their actual settlements in the Biga district (Çanakkale province, NW Anatolia) in 1878 (and following years).

There is still a large Pomak minority living in Bulgaria nowadays (in the Rhodopes Mountains).
Peter Hoesli February 13, 2016 at 9:52am

The embroideries must have taken ages to complete - just magnificent! With kind regards. Peter
Jean-Marie Criel February 13, 2016 at 5:56pm

Thanks, Peter, for the appreciation. And yes: since we bought 10 of these costumes (of various quality, in the 1987-1991 period, when the Bursa market was flooded with them), in order to use them during performances of our folk dance group, we had to do considerable restorations on some pieces. Which allowed us to estimate the time it would take for skilled workers to produce a full costume (of the quality shown on these pictures): 1500 hours (which is a conservative estimation)… The costumes are a remnant of the time, that Muslim women had to be constantly busy (“Idleness is the Devil’s cushion” – a mode of life obviously more valid for women than for men, in traditional Anatolian culture).

PS: Traditional women’s handicrafts had other (more significant) aspects too, fortunately.

Kind greetings, JM.