The traditional Bulgarian
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costume is one of the
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most typical elements
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of the Bulgarian folk culture. It
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is the traditional clothing which
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has a specific meaning in both
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everyday and festival activities
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of the Bulgarians. Each region
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of Bulgaria has its own costume
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with unique, typical motifs.
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A specific code is weaved into the
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ornamentation of the Bulgarian
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costumes - in the past the Bulgarians
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used to rely on it for information about
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the family of those, who wore them,
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and the areas of the country, where they
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lived. Each costume had its message.
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The Bulgarian costume contains
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many elements and motifs from the
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pagan beliefs and legends. No one
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wore clothes with fully symmetrical
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decorations, because Bulgarians
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believed that full symmetry was a
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diabolical creation. Therefore, elements
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were often added and removed, so
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that no symmetry should exist. Those
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were intentional mistakes in order to
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Costumes are
divided into
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male and
female. Female
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costumes are
more colorful
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and interesting
than male
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costumes;
however the
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male costumes
also attract
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interest with
their typical elements
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Bulgarian women make their
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costumes all by themselves. As early
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as the age of five, little girls were
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starting learning to spin wheels,
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sew, weave, prepare the trousseau
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for their weddings, and from
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their twelfth year to the wedding,
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they were learned to embroider
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- this was the highest skill of all
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domestic crafts. Embroidery used
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to have great symbolic value. It
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was believed to protect the human
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body from evil spells and spirits.
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People believed that cutting a part
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of the embroidery of one’s garment
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would blaze a trail for the evil spirits
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and make the person vulnerable.
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Bulgarian women were allowed to
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embroider only until their wedding
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day - after that they were having
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the right to do it again only when
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their own daughters become 12
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to do it.
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Commonly, female costumes are
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divided into:
two-apron, tunics,
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Sayan and
one-apron clothes.
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The male
costumes are divided
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into
white-cloth and black cloth
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The two-apron female costume
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is widespread in Northern
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Bulgaria. It consists of a shirt,
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two aprons (front and back)
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and a belt. A wide variety of this
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type of national costumes can
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be seen in the Regional History
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Museum in Pleven. The male
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costumes in Pleven area are of
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the white-cloth type and consist
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of a belt, a tunic-like shirt, pants
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Most of the decoration of
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the Sayan clothing is at the
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neckline and the sleeves. The
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costume consists of colorful
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Saya (overcoat), jacket, skirt and
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belt. The Saya costume used to
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be widespread in southern and
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southwestern
Bulgaria.
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The tunic is typical for
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southeastern Thrace. It consists
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of shirt, tunic, apron and belt;
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the typical decoration is most
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noticeable at the foot of the
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The one–apron costume can
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be seen mostly in the Rhodope
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area. It consists of a shirt and
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an apron. The black-cloth male
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costume, which is typical for
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the Middle Rhodope Mountain
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region, consists of a tunic-like
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shirt, wool trousers in a dark
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A rich collection of costumes,
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typical for the Middle Rhodope
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region, can be seen in the
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Regional History Museum in
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Smolyan. More information on
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costumes in various regions and
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the symbolic meaning of the
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elements and the decorations
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on them can be obtained in the
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Bulgarian museums. Almost
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each urban museum in the
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country has an ethnographic
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collection, which represents the
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typical costumes of the region.
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Extremely rich collections from
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all over the country are stored
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in the National Ethnographic
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Museum at the Bulgarian
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Academy of Science and the
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