The main characteristic of the Macedonian costume is the embroidery with luxurious and geometric patterns, srma and braids, as well as jewelry made of metal, silver, beads and fruits of nature. As a characteristic ornament, especially for women's costumes, mostly embroidered were the shirts and headbands. The embroideries were developed and nurtured on the entire territory of Macedonia. The color is dominated by the red color, although green, yellow and dark blue are also present.
A characteristic of the Macedonian embroidery is the densely embroidered surfaces and specific ornaments and motifs. The Macedonian national embroidery clearly testifies the creative originality of its creator - Macedonian woman.
Conveying continuously from generation to generation, according to the essence and belief of the Macedonian people in continuation of traditions, Macedonian embroidery in its development reached the highest achievement in the 19th century. This art, whose roots lie on the Slavic soil, certainly incorporates traces and layers from various past eras and cultures. Its complex evolutionary process began to take place especially after the migration of the Slavs to the Balkans, by adjusting with the related Balkan cultural elements. The Byzantine culture had special significance for the further development and formation of the Macedonian embroidery art. The centuries-old Turkish influence did not significantly affect the development of the Macedonian emblematic creativity further, although some elements of Islamic art are evident, especially in one of the colorful changes and the infiltration of new motives. However, despite the various historical factors, the formation of the Macedonian embroidery creation in an undifferentiated international art is certainly due to the collective artistic potentials of the environment in which it was created and existed.
Bearers of the embroidery creation in Macedonia were exclusively the folk costumes, especially the rural ones, which remained in their entire life function until the first decades of this century. The embroidery was a characteristic traditional ornament, especially for feminine costumes, and most of the embroidered shirts and headgear covers. The feminine shirt had elements of tunic like clothes, typical for all of Macedonia, retained traces of ancient forms, which lead to an interconnected relationship with the old-Balkan ornamented tunic, used in the Balkans even before the arrival of the Slavs, and which was not unknown to the Slavic world. Retaining at the original stages in the development of this cloth, as far as its shape is concerned, the Macedonian shirts have further developed its decoration, reflecting the splendid style of Byzantine textiles.
Among the different female embroidered head tops, a special place belongs to the bridal scarves and they not only stand out as top aesthetics values of Macedonian artificial art, but also have historical significance as the oldest Macedonian embroidered products, so far, in which great archaicity is conserved. Their apparent similarity in form, technique, ornaments and function, with parts of the costumes of some peoples of the Volga area, could not spring up accidentally and of course confirm many longstanding cultural and historical ties.
The Macedonian embroideries were made regularly with domestic woolen laces, which were also facilitated by the once developed Macedonian sheep breeding. Homemade silk was used for embroidery of festive and wedding costumes. Particularly typical was the domestic traditional way of preparing woolen embroidery threads, which were crocheted and doubled only with hands, without any technical aids, which are one of the most important degrees of spinning of textile fibers.
For almost all Macedonian embroidery is mostly characteristic its performance by counting the wires from the canvas, and most often from the bare side, which makes it easier to count, but which requires a developed technical skill. In terms of technical performance, for the Macedonian embroidery the most typical is the Goblen technique - which has reached a high level of technical variation. Separate techniques in embroidery - relief, skilled, cross - are limited to some areas. Embroidery with a straight rifle is the most commonly used for women's headgear, which, due to the highly technical performance, were often made only by individuals.
Colors of embroidery
Macedonian embroidery is usually polychrome, but the knowledge of more tonal gradations of the same colors is a very limited phenomenon. More rarely is present bichromatic embroidery, while monochromatic is a feature of only some regions.
The color of the Macedonian polychromatic embroidery is dominated by the red color in its wide tonal register, but this depends on the region and the chronology of its use.
