Ancient women's costume

One of the peculiarities of old Sombor was the dress, a special type of women's costume, ie bandage or scarf (actually a headdress or ceremonial hat), which, during the 19th and early 20th century, was worn on festive occasions by young Serbian women from Sombor and with Sombor farms, from marriage to the birth of the first child. The mother-in-law gave the dress to her daughter-in-law on her wedding day and it was worn only when going to church on Sundays or on holidays. It was customary for the new bride, in the first week after the wedding, to go to church in the company of her mother-in-law. In some places, it was customary for the bride to inherit the former mother-in-law's dress (the mother-in-law would appear at the son's wedding in the dress and then solemnly and carefully hand it over to the daughter-in-law, piece by piece).

The garment consisted of three parts: wide gold lace, large white scarves in the shape of a rectangle and artificial flowers. A piece of lace, about 15 cm wide, framed the young woman's face so that her hair could not be seen, and was tied under her chin. As the lace was stiff, a piece of velvet was usually placed under the bride's chin so as not to scratch the neck. The scarf was made of a very thin white cloth in the shape of a rectangle. It was about 175 cm long and about 100 cm wide. Along the edges of the two sides (longer and shorter) and in the corner where the two sides join, an additional gold lace 10 cm wide was sewn. Next to the lace, on the narrower side, there was a relief gold embroidery with floral or plant motifs (buds, flowers, leaves and bunches), about 20 cm wide. The scarf was tied so that the wider side, with gold lace and folds, covered the chest, and the narrower part of the scarf, with lace and embroidery, fell over the back. Artificial flowers were made of velvet and (or) silk, in the shape of roses, bulbs and ears of grain, which symbolized beauty and fertility. Flowers were placed on both sides of the young woman's face, and sometimes they rose high above her head. The richness of the details of the dress and the quality of its production also spoke of the material condition, that is, the richness of the family into which the bride married.

The appearance of the former costumes has been preserved thanks to old Sombor photographers, primarily Dr. Radivoje Simonović (his photographs are in the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad), but also to city photographers who photographed wedding guests and individual young people in costumes.