Overview of Croatian Costume, part 4; Adriatic Croatia

Hello all,

This is the last of the four articles of my overview of Croatian Costume. Today I am covering the Adriatic zone, which consists of the islands and a narrow strip of the coast of the Adriatic Sea. This may possibly be the smallest zone in terms of land area, but is extremely rich in culture and costume.

I will again cover this region from north to south.

1. Istria

Istria is the peninsula in the extreme northeast of Croatia, with the northern edge shared by Slovenia and Italy. It is an ethnically mixed area, with Croatians, Slovenes, Italians, Vlachs, Morlaks and Istriots. Chakavian, Croatian, Italian, Venetian, Slovene, Vlach [Istro-Romanian] and Istriot are all still spoken on the peninsula.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istria 
Most of the costumes which I have seen are linked with localities rather than ethnicities. I am sure that there is a great deal of information which I have only seen bits and pieces of. Here are some images of the costume of Medulin, the most commonly seen costume of Istria.

 

 

 Istria and some of the islands have retained some very ancient modal forms of music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsQ0ERchBLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCxmAFy2CHU

http://www.smrikve.com/istria/books/smrikve/istrian-music/page-2/

 
2. Hrvatsko Primorje, 

The Croatian littoral, this is the coast from the Istrian peninsula to the Zadar peninsula, around Kvarner bay.

These costumes are from the northern part of the coast, called Liburnijski Kras, near the town of Opatija.

Dances from this region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtsG_Jv-1Hc 

This image is labelled Kvarner, so it must be from somewhere on this coast. 

 In form and construction, if not in color, it is very similar to the famous costume from the area around Novi Vinodolski.

 .

3. The northern islands. Otok is the Croatian word for island.

Otok Krk

This is not an abbreviation, r is treated as a vowel in the Croatian language.
 I have already done a pair of in-depth articles on this costume.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/10/adriatic-costume-of-island-of-krk.html
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/10/mens-costume-of-island-of-krk-dalmatia.html 

 

Dances and songs from Baška, Otok Krk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPfJRSIVaKo 


 Otok Rab

Dance from Otok Rab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOnW8axJ4XA
 

Otok Cres

The following costumes are from Orlec on the island of Cres.

Singers in the Liburnijski Kras costume, Dancers in Cres costume enter at 1:50 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IJbVk_pRgE

Otok Susak

 

 

Dances from Susak

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkX1D8pPYLc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwPSEf1xq2M 

Otok Silba

  Dances from Silba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fdN5qkaLZg 

Otok Olib

A series of home movies from Olib, showing the costume in some scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXTUDptSnD0


Otok Pag

Dances from Pag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDAumyWQ_Ag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1mYg8wYhec

4. Zadar Peninsula and northern Dalmatian coast. Some communities have kept their unique local costumes. In this area, Dinaric elements can be mixed with the littoral zone elements.

Novigrad

Ražanac

This costume looks to me like the young person's costume has been lost and all are now wearing what used to be the older women's outfit. The dances and songs from this area are often performed, however.

Dances from Ražanac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8m7pDRPzfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgzkDgsIFcs


Vrsi

Nin

Privlaka

Zadar

country costume

 

Zadar city costume

 

Otok Ugljan

 

Otok Iž

 

Otok  Pašman

This seems to be a song concert on Pašman, but they seem to be wearing jackets over the costume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2i7exk-lqo

 Sveti Filip i Jakov

 Pakoštane

 

Otok Murter

Songs and dances from Murter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHNB5YrHMmo 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ayJ7pMrdxk 

  Otok Zlarin

Šibenik

Country costume

City Costume

 

Primošten

5. Southern Dalmatian coast and Islands. This includes the area around Split and south.

Split

The city costume of Split is very famous, and I have already written an in depth article about it.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/12/gradska-nosnja-town-costume-of-split.html 

 

Dances from Split
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuMoZzuBN9E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wgz6urrAw

Omiš

Otok Brač

Dances from Brač

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXow5PI3LOg


Otok Hvar

Dances from Hvar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B_28gTYBXs


Makarska

 Orebić

This is a town on the Pelješac peninsula.

 
 Otok Korčula

This island also is the home of a ritual men's sword dance, the Kumpanjija, which is done in older costumes.

Dances from Korčula

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT6x7EVXtQw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihMaL4XyZII

A glimpse of the Kumpanjija.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0aJq5Sq14


Otok Lastovo

 The men are dressed in the carnival costume called pokladar, which is used for another ritual sword dance.

The Poklad of Lastovo on stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEfTnenNdc


Otok Mljet

Dubrovačko Primorje

This is the coastal region north of the city of Dubrovnik, the home of the famous dance Lindjo. The image at the head of this article is from this region.

The Lindjo

a very pretty video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77W-YV1AoU
a video showing normal people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFm3OS9h0ns



Dubrovnik Konavle Čilipi

This is the costume of the coast south of Dubrovnik. I have also done an in depth article on this costume. The men's costume is essentially the same as the previous one.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/10/costume-of-dubrovnik-county-konavlje.html 

 Dances from this region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke7oglHhJus


Boka Kotorska

The bay of Kotor is in Montenegro just beyond the southern tip of the Croatian border. There is a Croatian presence in this bay, and the costume is of the Adriatic zone.

 Songs and dances from Boka Kotorska

Good costumes, but the video is a bit murky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSLmsdHvcQ4

Good dancing, but the women did not close their bodices, and are not wearing petticoats. Sloppy.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA6g3aSH-hg

Good video. The men come on doing the local Mariner's Guild line dance. This is a port, and the men are traditionally sailors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJsOvuG5Y50


Well, I admit that this ended up being longer than I had expected. 
Thank you for reading.
I hope that you still found it interesting and informative.
You likely noticed that many islands and coastal areas were omitted. 
This is because I have little or no information as to those areas. 
I would love to learn more if anyone knows any good sources.

 This is the facebook page 'Croatian Traditional Costumes', which is a fantastic resource on the subject and a source of very good quality photographs
https://www.facebook.com/CroatianTraditionalCostumes

Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals.

Roman K.

email:  Rkozakand@aol.com