DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22262#0098
Milena Vitkovic-Zikic
Western industries made local craftsmen learn and adopt elements of West Euro-
pean styles. Costumes for men and women were tailored based on models from the
latest French journals. Fashion 'alla Franca' was supplanted by fashion 'alla Turca'.
In this first phase from ca. 1830s to 1860s, the Serbian City Costume was a symbol
of the middle class and continued to have an integrative function providing means
of identification for the emerging stratum.
The period from Prince Milos's abdication in 1839 to the removal of the Turkish
flag from the Belgrade Fortress on the day when war was declared on Turkey in 1876,
was one of the most important in modern Serbian history. Also, it coincided with
the Tanzimat, a major reform of the Ottoman Empire (1939-1876) undertaken by
the Turkish Sultans in order to cure the 'Sick Men of the Bosporus'. The Sułtan
himself adopted Western-style costume worn by the European royalty, and the tur-
ban was replaced by the fez, a symbol of modern Turkey, the only exception being
religious dignitaries who were allowed to keep their turbans and traditional robes.
The Europeanization of the Ottoman Empire doubtless created a favourable climate
for a similar process in Serbia. The best examples of the local Biedermeier style very
soon caught up with European standards, primarily in the portraits of eminent
Serbs and their families. Prince Milos and his courtiers adopted Western costume
when they accepted fez, one year after it was made mandatory in Constantinople.
Turkish costume continued to be worn until the middle of the nineteenth century.
After 1848, men in Serbia were obliged to wear the fez, an atila (overcoat) and West-
ern trousers and civil servants uniforms akin to the Russian type. The political links
between Serbia and France which became much tighter following the Treaty of
Paris, were reflected in costume too: daughters of Prince Alexander and Princess
Persida Karadjordjevic were dressed up to the latest Parisian vogue.
At the same time rich families brought or ordered various artistic handcrafted and
manufactured objects from France. In the 1850s, French merchants joined Austri-
ans in bringing luxury goods to Belgrade for sale. Towards the end of the century,
the young and beautiful Queen Natalija Obrenovic of mixed Russian and Roma-
nian blood, brought with her social customs as well as fashion of St. Petersburg and
Bucharest. With the proclamation of the kingdom of Serbia in 1882 and the build-
ing of a new King's palące in 1884, splendid Renaissance, Rococo and Oriental deco-
rations took over the palące and the traditional Byzantine style was preserved only
in the chapel. Both local and imported artefacts of the last three decades of the nine-
teenth century exhibited pluralism of styles through combinations of Renaissance,
Baroąue, Rococo and Classicist elements, which influenced fashion, too.
Sporadic information on costume can be found in writings of local and foreign trav-
ellers who passed through this region in the nineteenth century. From a 1826 de-
scription of men's costume we learn that gentlemen in Belgrade wore ankle-length
robes with wide sleeves embroidered in gold. A turning point was the Revolution
96
Western industries made local craftsmen learn and adopt elements of West Euro-
pean styles. Costumes for men and women were tailored based on models from the
latest French journals. Fashion 'alla Franca' was supplanted by fashion 'alla Turca'.
In this first phase from ca. 1830s to 1860s, the Serbian City Costume was a symbol
of the middle class and continued to have an integrative function providing means
of identification for the emerging stratum.
The period from Prince Milos's abdication in 1839 to the removal of the Turkish
flag from the Belgrade Fortress on the day when war was declared on Turkey in 1876,
was one of the most important in modern Serbian history. Also, it coincided with
the Tanzimat, a major reform of the Ottoman Empire (1939-1876) undertaken by
the Turkish Sultans in order to cure the 'Sick Men of the Bosporus'. The Sułtan
himself adopted Western-style costume worn by the European royalty, and the tur-
ban was replaced by the fez, a symbol of modern Turkey, the only exception being
religious dignitaries who were allowed to keep their turbans and traditional robes.
The Europeanization of the Ottoman Empire doubtless created a favourable climate
for a similar process in Serbia. The best examples of the local Biedermeier style very
soon caught up with European standards, primarily in the portraits of eminent
Serbs and their families. Prince Milos and his courtiers adopted Western costume
when they accepted fez, one year after it was made mandatory in Constantinople.
Turkish costume continued to be worn until the middle of the nineteenth century.
After 1848, men in Serbia were obliged to wear the fez, an atila (overcoat) and West-
ern trousers and civil servants uniforms akin to the Russian type. The political links
between Serbia and France which became much tighter following the Treaty of
Paris, were reflected in costume too: daughters of Prince Alexander and Princess
Persida Karadjordjevic were dressed up to the latest Parisian vogue.
At the same time rich families brought or ordered various artistic handcrafted and
manufactured objects from France. In the 1850s, French merchants joined Austri-
ans in bringing luxury goods to Belgrade for sale. Towards the end of the century,
the young and beautiful Queen Natalija Obrenovic of mixed Russian and Roma-
nian blood, brought with her social customs as well as fashion of St. Petersburg and
Bucharest. With the proclamation of the kingdom of Serbia in 1882 and the build-
ing of a new King's palące in 1884, splendid Renaissance, Rococo and Oriental deco-
rations took over the palące and the traditional Byzantine style was preserved only
in the chapel. Both local and imported artefacts of the last three decades of the nine-
teenth century exhibited pluralism of styles through combinations of Renaissance,
Baroąue, Rococo and Classicist elements, which influenced fashion, too.
Sporadic information on costume can be found in writings of local and foreign trav-
ellers who passed through this region in the nineteenth century. From a 1826 de-
scription of men's costume we learn that gentlemen in Belgrade wore ankle-length
robes with wide sleeves embroidered in gold. A turning point was the Revolution
96