Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

The apron – a characteristic accessory of Bulgarian women in the past

Photo: Ani Petrova

Once upon a time, the Bulgarian woman used to make her own clothes, choosing the materials, colours and elements, and the apron was a kind of a “introduction card”. It could be used to tell which place the woman was from, how wealthy she was, whether she was a widow or looking for marriage. And the colour of the apron even could reveal the age of its owner.

The types of traditional Bulgarian aprons strike with their variety – special ones for bachelorettes and brides, worn one year after the wedding, worn until the birth of the first child, for widows, etc. They are decorated with beads, coins, tassels, lace and each element on them has its own symbolism and meaning.

Toma Belev reveals about the vast world of this part of the traditional Bulgarian clothing and about his collection of over 300 traditional aprons in the publication of Radio Bulgaria Toma Belev’s magnificent collection of 19th-20th century aprons.

Editor: Dessislava Semkovska



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The Radio Sofia building

When the BNR “spoke” Polish

Today, the Bulgarian National Radio’s foreign language service Radio Bulgaria “speaks” 11 languages. Through the years, languages have been added, others have been dropped – something that happened to the Polish-language programmes. They were aired by..

published on 2/16/24 7:10 AM

105th anniversary of the birth of legendary piper Dafo Trendafilov

On this day - 17 January - we celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of the legendary piper Dafo Trendafilov . He was born in 1919 in the village of Gela in the Rhodope Mountains and his whole life remains forever linked to this mystical land. He began..

published on 1/17/24 7:40 AM

Albena Danailova - Second concertmaster for the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert

Bulgarian violinist Albena Danailova is the first assistant to concertmaster Rainer Honeck in the New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic on January 1, 2024. Conductor will be Christian Thielemann . Albena..

published on 12/29/23 3:25 PM