page_title: Traditional clothing of Kosovo
section_title: Men's clothing
hierarchical_section_title: Traditional clothing of Kosovo / Types of traditional clothing in Kosovo / Men's clothing
caption_attribution_description: English: Veshje Tradicionale - Malësi e Madhe
context_page_description: Traditional clothing is one of the factors that has differentiated this nation from neighboring countries, dating back as far as the Illyrian era.
  The evolution this attire has undergone, has been in service of modernization and contemporary style, however, the fundamental symbols and motives by which these garments are designed tend to resemble Illyrian antiquity. The materials and the traditional ways by which these clothes have been made throughout history have not changed much. The utilities which are used in the creation of these clothes are characteristically Kosovar, called vegjë or vek, which is a loom. The methods of obtaining the materials and clothes have remained the same. The motifs and patterns on these garments can be explained by prehistoric religion. Triangles, rhombuses, circles and crosses occur frequently, and they are known as symbols of health and fertility. Chromatically, there are three main colors in these clothes, the most symbolic of which is red.
context_section_description: Men's clothing was less preserved, however throughout the years it appears as more unified. Men's garments did not change much from region to region. One popular outfit was the one with ‘'fustanelle’' (a version of a kilt) until 1914 the First Balkanic war. The most popular was the ‘'tirqi’' apparel. The full look had elements which are similar to women's (white shirt, tëlina, shokë, socks, opinga, jelek (vest) ),however the tirqi ( woolen white pants) were only a characteristic of men's clothing. The shirt and the ‘tlina’ briefs were exclusively white. The shirts’ collars’ were T-shaped, and the sleeves of their shirts had white simple embroidery. From the waist up, men wore either jelek(vest) or xhamadan, a traditional woolen west which was usually white but was also found in dark colors. Men's accessories were the '‘gajtan'’ – a long black cord, decorated push buttons in their jelek and xhamadanë, and metallic clasps. These vests were designed in such a way that enabled the bearer to move their hands freely, and the sleeves hung loosely back. The tirqi were always decorated around the waist, pockets and vertically in length with black seams. Men wore woolen white socks and cattle skin shoes. In their heads they wore plis, woolen caps, and marhama, a large white scarf which encircles the head and the neck, covering the plis. The marhama originated from Illyrians. Other accessories were qystek, a large golden chain which they put across their shoulders, sahati- a pocketwatch, a cigarette box along with a carved lighter and different silver rings. Occasionally, men held guns in their shokë. The differences these clothes had from region to region were little – they might have been worn more tightly or loosely, the decorations in their tirqi might have been decorated with thicker or thinner seams. There were decorations which implied certain economic status, social status or societal hierarchy. For example, 3 golden threads in tirqi implied celibacy, whereas 12 golden threads implied wedlock. 24 golden threads implied wealth and power, and the most occurring were in older men.
caption: Male tirqi apparel
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