How come rural grannies in other Balkan countries don’t dress head-to-toe black like the ones in Albania (especially in South)? I’ve noticed the traditional rural granny attire in other Balkan countries is much more colorful and I can’t help but wonder why…
Posted by Substratas@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 73 comments
Albanian rural grannies, dressed head-to-toe black.
Prize_Management9936@reddit
Must be widows
tihivrabac@reddit
In croatia they used to like 20-30 yrs ago like 80 year old grannies, today no one dresses like this
Observe_Report_@reddit
Multiple people have confirmed to you that it is a statement of mourning. Perhaps now you’d like to explain to us what you thought it was for? Or should I say what you thought it was for…
Substratas@reddit (OP)
Are you okay?
Observe_Report_@reddit
I’m more than OK, I’m fantastic. You, however, are a strange human being. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.
Substratas@reddit (OP)
https://i.redd.it/16a9lnvw8y0h1.gif
Big-Waltz5204@reddit
Has to do with religion. Ortodox and Catholic nanas dress in black, and Muslim ones dress in colorful attires. It's a very odd contrast, kinda like granmas version of crips and bloods.
Barbak86@reddit
My great grandma was wearing black attire similar to this, and she was "Muslim"
Big-Waltz5204@reddit
Hmm that's interesting. You would never see a Muslim nana in Bosnia wearing full black attire, or anything black really. If I went to Albania and saw old woman wearing black, I would assume she is Christian.
Barbak86@reddit
Nana Naime wore full black upper body and black scarf, and mostly brown "kule" or whatever those allaturka style women trousers are called in English. Here she is visiting a monument to Emin Duraku , her nephew (son of her sister)
bebilov@reddit
It has not bro, black is a mourning color for every country in Europe . It just so happens that the old generation would be more traditional and mourned more time than the younger. Also if you’re like 90 chances are you’ll have a lot of people to mourn unfortunately
Ujemegaz@reddit
It does not have to do with religion.
Early-Show2886@reddit
colorful? This does not apply to all Balkan Muslims; for instance, Pomaks—as well as some Turks from Bulgaria—wear a white headscarf when widowed.
TragicGloom@reddit
How do you know they don't? I'm from a village in Croatia and all grannies here (60+) wear black.
Intrepid-Diamond-315@reddit
Ok but why do they do that. Would be interesting to know.
TragicGloom@reddit
My grandma started doing it after my grandpa died. It's been 20+ years and she still wears black 99% of the time. Occasionally during summer when it's 35+°C and she's outside she will wear a white shirt but other than that everything she wears is black.
hubbabubbameqershi@reddit
Dead husband, my grandma used to use colorful clothes and white scarf until grandpa passed away. Now is all black and black scarf. We are otthodox Christians, it's the same for other people of orthodox religion.
Intrepid-Diamond-315@reddit
Would you like to explain why it matters if someone passed away? So much that you need to show it to everyone?
cestmoinea1999@reddit
In Romania, the ones who lost their husband, will wear only this type of clothes. Like forever.
prolapseenthusiat@reddit
My grandpa died 1953 now and my grandma wear all black until she died 2004. So most of her life she wear wearing all black.
EveningChemical8927@reddit
That is not truth... 1 year of black ain south Romania, now not even that long
vangos77@reddit
One year is the expected length in Greece too. In practice, a lot of widows never take off the black after their husbands death. It's just tradition.
M-CH_@reddit
Also, once you've got a set of black clothes, you wear them until they break; switching after a year would be wasteful.
cestmoinea1999@reddit
Old school widows mourn for life.
Elgecko123@reddit
Same in Greece
fogleth@reddit
Same in Macedonia, they wear black if they are widowed or their close relative (child,brother,sister) died.
Intrepid-Diamond-315@reddit
Once a close relative dies or they widow, they’ll wear black for the rest of their lives? Is it considered strange if you choose to wear black even if you didn’t lose anyone?
Why it’s important to show others someone died or you are widowed without telling them?
vangos77@reddit
They dress exactly like this, once they become widows.
FidelKosta@reddit
That was true for my grandmothers. My mother is not that way. 40 days after my Dad died, she wore colours again.
She's a taylor. She loves clothes and colours. She even asked me if it is ok for me that she wears colours again. Because I am the only son and in her view the new head of the family.
I told her that she can do whatever she wants to. She is a generation with more freedoms. And that's how it should be. I told her that she needs no permit by anyone. And by her son too.
I am happy with the way she deals with this loss. Almost 20 years later she is still an independent woman. She still respects my father and his efforts. I am so proud of her.
vangos77@reddit
Good for your mother.
chi_rho_eta@reddit
You ever watch zorbas the greek? Widows wear balck the rest of their lives or else they get stoned to death.
vangos77@reddit
Not sure if you replied to the wrong post, but we seem to agree.
JazzlikeAsk8039@reddit
when in 1985?
vangos77@reddit
Yes, in 1985, and less and less so today, but it's still not an unusual sight. You mostly have to go to rural areas to see it, but that is exactly what OP asked.
Suspicious-Bug1994@reddit
Are they mourning, hence the black? :) Would make sense, as guys in the Balkans tend to die quite a bit younger than their female counterparts.
fogleth@reddit
This is not true.
vangos77@reddit
Which part? Black-clad old ladies are definitely in mourning. And life expectancy is longer for women than for men almost everywhere, including in the Balkans (\~75 for men; \~80 for women).
Suspicious-Bug1994@reddit
What is not true, i asked a question if they are mourning, they are not?
Or are you commenting on die younger than female counterparts, if so sex gap at birth is 7 for Romania & Bulgaria, 6.5 for Serbia & Bosnia, 6.3 for Croatia compared to 4.7 for Germany, 3 for Norway, 4.2 for Italy for instance.
Perfect-Hearing9080@reddit
They are defo winows
Full-Rice-9287@reddit
It’s not traditional attire, it’s mourning. Older generations would wear black for years, when they lost family members, and to the rest of their lives when they lost their husbands.
albardha@reddit
It’s both: traditional mourning attire.
Full-Rice-9287@reddit
In a sense yes, but not folk attire, is what I meant. Not truly regional, or age related.
bebilov@reddit
It’s a mourning attire that old wives who’ve lost their husbands use. It’s not just black , but dark colors in general like dark blue or dark green are accepted as well. Also it’s not necessarily a uniform. My greatgrandma would wear all black but a white small hair scarf for example.
Fred_Neecheh@reddit
Same as in Serbia, also regardless of religion.
Minskdhaka@reddit
I'm not from the Balkans, but Greek widows in Montreal (where I used to live) are usually all in black.
baxulax@reddit
That’s a widow attire
oioioioioioiioo@reddit
Standard central Serbia granny dresses like black too
New generation grannies don't do it anymore
JazzlikeAsk8039@reddit
They used to do this in Greece
krsCarrots@reddit
OP must be 12 y old just started being curious and all
Particular-Highway89@reddit
They used to dress like this in Croatia too
MMortein@reddit
They used to, my grandma dressed like that.
Orthodox-Paradox@reddit
Widows used to be dressed like this. Non widow grannies wear a lot of colour
jaunmilijej@reddit
I still see plenty of grannies walking around in full black in Athens, just a little bit more contemporary clothing
Fred_Neecheh@reddit
This is Serbia as well.
CockamouseGoesWee@reddit
Yep, this.
Today widows are moving away from it, but plenty of traditional yiayias wear color if their husband is still alive.
I wonder if it stemmed from like a village call for help because that yiayia will probably need additional care and companionship?
LegioXI89@reddit
In rural Serbia you can't find this also
A_Monsanto@reddit
They used to wear black in Greece, too. But it's a widow thing, of the olden days. Now they wear more colour.
dcell1974@reddit
Both of my grandmother looked exactly like the women pictured.
Substratas@reddit (OP)
My great grandmother was also dressing like this btw. Never seen this anywhere else.
Snoo-22864@reddit
My great grandmother also used to dress like this, so I don't think it is only in Albania
Sectorgovernor@reddit
It seems our great-grandparents were the last generation who wore it. (My great-grandmother was born in 1920 and died in 2004).
Keurnaonsia@reddit
My grandma in Romania dressed like this after becoming a widow.
konkurrenterna@reddit
They are mourning. Many balkan grannies wear all black like that.
SopranosBastardSon@reddit
They mourn and show it this way. If anyone wears colors after loved one pass away (like close family etc), its considered disrespecting
Sectorgovernor@reddit
Hungarian were also more colorful, but my great-grandmother also wore black/dark mostly
Old_Resident8050@reddit
All christian and muslim of old used to wear like that.
0burneraccount0@reddit
they listen to less techno music
Zenar45@reddit
Less, but definately not none
technotronica@reddit
I've seen many Bosnian Serb grannies in all black. I know that in the ottoman times Christians were only allowed to wear black/dark colours so maybe a relic from those times.
EdliA@reddit
It's widows my guy
Active_Unit_9498@reddit
All my Serbs wear black for a year after a close relation dies and widows wear black permanently in the old way.
v3nomakos@reddit
Albanian grannies wear black all the time after husband or someone important to them dies
Early-Show2886@reddit
I think that for Muslims, white is the color typically associated with headscarves—specifically for elderly, widowed grandmothers. Black headscarves, on the other hand, are more commonly worn by Catholic and Orthodox Christian women in the Balkans when they are widows.