Bulgarian Folk Themed Clothing
I’ve recently decided to incorporate more folklore and traditional motifs into my daily life and wardrobe. So with that in mind, I decided to share some of the stores I’ve found that promote the cultural heritage and motifs of traditional outfits.
€ - €€ Етно Стил / Ethno Style* - from plain t-shirts with added folk motifs to full blown traditional costumes, the website has a decent collection of items you can add to your daily wardrobe. (They also have socks!)
€ - €€ Българка / Bulgarka - ranging from trinkets, accessories, and simple t-shirts to dresses, tunics, scraves, and prints.
€ - €€€ БългаранЪ / Balgaran - a website designed specifically to deliver Bulgarian-related items, such as handcrafted items, books, household objects, textbooks, clothing, board games, puzzles, cosmetics, and accessories of all sorts, all over the world. This might be the ideal online retailer for people living outside of the EU.
€ - €€€ Бабина Ракла / Grandmother’s Chest - a gift shop that offers products with traditional motifs, including jewelry, purses, wallets, scarves, t-shirts, and copper kitchenware. However, the t-shirts are not embroidered, they are printed. I would recommend the collection of scarves because they seem to have combined forces with Rose&Pepper, who previously only sold through Facebook.
€ - €€€ Стефи Стил / Stefi Style* - embroidered t-shirts, dresses, tunics, socks, and more! Mix and match or just get an individual item to suit your needs.
€ - €€€ Веникс / Venix - t-shirts, blouses, or full on outfits with embroidered traditional motifs. There’s also a “sailor” section since most of their stores are located on the Black Sea, and that’s another vibe they’re going for. Note: I have a shirt from here! It’s a very light, airy fabric and the embroidery is very delicate. The merchant told me it can be washed regularly in the laundry machine and that the white base fabric won’t stain from the colourful embroidery.
€ - €€€ Етно Шоп / Ethno Shop* - ceramics, pottery, textiles, including leather and hand-woven crafts, clothing such as t-shirts with stamped шевици, folk costumes, accessories, and even a wool yamurluk.
€€ Везба / Vezba - comfortable t-shirts, blouses, hoodies, hats, and more! You can browse by the type of item, colouration, or even the шевица used on the article of clothing - there’s a page dedicated to each where the anthropological analysis of each used shevitsa is available. Note: I have two t-shirts from here and the embroidery’s great, but the quality of the shirt itself is debatable. It’s definitely sturdy but it’s some kind of polyester-mix type of textile, so it’s very stretchy and comfortable but prone to smelling really, really badly after you wear it.
€ - €€ Караконджул / Karakondzul - ethno accessories, trinkets, repetition dance gear, small children’s folk outfits, and a focus on the tale of the karakondzul - a dark creature from Bulgarian folklore, similar to a deformed vampire. But these karakondzuli are different - they are kind, and seek to help humanity be pure of heart. Which is why they have adorable plushies with their likeness!
€ - €€€ Китна / Kitna - an online store with adorable souvenirs, gift ideas, and especially interesting knitted jewelry and other accessories with traditonal folk motifs. There are some clothing items such as 100% wool coats, but the primary products are trinkets and jewelry, and an adorable For Kids section that mainly includes pillows with illustrations.
€ - €€€ Чаршия / Charshia - an online shop that offers hand-made crafts, including items of clothing. They showcase the work of artisans who use the traditional methods of production to keep the traditional alive and kicking. You can build a full costume or buy individual items and use them as you please.
€ - €€€ Магазин Млъчков / Mlachkov Store* - provides a catalogue where you can find anything from socks to go with your traditional costume, to household textiles for an authentic Revival period house. Тhey sell authentic items, as well as newly produced - you can buy an antique scarf or gas lamp or whatever else you find.
€€ - €€€ Балкан фолк / Balkan Folk* - A store that offers traditional costumes, accessories, folk music CDs, and some souvenirs. The website itself also have a sweet retro vibe but it is fully operational and active. You can buy full costumes or separate elements.
bonus: Балкан фолк каталог / Balkan Folk catalogue - Balkan Folk also has a very detailed catalogue with full traditional costumes, including (Bulgarian) instructions on how to order the correct size without having to visit the atelier in person. I’d say this is an excellent art reference resource, too!
€€ - €€€ Светулка / Svetulka - a family business that embroiders modern clothes with traditional motifs, such as shirts, t-shirts, jackets, dresses, and more. They use exclusively natural materials like linen and cotton, though there might be a few exceptions somewhere on their website.
€€ - €€€ Аския / Askia* - ranges from t-shirts and dresses to traditional pieces that can be worn as a full costume or separately to have your desired look. Note: They use a different sizing to most other websites and brands, and it took asking about five times to be told what size would fit me. I kept asking “What sizes do you use? I need the equivalent of an S” and being told to measure myself… It was the most absurd email chain I’ve been a part of in a while and felt passive-aggressive, so I doubt they would be helpful if you need customer support.
€€€€ Везе / Veze - business casual to formal wear with a touch of tradition; with the option to have the item tailored to your size.
? Шевица / Shevitsa* - a company that specializes in hand-sewn textiles, and is open to doing custom orders. If you want to recreate the outfit you found in a museum or in a picture of your grandmother, they could give it a shot. Since they tailor everything and work from scratch, there are no listed prices.
? Етно Рай / Ethno Heaven* - a workshop based in Tryavna that works with custom orders, and has no listed prices. You can order a unique piece that’s your own take on any ethnographic region’s outfit or a costume fully in line with the traditional style you want to emulate.
websites marked with * offer full traditional costumes
last updated: June 5th 2023
