The Magic of Wool
Wool, a fiber obtained from sheep’s fleece, possesses numerous characteristics that set it apart from other natural fibers. Wool is elastic, strong, and water-repellent, capable of absorbing up to 30% of its weight without feeling damp. It serves as an excellent heat insulator, making clothing crafted from lightweight wool fabrics suitable even for summer wear. Furthermore, wool is notably fire-resistant, significantly reducing the risk of fire hazards in household use. The history of wool usage in clothing spans thousands of years. In addition to clothing, valuable artistic items such as blankets, carpets, and tapestries have been crafted from wool for centuries. Late Antique Coptic textiles, woven from wool and linen between the 4th and 8th centuries in Egypt, were often used as appliqués on clothing. They were adorned with various botanical and geometric motifs, and at times, figurative compositions. These Coptic textiles are now preserved in numerous public and private collections worldwide, including the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts in Belgrade. In the past, as well as today, creating an elegant men’s suit involved using high-quality and modern wool fabrics. In an advertisement published in the Serbian newspapers in 1879, Belgrade tailor Dimitrije M. Ilić advised against purchasing garments that would fade, wear out, get frayed, or tear within a month or two. He offered various types of men’s coats, trousers, and suits, such as a coat for a person of modest means for 25 dinars, a coat suitable for anyone for 34 dinars, and a coat made of fashionable fabric for 36 dinars… The price range for making a men’s suit at Ilić’s shop varied, depending on the chosen fabric, from 36 to 84 dinars. While Belgrade’s male tailors in their advertisements emphasized the availability of a rich selection of imported fabrics, often from England, France, and Brno, some fabric stores in Belgrade exclusively dealt with selling these fabrics in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Among them were the stores of Nikola S. Šopović, established in 1823, and Anastas Pavlović, founded in the 1890s. Wool holds a significant place both in the history of fashion and in the contemporary fashion industry. When it comes to wool quality, among more than 1,000 sheep breeds existing today, the Merino sheep stands out. This breed, which yields fine and soft wool, was cultivated in late medieval Spain, a country that monopolized wool production for a long time. Merino sheep were owned only by the wealthiest, and their export was strictly prohibited under the threat of the death penalty. In the 18th century, herds of Merino sheep began to arrive in other European countries. King Louis XVI of France purchased a Merino sheep herd in 1786 from his cousin, King Charles III of Spain, and started breeding them in Rambouillet. Thus, the breeding of Merino sheep spread to other parts of Europe, ultimately reaching Australia and New Zealand, which are now among the world’s largest wool producers. Contemporary fashion brands known for crafting luxury clothing from wool fabrics pay great attention to the production of high-quality wool. The company Ermenegildo Zegna awards various prizes to Merino wool producers, with the oldest being the Ermenegildo Zegna Perpetual Trophy, established as early as 1963. Since 2014, this company has owned its own Merino sheep farm, Achill, in Australia. The company Loro Piana established the Record Bale award for Merino wool producers in 1997. This company is also renowned for its products made from vicuña wool. This exceptionally fine and rare fiber is obtained from the vicuña, an animal from the camelid family that resides in the mountainous regions of the Andes in South America. Although in the time of the Incas, wearing clothing made from vicuña wool was allowed only to individuals of the highest rank, during the Spanish conquest, vicuñas became common prey for hunters, nearly leading to their extinction by the mid-20th century. Loro Piana has been supporting the Peruvian government for many years in the protection of vicuñas and is one of the few companies authorized to source vicuña wool in Peru while adhering to all conservation standards. The vicuña is also a national symbol of Peru, and its image is featured on the Peruvian coat of arms. Draginja Maskareli Museum Advisor – Art and Fashion Historian Pictures: Greek vase – lekythos with a depiction of a woman extracting wool from a kalathos – a vessel used for storing wool, Tanagra, 480–470 BCE, photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5 / Μαρσύας / National Archaeological Museum of Athens Coptic textile, Egypt, 10th–11th century, photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Tropenmuseum / National Museum of World Cultures Advertisement by the male tailor Dimitrije M. Ilić, Serbian Newspaper, March 7, 1879. Merino sheep fleece, Australia, 2008, photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 / Cgoodwin Herd of vicuñas, Peru, 2017, photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Marshallhenrie
Belgrade Tailors and the Timeless Elegance of Men’s Suits
The French Revolution swept away the opulent, aristocratic men’s fashion of the 18th century from the European stage. Bright colors, embroidery, lace, ruffles, and cuffs made way for a new, elegant, and understated men’s suit of the 19th century. This suit evolved from the clothing worn by the English aristocracy, who spent a considerable amount of time hunting and tending to their estates, necessitating practical attire. Consequently, England, which had positioned itself as the hub of European men’s fashion in the 18th century, retained this status in the following period, with Italy joining in from the mid-20th century. The men’s suit of the 19th century not only expressed the new, modern values of civil society but also set the standards for classic men’s elegance that persist to this day – impeccable tailoring, the appropriate choice of shapes, colors, and high-quality fabrics for specific occasions. Changes in men’s fashion, unlike the dynamic shifts in women’s fashion silhouettes, can be traced through various subtle details – the length and cut of the jacket, its method of fastening, the number and arrangement of buttons, the shape and dimensions of lapels and collars, the number and arrangement of pockets, and the cut of trousers. This shift in men’s fashion also occurred in Serbia during the 19th century, where European men’s attire replaced the vibrant clothing of the previous era, characterized by layered Ottoman-Balkan urban garments in vivid colors, adorned with rich embroidery and trimmings. Since the 1840s, numerous advertisements for men’s tailors have appeared in the Serbian press. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, respected tailors such as Marko Petronijević, Lazarević, Jovanović, Sudarević, and Savković operated in Belgrade. Their activities, owing to the high quality and a large number of clients, can be traced through advertisements over an extended period. Marko Petronijević, a tailor born in Obrenovac, opened his shop on Kneza Mihaila Street in 1881. His concise and measured advertisements, sometimes published in French, indicate that he and his clients valued expert tailoring and a wide selection of high-quality fabrics with current fashion patterns from England and France. Trifun Jovanović, born in Vranje, learned the tailoring trade from Petronijević and then worked in Germany, completing his tailoring education in Vienna. At the end of the 19th century, tailor-made clothing for women, known as “tailor made,” entered the fashion scene – women’s costumes tailored along the same principles and from similar materials as men’s suits. Such clothing, adapted to modern lifestyles and a greater variety of outdoor activities, soon became available in Belgrade tailoring salons. Men’s tailor Života Lazarević, born in Paraćin, who had worked for many years in leading and trendsetting tailoring shops in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London, and Petrograd, opened his shop in 1902 at the corner of Balkanska and Kraljice Natalije streets. In advertisements in the Mali Žurnal newspaper, he announced that, in addition to men’s suits made to the latest patterns and finest fabrics, he had mastered the art of creating the most modern women’s costumes known as “Genre Tailleur.” Života Lazarević and Trifun Jovanović co-founded the tailoring shop Lazarević and Jovanović on Kneza Mihaila Street in 1903. In the interwar period, they crafted an enviable reputation for the high standards of their men’s suits. In 1923, they crowned their business success with the construction of the renowned Hotel Splendid in Belgrade, whose building still stands in close proximity to the City Assembly of Belgrade today. Between the two World Wars, a significant place among the creators of Belgrade’s fashion scene was held by the men’s tailoring salon Sudarević and Savković. It was located on Topličin Venac, in the Čelebonović Palace, which now houses the Museum of Applied Arts. The museum’s collection preserves a tailcoat and two jackets made in this salon. Co-owner Nikola Sudarević, in addition to being a master tailor, was also involved in music. He composed choral songs and a liturgy that was performed in Šabac, and he sang in the choir of the Belgrade Opera for a long time. Sudarević was elected as a member of the examination board for master’s exams in the Tailors Section of the Craftsmen’s Association. Reflecting on Sudarević’s penchant for music, a journalist for the Nedeljne Ilustracije newspaper concluded in 1929 that he was an artist in tailoring and an amateur musician, demonstrating that the tailoring craft is an art and that we are not behind Paris because we have great tailors who are also artists. Written by Draginja Maskareli Museum Advisor – Art and Fashion Historian Images:
