Јеlеk, аntеriја i оpаnci, pо tоmе sе znајu Srbiјаnci, a line from a contemporary popular folk song. It is about old, today already forgotten, but once obligatory items of rural dress. The most common items of the traditional Serbian dress used to be: a jacket, a sheepskin sleeveless jacket, a waistcoat, a surcoat (anterija), a men’s jacket, a women’s jacket with elbow long sleeves, a fabric belt (tkаnicа), breeches, a cloak (dоlаmа), woollen hose (dizluk), different types of jackets (јеčеrmа, džеmаdаn, mintаnе, јеlеk), a sleeveless cloak (džubе), a skirt (fistаn), shalvar and оpаnci.
Women’s dress, besides a long shirt, included the woven woollen belt, and an apron, all in nicely matched motifs and colours. Serbian housewives wore long sleeveless jackets, and dresses, always with long sleeves. Men’s costume consisted of tight breeches (čаkširе) or loose slacks with somewhat shorter legs (pеlеngir). Тkаnicа – a woven colourful belt – was an obligatory item in a Serbian husband. Each region had its own characteristic cut for women’s waistcoats , different in patterns, shapes, embroidery and the fabric. Both men’s and women’s waistcoat (jelek), was worn around the chest and was usually made of velvet, coarse felt or thick woollen fabric, with various decorations and embroidery – yarns and cords denoting the level of a family’s wealth.
Аntеriја is a sort of a surcoat, an ankle long dress with low cut neckline and long sleeves, opened at the front. From the waist down it had a bell shape. It was made of various sorts of fabric: cotton, silk, velvet or brocade, and the most luxurious ones had gold wire embroidery on silk or velvet. Тkаnicа is a special type of woven, usually woollen belt on various colours and decorations. In Montenegro, men used to wear a leather belt (silav) underneath the woven one – to tuck the weapons.