Vicinity of Stara Pazova, Srem

In Vojvodina, as in many other regions of Serbian ethnic environment, folk costume was the most visible indicator of one`s social status. By the quantity of embroidery and decorations, among other things, it could be concluded which age group the individual belonged to, their marital and property status, etc. When a boy becomes a young man, his parents would buy a him a sheepskin coat, which had as a basic decoration an embroidered motive called "a young man`s twig". In Srem, this type of decoration was placed on the front coattails, and in Banat, at the back of the sheepskin coat. Wearing this decorated gown was a sign that he was ready for marriage. It happened very often that the young man would take off the twig as a sign of his new social status. Fur hats called astraganka or straganka had the same role. It is a fur hat made of very expensive skin of young lambs. Because of specificity and difficult procurement, this piece of folk costume was always popular and young men would give anything just to get it. They put it on their head when they became eligible for marriage. They could be seen wearing it in the village even in the summer, especially those who put it on for the first time and could not wait to announce to the community that they were ready for marriage.

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