How it began
The xhubleta is a handcrafted garment of highland women and girls in northern Albania, also worn by Albanian women in neighboring Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Its age is not recorded. Scholars point to its likeness to garments on Balkan Neolithic and Bronze Age figurines and on Mediterranean figures of the second millennium BCE, and on that basis describe its origins as ancient.
How it works
Makers prepare shajak, a woven felt, then cut it, sew it and embroider symbolic figures on it. The skirt is built from 13 to 17 strips and 5 pieces of felt, which give it an undulating bell form that is most pronounced at the back. It hangs from the shoulders on two straps. The upper part is crocheted black wool. Most examples are black with colored embroidery.
Who pushed back
Socialist policies of the 1960s changed life in the mountain communities. Women had to work in agricultural cooperatives, where the heavy skirt was not practical, and state collectivization cut off the raw materials needed to make it. Production and use fell.
What changed first
The xhubleta was once everyday dress from the age of puberty and showed the wearer's social and economic standing. In later use, white marked unmarried women and black married ones. The range of colors narrowed over the last two centuries as the garment became limited to remote mountain areas.
Where it stands today
Few women now know the entire process, and passing it on within families is rare. UNESCO placed the xhubleta, its skills and craftsmanship on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2022. It is still regarded as part of highland identity.
