INSTEAD OF PARIS, HE CHOSE HIS NATIVE UŽICE: Grandpa Đorđe is 92 years old, but he still keeps the old craft from being forgotten!

One of the best-known people from Užice is certainly Grandpa Đorđe Jokić (92), a famous craftsman and tailor. This vital Era is now entering his tenth decade of life, but he still refuses to give up work or his craft.

He still cuts and sews šajkača caps, fur hats and traditional caps. He has his own shop in Užice, but visitors to Zlatibor can also see him and buy something from him, because this old man does not find it difficult to sell his handiwork on the promenade at Kraljev Trg.

Grandpa Đorđe shows in the best possible way that age is just a number on paper and that when you do what you love, retirement does not necessarily have to mean abandoning your profession.

He learned the craft back in 1949 and passed a difficult examination before the professional commission of the time. From that post-war period until today, Đorđe has not only sewn suits for the people of Užice, but his trousers, as well as skirts, were worn in one of the centers of European fashion, Paris.

“I went to France on vacation, to see the lights of Paris, but I noticed an advertisement in which they were looking for a tailor, so I applied. I told them that I was a Yugoslav, that I had a trade and that I would gladly sew for them. They hired me without much persuasion. I sewed everything, men’s and women’s suits, sometimes working even 14 hours, but I did not complain. The daily wage was good and both the boss and I were satisfied,” Grandpa Đole told RINA.

The Parisians offered this man from Užice the opportunity to stay in Paris, but Đorđe decided to return to his native region, because, as he says, he would not have had a life there, but for all 24 hours of the day, he would have needed only work clothes and pajamas, and he could not accept such a thing.

And so Đorđe sewed for many people in the Zlatibor District, they came to him for fittings and shopping, but with the development of the textile industry, there was less and less work for a tailor, so this resourceful man from Užice decided to sew what nobody else would — Serbian šajkača caps.

The most famous Serbian cap has for centuries protected Serbian heads from illness, natural disasters, as well as military defeats. The šajkača dates back to the 18th century, and later became common in everyday life, so it is mostly worn by older men in rural communities. Užice native Đorđe Jokić still cuts and sews šajkača caps in his tenth decade, and to him they are not just ordinary caps, but the identity of the Serbian people.

“Šajkača caps, fur hats and traditional caps are mostly bought at assemblies and fairs, and there are also our people who have spread all over the world and like to wear them, over there in foreign lands. They are not ashamed of them, while here, among us, they are mostly worn by older people who do not renounce tradition,” Grandpa Đorđe says.

What is particularly encouraging is that over the past year, šajkača caps have been returning to the heads of young people.

“Lately, newlyweds and wedding guests have been choosing the šajkača, so it often happens that people go to weddings wearing our national cap, which particularly makes me happy because the tradition and identity of the Serbian people are best reflected through the šajkača,” Grandpa Đorđe adds.

The development of technology has put a lock on the doors of many craft shops, and on the street where Đole’s workshop is located, only a few have survived, while this hardworking man from Užice, originally from the Zlatibor village of Kačer, is one of them. He is keeping from being forgotten not only the Serbian šajkača caps, but also the old craft and our tradition.

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