Guide to Russian folk costumes

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Russian women, even simple peasant women, were rare fashionistas. Their voluminous chests contained many different outfits. They especially loved hats - simple, for every day, and festive, embroidered with beads, decorated with gems. The national costume, its cut and ornament were influenced by such factors as geographic location, climate, main occupations in this region.

The more closely you study the Russian folk costume as a work of art, the more you find values in it, and it becomes a figurative chronicle of the life of our ancestors, which in the language of color, shape, ornamentation reveals to us many intimate secrets and laws of beauty of folk art."

M. N. Mertsalova. "Poetry of folk costume"

The Russian costume, which began to take shape by the 12th century, contains detailed information about our people - a worker, a plowman, a farmer, who have lived for centuries in a short summer and a long fierce winter. What to do on endless winter evenings, when a blizzard is howling outside the window, a blizzard is sweeping? Peasant women weaved, sewed, embroidered. They did it. “There is the beauty of movement and the beauty of peace. Russian folk costume is the beauty of peace, wrote the artist Ivan Bilibin.

Shirt

Ankle-length shirt is the main element of Russian costume. Composite or one-piece, made of cotton, linen, silk, muslin or plain canvas. The hem, sleeves and collars of shirts, and sometimes the chest, were decorated with embroidery, braid, patterns. Colors and ornaments varied depending on the region and province. Voronezh women preferred black embroidery, austere and sophisticated. In the Tula and Kursk regions, shirts are usually tightly embroidered with red threads. In the northern and central provinces, red, blue and black, sometimes gold, prevailed. Russian women often embroidered spell marks or prayer charms on their shirts.

Shirts were worn differently depending on what kind of work was to be done. There were shirts "mowing", "stubble", there was also a "fishing". It is interesting that the work shirt for the harvest was always richly decorated, it was equated with a festive one.

The word "shirt" comes from the Old Russian word "cut" - border, edge. Therefore, the shirt is a sewn cloth with scars. Earlier they said not to "hem", but "to cut". However, this expression is found even now.

Sundress

The word "sarafan" comes from the Persian "saran pa" - "over the head". It was first mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle of 1376. However, the overseas word "sarafan" was rarely heard in Russian villages. More often - kostych, shtofnik, kumachnik, bruise or kosoklinnik. The sundress was, as a rule, of a trapezoidal silhouette; it was worn over a shirt. At first it was a purely man's attire, a ceremonial princely attire with long fold-back sleeves. It was sewn from expensive fabrics - silk, velvet, brocade. From the nobles, the sundress passed to the clergy and only after that it was entrenched in the women's wardrobe.

Sundresses were of several types: deaf, swing, straight. Swing ones were sewn from two panels, which were connected with the help of beautiful buttons or fasteners. A straight sundress was attached to the straps. A deaf oblique sundress with longitudinal wedges and beveled inserts on the sides was also popular.

The most common colors and shades for sundresses are dark blue, green, red, blue, dark cherry. Festive and wedding dresses were made mainly of brocade or silk, and everyday dresses were made of rough cloth or chintz.

“The beauties of different classes dressed up almost the same - the difference was only in the price of furs, the weight of the gold and the brilliance of the stones. A commoner “on the way out” put on a long shirt, over it - an embroidered sundress and a jacket, trimmed with fur or brocade. The noblewoman - a shirt, an outer dress, a summer dress (clothes expanding from top to bottom with precious buttons), and on top there is also a fur coat for greater importance."

Veronica Bathan. "Russian beauties"

For some time, the sundress was forgotten by the nobility - after the reforms of Peter I, who forbade those close to him to walk in traditional clothes and cultivated the European style. The wardrobe item was returned by Catherine the Great, the famous trendsetter. The Empress tried to instill in Russian subjects a sense of national dignity and pride, a sense of historical self-sufficiency. When Catherine began to rule, she began to dress in Russian dress, setting an example for the ladies of the court. Once, at a reception with Emperor Joseph II, Yekaterina Alekseevna appeared in a scarlet velvet Russian dress, studded with large pearls, with a star on her chest and in a diamond diadem on her head. And here is another documentary evidence from the diary of an Englishman who visited the Russian court: "The Empress was in Russian attire - a light green silk dress with a short train and a corsage of gold brocade, with long sleeves."

Poneva

Poneva, a baggy skirt, was a must-have for a married woman. Poneva consisted of three panels, it could be deaf or swinging. As a rule, its length depended on the length of a woman's shirt. The hem was decorated with patterns and embroidery. Most often, reluctance was sewn from half-woolen fabric into a cage.

The skirt was put on a shirt and wrapped around the hips, and a woolen cord (gashnik) held it at the waist. An apron was usually worn on top. In Russia, for girls who reached the age of majority, there was a rite of putting on a poneva, which said that a girl could already be married.

Belt

In Russia, it was customary that the women's lower shirt was always belted, there was even a rite of belting a newborn girl. It was believed that this magic circle protects from evil spirits, the belt was not removed even in the bath. Walking without it was considered a great sin. Hence the meaning of the word "unbelieve" - to become insolent, to forget about decency. Woolen, linen or cotton belts were crocheted or woven. Sometimes the sash could reach a length of three meters, such were worn by unmarried girls; an edging with a volumetric geometric pattern was worn by those who have already married. A yellow-red belt made of woolen fabric with braid and ribbons was wrapped around the holidays.

Apron

The apron not only protected clothing from pollution, but also adorned the festive outfit, giving it a complete and monumental look. The apron of the wardrobe was worn over a shirt, sundress and ponevah. It was decorated with patterns, silk ribbons and trim inserts, the edge was decorated with lace and frills. There was a tradition to embroider the apron with certain symbols. According to which it was possible, like a book, to read the history of a woman's life: the creation of a family, the number and gender of children, deceased relatives.

Headdress

The headdress depended on age and marital status. He predetermined the entire composition of the costume. Girls' headdresses left part of their hair open and were quite simple: ribbons, headbands, hoops, openwork crowns, scarves folded in a plait.

Married women were required to completely cover their hair with a headdress. After the wedding and the ceremony of "unweaving the braid", the girl wore a "kichka of a young woman." According to the old Russian custom, a scarf - ubrus - was worn over the kichka. After the birth of the first child, they put on a horned headdress or a high spade-shaped headdress, a symbol of fertility and the ability to bear children.

Kokoshnik was a ceremonial headdress of a married woman. Married women wore a kichka and a kokoshnik when they left the house, and at home, as a rule, they wore a warrior (cap) and a scarf.

Red

This color was preferred in clothes by both peasants and boyars. The color of fire and sun, a symbol of power and fertility. Up to 33 shades of red can be seen in traditional Rus costumes. Each shade had its own name: meat, worm, red, crimson, bloody, black or kumach.

By the clothes it was possible to determine the age of its owner. Young girls dressed most brightly before the birth of a child. The costumes of children and people of the age were distinguished by a modest palette.

The women's costume was full of patterns. The ornament was woven into the image of people, animals, birds, plants and geometric shapes. Sun signs, circles, crosses, rhombic figures, deer, birds prevailed.

Cabbage style

A distinctive feature of the Russian national costume is its layering. The casual suit was as simple as possible, it consisted of the most necessary elements. For comparison: a festive women's suit of a married woman could include about 20 items, and a daily one - only seven. According to legends, multi-layered loose clothing protected the hostess from the evil eye. Wearing less than three layers of dresses was considered indecent. For the nobility, sophisticated dresses emphasized wealth.

The peasants sewed clothes mainly from homespun canvas and wool, and from the middle of the 19th century - from factory calico, satin, and even silk and brocade. Traditional outfits were popular until the second half of the 19th century, when they were gradually replaced by urban fashion.