Costume of the ancient Eastern Slavs (6th-9th centuries)

Russian national costume is a traditional set of clothing, shoes and accessories that has developed over centuries, which was used by Russian people in everyday and festive life. It has noticeable features depending on the specific region, gender (male and female), purpose (holiday, wedding and everyday) and age (children's, girl's, married woman, old woman).

Costumes from New Rus'. Illustration from the encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907)

Despite the general similarity in cut and decoration techniques, the Russian costume had its own characteristics. Russian folk costume represents two main types - northern and southern. In northern Russia, peasants wore clothing significantly different from peasants in the southern regions. In central Russia they wore a costume similar in character to the northern one, however, in some individual areas one could see a costume with features of southern Russian clothing.

A distinctive feature of the Russian national costume is a large amount of outerwear. Cover-up and swing-out clothing. The cover-up garment was put on over the head, the swinging garment had a slit from top to bottom and was fastened end-to-end with hooks or buttons.

The clothing of the nobility is of the Byzantine type. In the 17th century, borrowings from Poland appeared in clothing: the Polish caftan, the Polish fur coat. To protect national identity, by decree of August 6, 1675, clerks, solicitors, Moscow nobles, residents and their servants were prohibited from wearing foreign-style clothing. The costumes of the nobility were made from expensive fabrics, using gold, silver, pearls, and expensive buttons. Such clothes were passed down from generation to generation.

The style of peasant clothing has not changed for centuries. The concept of fashion did not exist.

Russian national costume became less common after Peter I in 1699 banned the wearing of folk costume for everyone except peasants, monks, priests and sextons. First, the Hungarian dress was introduced, and then the Upper Saxon and French, the camisole and underwear were German. Women had to wear German dress. Everyone entering the city in Russian clothes and with a beard was charged a fee: 40 kopecks for those on foot and 2 rubles for those on horseback.

Men's suit

The main men's clothing was a shirt or undershirt. Russian men's shirts of the 16th - 17th centuries have square gussets under the armpits and triangular gussets on the sides of the belt. Shirts were made from linen and cotton fabrics, as well as silk. The wrist sleeves are narrow. The length of the sleeve probably depended on the purpose of the shirt.

The collar was either absent (just a round neck), or in the form of a stand, round or quadrangular (“square”), with a base in the form of leather or birch bark, 2.5-4 cm high; fastened with a button. The presence of a collar implied a cut in the middle of the chest or on the left (kosovorotka), with buttons or ties.

In folk costume, the shirt was the outer garment, and in the costume of the nobility it was the underwear. At home, the boyars wore a maid's shirt - it was always silk.

Shirt-blouse

The colors of the shirts are different: most often white, blue and red. They were worn untucked and girded with a narrow belt. A lining was sewn onto the back and chest of the shirt, which was called a lining.

They were tucked into boots or onuchi with bast shoes. There's a diamond-shaped gusset in the step. A belt-gashnik is threaded into the upper part (hence the zashnik - a handbag behind the belt), a cord or rope for tying.

Men's Russian folk costume was less varied than women's. It consisted mainly of a shirt, usually a blouse, decorated at the collar, hem and ends of the sleeves with embroidery or weaving, which was worn over the pants and girded with a woven or woven belt

Outerwear

Zipun. Front and back view

Ports. Front and back view

I. F. Khrutsky. Portrait of a boy. 1834

A. G. Venetsianov. Zakharka. 1825
Over the shirt, men wore a zipun made from homemade cloth. Rich people wore a caftan over their zipun. Over the caftan, boyars and nobles wore a feryaz, or okhaben.

In the summer, a single-row jacket was worn over the caftan. The peasant outerwear was the Armenian jacket.

Awesome and a hat. Feryaz and hat

Opashen is a long-length caftan (made of cloth, silk, etc.) with long wide sleeves, frequent buttons down to the bottom and a fastened fur collar.

Miloslavskaya, Maria Ilyinichna is guarded. On top is a round cape necklace

Litvin in a scroll

Scroll. The usual name for outerwear is scroll (svita). It can be either loose (kaftan) or closed (outer shirt). The material for the outer shirt is cloth or thick dyed linen. For a caftan - cloth, probably with a lining. The retinue was equipped with colored edging along the edges of the sleeves, usually also along the hem and collar. The outer shirt sometimes had another colored stripe between the elbow and shoulder. The cut generally corresponds to a shirt (undershirt). Along the side of the caftan there were about 8-12 buttons or ties, with conversations.

casing- winter caftan. Kozhukh (also kozhushanka, sheepskin coat, bekesha, baibarak, fur coat, lip, kozhanka) - traditional Ukrainian and Russian clothing, made from sheep and calf skins. The casings are sewn in different lengths, with or without sleeves, and are predominantly white. The casings are worn in winter and summer as part of the traditional costume. The casings are sometimes embroidered with silk or woolen threads.

Terlik- Russian clothing, used in the 16th - late 17th centuries, exclusively at court, during the reception of ambassadors and ceremonial exits. It was made mainly of gold material and looked like a feryaz, only it was narrower and made with an interception or bodice. Instead of long buttonholes, the terlik had short loops and was mainly trimmed at the collar, along the floor, along the hem and at the sleeves with silver or gold gauze, pearls and stones. His sleeves were much shorter than those of the Feryazi, and almost without frills. Sometimes terliks ​​were made with fur.

Sermyaga(sermyazhka) is the Russian historical name for coarse thick cloth made of simple wool, hand-made or hand-made, as well as clothes made from it. In the old days, semmyazhka was also found among sovereign clothes, mainly “summer, riding”, made of white and gray cloth, with decorations and gold buttons. In 1469, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich sent the people of Ustyug as a gift, among various other things, 300 sermyaga. Sermyaga was a caftan made from such cloth, usually short, with narrow long sleeves and a fastener in the front. The word was used until the beginning of the 20th century; for example, in the encyclopedic article “Lithuanians”, describing their traditional clothing

Korzno (also korzen) - a mantle of the princes and nobility of Kievan Rus, which was thrown over a caftan, and fastened on the right shoulder with a cufflink with buttonholes (fibula), a cloak with a fur trim. The cut of the korzno was the same as the myatel, only the myatel was not fur .

Bekesha (bekeshi) (from the Hungarian bekes) - an ancient long-skirted coat of a frock coat cut (wadded or fur coat) and fur clothing, cut at the waist, with folds and a slit at the back (maybe without a slit at the back), a Hungarian caftan with cords. Rus' of this type had outer men's winter clothing in the form of a short caftan with ruching on the back and fur trim (along the edge of the collar, sleeves, pockets, along the hem), also sometimes called a sheepskin coat.

Vasilisa Melentevna in a blue single-row uniform.
Single row- wide, long-length clothing without a collar, with long sleeves, with stripes and buttons or ties. It was usually sewn from cloth and other woolen fabrics. They were worn both in sleeves and saddle-back.

Looked like a one-liner awesome, but it had a turn-down collar that went down the back, and the long sleeves folded back and there were holes under them for the arms, as in the single-row one. A simple okhaben was made of cloth, mukhoyar, and an elegant one was made of velvet, obyari, damask, brocade, decorated with stripes and fastened with buttons.

In the 16th century festive clothing appeared, which was called fairy. She, like the caftan, was worn with a zipun and was classified as average clothing. Sometimes it was also worn on a caftan. It was a wide and long robe, almost reaching to the feet, with wide and long sleeves. Feryaz -
the word is Persian, and it was sewn from Persian silk fabric. Warmer and more elegant feryazis are made of velvet, brocade and fur-lined. On the front of the feryazi were stripes called samples. These were several buttonholes embroidered with gold or silk. Initially, ferjazi were fastened with ties, and later with buttons. The sleeves of the feryazi were almost to the ground. The arm was threaded through one sleeve, gathered in many folds, and the other hung to the floor. Sometimes the sleeves were pulled back or tied behind the back in a knot.

Cape summer outerwear was considered scary. In autumn and spring they wore single-row ones. They were of the same cut, but differed in material. Opashnya were sewn from silk fabrics and thin cloth, and single-row ones were made only from cloth. It was wide, toe-length, with long sleeves. Stripes were made on the sides, trimmed with lace along the edges of the cut, buttons were fastened along the cut, and a necklace was fastened to the collar - a collar embroidered with gold and studded with pearls. Opashny were sewn with lining, holes were made under the sleeves for the arms, and the sleeves themselves were folded back and tied in a knot at the back. Obviously, this rich summer outfit was worn when leaving the house in good weather. There are two versions of the origin of the name “opashen”. In the old days, the expression “na opash” meant saddle blanket; more often than not, opash was worn like this.

The words “to smell”, “to smell” are also related to the word “apprehension”. There were also other clothes for going out. Ohabnem was a cloak with long decorative sleeves and a collar that folded down like a hood. It was rectangular and reclined on its back. Pherezites were called traveling cloaks with sleeves. They were straight, somewhat flared at the bottom, wide and with folding sleeves. The Perezites sewed from cloth, trimmed it with fur and embroidery, and wore it saddle-clothed. The epancha was also classified as a cover-up garment. There were both travel epanches made of camel wool and coarse cloth, in which they traveled, and elegant epanches made of expensive fabric. The epancha was made without sleeves and without holes for the arms; it was thrown over the shoulders and fastened at the neck with buttons or ties.

The cut of the opashen was slightly longer at the back than at the front, and the sleeves tapered towards the wrist. Opashni were made of velvet, satin, obyari, damask, decorated with lace, stripes, and fastened with buttons and loops with tassels. Opashen was worn without a belt (“on opash”) and saddled.

The sleeveless epancha (yapancha) was a cloak worn in bad weather. Travel cape - made of coarse cloth or camel hair. Dressy - made of good fabric, lined with fur.

All layers of society wore fur coats: peasants wore fur coats made of sheepskin and hare, and the nobility wore fur coats made of marten, sable, and black fox. The Old Russian fur coat is massive, straight to the floor in length. The sleeves on the front side had a slit to the elbow, a wide turn-down collar and cuffs were decorated with fur. The fur coat was sewn with fur inside, and the top of the fur coat was covered with cloth. Fur has always served as a lining. The top of the fur coat was covered with various fabrics: cloth, brocade and velvet. On ceremonial occasions, a fur coat was worn in the summer and indoors.

There were several types of fur coats: Turkish fur coats, Polish fur coats, the most common were Russian and Turkish.

Russian fur coats were similar to okhaben and single-row fur coats, but had a wide turn-down fur collar starting from the chest. The Russian fur coat was massive and long, almost to the floor, straight, widening downwards - up to 3.5 m at the hem. It was tied in front with laces. The fur coat was sewn with long sleeves, sometimes going down almost to the floor and having slits in front up to the elbow for threading through the arms. The collar and cuff were fur.

The Tura fur coat was considered extremely ceremonial. They usually wore it saddled. It was long, with relatively short and wide sleeves.

Fur coats were fastened with buttons or gags with loops.

Hats

On the short-cropped head they usually wore tafiyas, which in the 16th century were not removed even in church, despite the censures of Metropolitan Philip. Tafya is a small round hat. Hats were put on over the tafya: among the common people - from felt, poyarka, sukmanina, among rich people - from thin cloth and velvet.

In addition to hats in the form of hoods, three hats, murmolki and gorlat hats were worn. Three hats - hats with three blades - were worn by men and women, and the latter usually had cuffs studded with pearls visible from under the three hats. Murmolki are tall hats with a flat, flared crown made of velvet or brocade on the head, with a chalk blade in the form of lapels. Gorlat hats were made a cubit high, wider at the top, and narrower towards the head; they were lined with fox, mustel or sable fur from the throat, hence their name.

Grand Duke's costume

The Grand Dukes and Duchesses wore long, narrow, long-sleeved tunics, mostly blue; purple cloaks woven with gold, which were fastened on the right shoulder or chest with a beautiful buckle. The ceremonial attire of the Grand Dukes was a crown of gold and silver, decorated with pearls, semi-precious stones and enamels, and a “barma” - a wide round collar, also richly decorated with precious stones and icon medallions.

The royal crown always belonged to the eldest in the grand-ducal or royal family. At the wedding, the princesses wore a veil, the folds of which, framing their faces, fell onto their shoulders.

The so-called “Monomakh’s hat”, trimmed with sable fur, with diamonds, emeralds, yachts, and a cross on top, appeared much later. There was a legend about its Byzantine origin, according to which this headdress belonged to Vladimir Monomakh’s maternal grandfather, Constantine Monomakh, and it was sent to Vladimir by the Byzantine Emperor Alexei Komnenos. However, it has been established that the Monomakh cap was made in 1624 for Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.

Warriors costume

Old Russian warriors wore short, knee-length chain mail with short sleeves over their regular clothes. It was put on over the head and tied with a sash made of metal plaques. Chain mail was expensive, so ordinary warriors wore “kuyak” - a sleeveless leather shirt with metal plates sewn on it. The head was protected by a pointed helmet, to which a chainmail mesh (“aventail”) was attached from the inside, covering the back and shoulders. Russian soldiers fought with straight and curved swords, sabers, spears, bows and arrows, flails and axes.

Shoes

In Ancient Rus' they wore boots or bast shoes with onuchas. Onuchi were long pieces of cloth that were wrapped over the ports. The bast shoes were tied to the leg with ties. Wealthy people wore very thick stockings over their ports. The nobility wore high boots without heels, made of colored leather.
Women also wore bast shoes with onuchas or boots made of colored leather without heels, which were decorated with embroidery.

Hairstyles and hats

Men cut their hair in an even semicircle - “in a bracket” or “in a circle.” They wore a wide beard.
A hat was a mandatory element of a man's suit. They were made of felt or cloth and had the shape of a high or low cap. Round hats were trimmed with fur.

Men's headdress of Ancient Rus'

Braichevskaya E. A. Chronicle data about the ancient Russian men's suit of the X-XIII centuries // In the book. Lands of Southern Rus' in the 9th-14th centuries. — K.: Naukova Dumka, 1995

Mourning / S. M. Tolstaya // Slavic antiquities: Ethnolinguistic dictionary: in 5 volumes / under general. ed. N. I. Tolstoy; Institute of Slavic Studies RAS. — M.: Intl. relations, 2012. - T. 5: S (Fairy Tale) - I (Lizard). - pp. 312-317

F. G. Solntsev “Clothes of the Russian State”

Source - "History in costumes. From pharaoh to dandy." Author - Anna Blaze, artist - Daria Chaltykyan

Look how we are dressed?! Look who we look like?! Anyone, but not the Russians. To be Russian is not only to think in Russian, but also to look like a Russian person. So, let's change our wardrobe. The following items of clothing should be included:

This is the cornerstone of the Russian wardrobe. Almost all other types of men's outerwear in Rus' were versions of the kaftan. In the 10th century, it was introduced into Russian fashion by the Varangians, who, in turn, picked it up from the Persians. At first, only princes and boyars wore it, but over time, the caftan penetrated into the “toilets” of all other classes: from priests to peasants. For the nobility, caftans were made from light silk fabrics, brocade or satin, and the edges were often trimmed with fur. Near the edge, gold or silver lace was sewn along the flaps, cuffs, and hem. The caftan was extremely comfortable clothing and hid the flaws of its owner's figure. He gave significance to plain-looking people, solidity to thin people, grandeur to fat people.

Where to wear it?

For business meetings. A good caftan can easily replace a dull suit and tie.

This type of caftan was wide at the hem, up to three meters, with long sleeves hanging down to the ground. Thanks to the fairies, the saying “work carelessly” was born. It was worn both in cold winter and hot summer. Summer furs were thinly lined, and winter ones were lined with fur. This item of clothing was sewn from different fabrics - from brocade and velvet (wealthy people) to homespun and cotton fabrics (peasants). Rich people wore feryaz on other caftans, and poor people - directly on shirts. The budget version of the feryazi was tied with cords, and its buttonholes were modest and did not exceed 3-5 in number. Exclusive caftans were decorated with seven expensive buttonholes with tassels, which could be either tied or fastened. The edges of the ferjazi were trimmed with galloon or gold lace.

Where to wear it?

For major celebrations and official receptions held outdoors.

It is somewhat reminiscent of a feryaz, but the opashen is less solemn. As a rule, it served as a duster or summer coat. The opashen was made of cloth or wool without lining, without decorations, sometimes even without fasteners. Hem-length sleeves were sewn in only at the back. The entire front part of the armhole and cuff of the sleeve was treated with facings or braid, thanks to which the opashen could be worn as a sleeveless vest: the arms in the sleeves from the lower caftan were inserted into the slits, and the sleeves of the opashen were left hanging at the sides or tied back. In cold weather, they were worn on the arms, and part of the sleeve could hang, protecting the hand and fingers from the cold.

Where to wear it?

Can easily replace a casual coat or raincoat.

A “casual” version of the caftan with a fitted short silhouette and fur trim. It was sewn on fur or cotton wool with a fur or velvet collar. Russian boyars spied this caftan during the defense of Polotsk in 1579 from the soldiers of the Hungarian infantry, who fought on the side of the Poles. Actually, the name of the caftan itself comes from the name of their Hungarian commander Kaspar Bekes. The Russian army lost Polotsk, but brought prisoners and “fashionable” Hungarians to Moscow. Measurements were taken from the “tongue” caftans, and another piece of clothing appeared in the Russian wardrobe.

Where to wear it?

“Bekesha” can become casual, semi-sportswear, and replace, for example, a jacket or down jacket.

A lightweight, minimalist version of the caftan made from homespun cloth. The zipun does not have any decorations or frills in the form of a stand-up collar. But it is very functional: it does not restrict movement. Zipuns were worn mainly by peasants and Cossacks. The latter even called their Cossack trade - going for zipuns. And highway robbers were called “zipunniks.”

Where to wear it?

Perfect for garden work in cool weather. Also not suitable for fishing and hunting.

Epancha was created for bad weather. It was a sleeveless cloak with a wide turn-down collar. They sewed epancha from cloth or felt and soaked it in drying oil. As a rule, these clothes were decorated with stripes in five places of two nests. Stripes - transverse stripes according to the number of buttons. Each patch had a buttonhole, so later the patches became known as buttonholes. Epancha was so popular in Rus' that it can even be seen on the coat of arms of Ryazan.

Where to wear it?

An excellent replacement for a parka and a mackintosh (a raincoat, not the one from Apple).

Headdress.

It is impossible to imagine a Russian person of the 17th century appearing on the street without a headdress. This was a monstrous violation of decency. In pre-Petrine times, the central “head” attribute was a cap: a pointed or spherical shape with a slightly lagging band - a rim that fits the head. Noble people wore caps made of velvet, brocade or silk and upholstered in valuable fur. The common people were content with felt or felted hats, which were called “felt boots.” In hot weather or at home, Russians wore so-called “tafya”, caps that covered the tops of their heads, reminiscent of skullcaps. Noble citizens had tafyas embroidered with silk or gold threads and decorated with precious stones.

Where to wear it?

The cap will easily replace the ridiculous-looking knitted hats accepted today. And tafya will supplant “alien” baseball caps and other “Panama hats” in the summer.

Read about another extremely important accessory of the Russian wardrobe.

No, my friends! I haven’t forgotten you, it’s just that spring and the beginning of summer were very nervous, and then I went on vacation, and after the vacation it took another month to come to my senses. But I always remembered that the series of essays in the community needed to be completed. And that’s why I continue. So today we're talking about men's clothing.
The men's suit, unlike the women's, was practically the same throughout Russia and consisted of a shirt, ports, shoes, headdress and belt.

It is women who always need to show off, and men, first of all, have always been interested in practicality and convenience. "First things first - airplanes!"

Only festive clothes were richly decorated, and even young men and unmarried guys could dress up in bright embroidered shirts. They could also wear numerous jewelry - bright ribbons on hats, scarves, bracelets, chains. In the Kursk province, young men and single guys from rich families wore silver bracelets called “bugak” - a sign of wealth. Grown-up respectable men and old people dressed much more modestly. Festive clothing differed from everyday clothing only in the quality of the material - it could be sewn from more expensive purchased fabrics, and not from homespun.

Men's shirts, as a rule, had a tunic-like cut. It was sewn from one point of canvas, folded over the weft, a hole was cut in the center for the head and a slit was made. Wedges or straight pieces of fabric could be inserted into the sides to expand the hem. Classic men's shirt - collar with a slit on the left side. But there could also be shirts with a slit on the right or in the middle. Shirts with a slit on the right were common in the middle Volga region, in places where Russians came into contact with the indigenous peoples of the Volga region and the Urals - the Mordvins, Mari, and Udmurts. They just had shirts with a slit on the right. Shirts with a slit in the center were common in some southern provinces - in places where the Cossacks and the mixed Russian-Ukrainian or Russian-Belarusian population settled. This type of shirt was considered the most archaic.

The collar was low - 1-2 cm and fastened with one button. In places where there was a mixed Russian-Ukrainian and Russian-Belarusian population, there were shirts with a straight neckline, with stripes sewn on the weft or on the warp and with a turn-down collar. Such shirts were also known to the Western Slavs - Czechs and Poles.

In the places of residence of the Cossack population and in the Voronezh province. Shirts without a collar were known - “naked necks” with a cutout in the center. They existed in places where the complex with a plain paneva and a shirt embroidered with a black pattern was common.

Shirts were sewn above the knees for unmarried guys and young men, and below the knees for mature men and old men. But in some provinces, young people - both boys and girls - could wear only long shirts before getting married. A guy only got pants when he got married. This caused protests from the church and the educated part of the population - landowners and rural intelligentsia - paramedics, teachers. Such cases are also described in the literature. In V. Lipatnikov's story "Our Little Paris" - about the life of the Kuban Cossacks before the revolution, the old Cossack, former convoy of His Imperial Majesty's Convoy Luka Kostogryz recalls that before the wedding he wore a long shirt to his toes and without pants, and he was given pants only in wedding day. The morning after the wedding, the newlywed tried to dress again as he was used to - in just a shirt, but his father told him: “No. Once you get married, you have to wear pants!”

In general, boys usually received their first pants at the age of 6-7 - after their first communion. The pants consisted of two narrow trouser legs - kolosh, or portochinas, which were cut from two canvas points bent at the base and two diamond-shaped gusset inserts in a step.

The trousers were supported at the hips by a ribbon. Hence the expression: “keep in storage.” Pockets are a more recent phenomenon. However, in some places men could hang a small pocket for change on their belt. All clothing was sewn, in most places, mainly from homemade fabrics - from linen or hemp canvas and ponitchina - the so-called mixed fabric, the warp of which was linen or hemp, and the weft was made of wool.

However, in those places where latrine trades and crafts were widespread, where the population had free money - in the Volga region, in the North and in the St. Petersburg province. Homespun clothing had already fallen out of use by the middle of the 19th century. It was worn only by beggars, barge haulers and, sometimes, Old Believers. Sometimes old people used homespun clothes as burial clothes.

In those places where Russians were not the indigenous population and were in contact with local peoples - in Siberia, the Urals, the Volga region - there were extensive borrowings from the clothing of local peoples. But this mainly concerned work and industrial clothing. So, from the peoples of the North and Siberia, the Russians borrowed a hunting vest-luzan, malitsa, sovik, dokha and shoes - torbaza, high boots. In places of contact with the Turkic peoples and peoples of the Caucasus, the Russian men's costume included trousers and beshmet, which became the uniform of the Kuban Cossacks. Beshmet was also called “Circassian”.


According to Russian ideas, a man owned the entire outside world, and a woman owned the entire domestic world. In the Vologda region there was, and still is, a proverb that “the owner should smell like wind, and the mistress should smell like smoke.”

Therefore, the bench at the entrance - "konik" - has always been considered a man's place in the hut. In the photo there is a group of peasants-"horsemen". My colleagues))) Konoval - that was the name of the veterinarian before, he had to have a special badge - a sign that he was allowed to practice his craft and a bag with tools.

Hunter costume. Arkhangelsk province Leather pants and loose vest.

By the middle of the 19th century, peasant costume began to include borrowings from urban clothing. This was caused by the development of capitalist relations, otkhodnichestvo, and the mass exodus of men to work in the cities.

Another important element of a peasant costume was the belt. “Walking without a belt is a sin,” the peasants said. There is still an expression in the Russian language “to loosen your belt.” This means crossing all boundaries of decency.
Russian men wore their shirt untucked over their pants and belted it. Both men and women always tied the belt under the left arm. On the belt hung a pocket for change, a wallet, keys, personal hygiene items - a comb and a duster - a stick for cleaning ears.


The belts were woven or knitted; at the beginning of the twentieth century, the belt was increasingly replaced by a regular belt. The belt was given sacred meaning. It was considered a talisman; the girl at the wedding presented the guests with belts. Often it was necessary to prepare about a hundred such belts! She gave a special belt to the groom. Often on belts - this was especially common among the Old Believers - names and words of prayers, quotations from Scripture were woven.

Old Believers put a belt on the baby at baptism. It was worn directly on the body and did not take off for the rest of one’s life.
It was believed that without a belt a Christian soul would not be allowed into heaven. Although the burial clothes themselves were not belted, they were devoid of fasteners.

Shoes were usually leather, but bast shoes were also widespread. According to some information, bast shoes were worn back in the 50s and early 60s of the 20th century. They were usually worn to make hay, or to the forest to pick berries. These shoes did not last long - 2-3 weeks. There were several methods of weaving, but there were two main ones - straight, or “Russian” weaving - such bast shoes were woven without distinction on the right and left leg and “oblique”, or Mordovian. Such bast shoes existed in the Volga region, in places of contact between Russians and the indigenous Volga peoples - Mordvins, Udmurts, and so on. The oblique bast shoes were woven onto each leg separately and were stronger than the “straight” ones. By the way - bast shoes are very hygienic! Our peasants did not know what foot fungus was! In addition to bast shoes, leather shoes were widespread. It was either the simplest - "morshni" - these are footwear of the postol type, known to Ukrainians, Belarusians and the Baltic peoples, or cut - boots, shoe covers, brodni. The last two types were considered fishing shoes. Boots were usually made from the skin of young calves. The best ones were considered to be “feeders” - they were covered with the skin of dairy calves in the first month of life. The sole was made from several layers of thick pigskin. “For the sake of force,” many young boys and men ordered “creaky” boots. To do this, birch bark was placed in the sole between layers of leather.


To be continued...

Today in Sweden and Germany there is a custom of wearing national clothes even on holidays that have nothing to do with the customs of their ancestors. In our fast paced life, such days, filled with joy and respect, give a person a feeling of security and belonging to age-old traditions.

In Russia very rich history of Russian national costume, there are families that still have grandmother’s embroidery. In old great-grandmother's photographs, clothes still bear the imprint of the tradition of their ancestors.

The national costume of any country reflects the natural conditions of the area, the attitude towards family values ​​and the main types of employment of people. Let's look at what women's and men's clothing consisted of, and their names with detailed descriptions and photos.

Important! The Russian national costume differed by area of ​​residence, marital status, there were sets for everyday wear and festive clothing.

There are two types of national set of Rus':

  • northern regions;
  • southern

In the central part of Russia they wore clothes similar to the northern costume. At that time, there were layers of clothing, many types of outerwear.

History of Russian national costume

The national costume as we know it formed in Ancient Rus' around the seventh century. Over the following centuries it changed little.

The Russians' main activity was agriculture; many holidays and customs are associated with the wheat harvest. Clothing also reflected the main occupation of the peasants. The cut and the custom of tying up were aimed at making the suit comfortable for working in the field.

Interesting! Before the reign of Peter I, the national costume in Russia was worn by all classes, only the nobility used expensive materials and more decorations. In 1699, by decree of Peter I, the wearing of national costume was prohibited; an exception was made for the peasant class; village residents were allowed to continue wearing their usual clothes. A duty was introduced on beards and Russian costumes for everyone entering the city.

Elements of Russian folk costume

According to their purpose, clothing was divided into casual, work and festive. Festive clothes were richly decorated, everyday clothes also had embroidery, work clothes were the simplest, made from durable materials.

Reference! The harvest shirt was decorated with embroidery in the same way as the holiday one, this expressed the attitude of the peasants to the harvest.

All outerwear of the Russian national costume there were two types:

  • loose clothing, fastened in front with buttons or hooks;
  • cap, dressed over the head.

What does a woman's suit consist of?

Women's national costume is much more beautiful and interesting than men's.

The main parts of the kits came from Ancient Rus'. Women's national costume embodies the ideas of that time about female beauty and family values.

The silhouette is straight or widened down; it was not customary to emphasize the figure; the national set is characterized by multi-layering.

Women's suits are distinguished by purpose:

  • casual wear made of cotton, linen and woolen fabric, included up to seven items;
  • in tailoring elegant clothes Velvet, brocade, and good quality wool were used. A festive women's clothing set could consist of twenty items. Such things were expensive, carefully decorated, and worn on special holidays and to church. Elegant sets were kept in chests, and the best was passed on by inheritance.


Sundress set

The basis of the Northern Russian costume served as a shirt, it was sewn from linen and cotton fabric. The bottom of the shirt, sleeves and neck were decorated with embroidery. Embroidery was more modest for an everyday shirt, and a festive shirt was richly decorated with embroidered motifs.

A sundress was worn over the shirt. The sundress is one of the characteristic details of the Russian national costume. Translated from Iranian it means “fully dressed.” Over the sundress they wore a beautiful belt and apron. In Rus' they wore a swing sundress with embroidery along the edge of the hem and a button closure.


"Round" sundress did not have a fastener, otherwise it was called “straight” and it appeared much later than the swing one.

On top of the sundress in the festive costume of a peasant woman, an elegant soul warmer was dressed. At the top it was gathered into small folds, and at the bottom it was wide. The length barely covered the waist. Such a warmer was made from expensive fabrics, brocade and velvet.

Winter sundress was made of cloth, dressed on top warm soul warmer, shubeyya, opashin or telogrey. The warm soul warmer was quilted with cotton wool and decorated with fur trim. The outfit was completed with warm woolen stockings, a shawl and a warm headdress.


Powder kit

The pony kit is considered older, wore it in the southern regions of Russia.

This set consists of a long canvas shirt and a blanket.

Festive outfit and for every day

Poneva is a skirt. There are blind and swing poneva. It consisted of three panels and was richly decorated with woven patterns and embroidery. The basis was checkered woolen fabric; the hem and panel were decorated with rows of embroidery or braid. A narrow belt, a gasket, was held at the waist.

In the villages there was a custom of “putting on a poneva”, which meant that the girl could now be matched.

Women's hats

The headdress not only protected the head, but could also tell a lot about the woman.


Headdress of an unmarried girl consisted of ribbons and braid. The hair was partially exposed to view.


After marriage woman put on kiku, an ubrus scarf was put on top, the hair was completely covered.

Married women on holidays put on an elegant headdress - kokoshnik. Kika and kokoshnik were intended for going out in public, at home the woman wore a warrior (cap) and a scarf.

Russian kokoshnik

Complemented the outfit chest and neck decorations. Such jewelry consisted of beads, colored wool and beaded threads.

In elegant women's clothing, even the buttons were richly decorated.

Men's national costume

Unlike the women's suit, the men's suit was less colorful and consisted of fewer items. In a men's suit, it was customary to emphasize the figure, and consisted of the following elements.

Shirt

All men, starting with boys, wore shirts, mostly shirts-blouses.

Reference! It is believed that at first the shirt fastener was in the center, and the shirt appeared so that the pectoral cross would not fall out during work.

Neck, sleeves and hem decorated with embroidered motifs, the embroidery on the shirt in which they got married had to be done by the bride. This custom has a sacred meaning, such embroidery, made by the hands of a loving woman, served as a talisman.


A caftan was worn over the shirt. Men could wear a long caftan or a short caftan. The caftan was fastened with buttons or tied with ribbons.

Pants and belt

Men's trousers or ports were made of striped fabric. More often they are of small volume; wide trousers are less common. The length of the ports is shortened, as it was customary to tuck the bottom of the pants into the top of the boots. Later, pockets appeared, and at first everything needed was tied to the belt.


All peasants tied themselves with an embroidered belt, wide and long unmarried guys. Married men tied with a narrow and short belt.

The belt was tied differently on the figure: young men emphasized their waist with a belt; the old people had a belt under their stomachs.

Headdress

Men always complemented their suit with a headdress. At first it was woolen sinner cap, Later a cap appeared, a special type of cap, decorated with ribbons, flowers, beads. Protected your head in winter hat with earflaps.

There were other winter hats that came from Ancient Rus'. A small tafya hat was worn under a winter hat. They protected their heads in cold weather by having murmurs widened towards the top. The hats were decorated with fur, which warmed the head well.

Outerwear

In autumn and winter cold, men wore sheepskin coats, fur coats, and retinues. The clothes of wealthy peasants were decorated with a fur collar; in the outer clothing of the poor, a standing collar protected them from the cold wind.

Traditional clothing of the 17th century. in Rus'

Everyone wore fur coats: among the poor there were hare sheepskin coats or sheepskin coats, the rich wore fur coats made of sable or marten To make it warmer, a fur coat was worn with the fur inside, and the top was covered with cloth.

Russian national costume has a very rich history. Individual items today serve as a source of inspiration for fashion designers. The abundance of types of clothing and the variety of embroidery motifs provide good ground for successors who create modern clothing.

Russian national costume can be conditionally divided into the costume of Kievan and North-Eastern Rus' of the 10th-14th centuries, the costume of Moscow Rus' of the 15th-17th centuries, and the folk costume of the 18th - early 20th centuries. In addition, in each time period one can distinguish a costume traditional for commoners and the outfits of noble persons. Before the adoption of Christianity, the clothing of the ancient Slavs showed features of the Scythian costume (shirts, trousers).

The main materials for clothing during this period were linen and wool. In the 10th century, under the influence of the new faith, silk tunics and basket cloaks with a red lining that came from Byzantium appeared in the costume of the princes and their entourage; tunics, dalmatics, and draped cloaks appeared in the wardrobe of their wives and daughters. The clothes of noble people were made from expensive imported fabrics and decorated with gold and silver embroidery, jewelry, and furs.

In the Peter the Great and subsequent eras, the costume of the nobility changed greatly and became no longer the Russian national costume, but a variety of the European one. Only in the peasant and partly merchant environment are the old traditions preserved. Men still wear shirts, ports, zipuns and caftans, and sheepskin coats. The women's costume remains virtually unchanged. The main women's clothing continues to be the shirt and sundress.

In different areas, different colors and methods of cutting sundresses were traditional. In the 18th century, they were sewn from canvas and calico in red or blue and decorated with a central vertical strip of ribbon, lace, and a row of buttons; the same ribbon was sewn along the bottom of the hem, at the top of the sundress, and sometimes under the chest. In the 19th century, sundresses were made from chintz, calico, satin, satin and other purchased fabrics, often not plain, but patterned, with the fabric gathered into small folds at the top. Such items of clothing as epancha, dushegreya, poneva and apron continue to be part of the women's costume.

The basis of women's folk costume of the 10th-14th centuries was a long shirt with long sleeves, decorated along the neck with embroidery or a strip of fabric in a contrasting color. The shirt was never worn just like that; a blanket, cufflink or bib was put on top. Poneva is a below-the-knee skirt consisting of three rectangular pieces of fabric connected at the waist with a belt. Ponevas were usually made from brightly colored fabric.

The zapona was a straight, sleeveless dress with a round neckline, with slits on the sides from the waist to the bottom. The cufflink was tied with a cord. A bib is an outer short dress with short sleeves and a round neckline, decorated along the hem and neck with embroidery or stripes of fabric of a different color. A woman's marital status could be judged by her headdress. Unmarried girls wore headbands or hoops, and married girls covered their heads with a warrior (something like a scarf) and an ubrus (a piece of long fabric that was tied around the head in a certain way).

Some innovations also appeared in women's costume of the 15th-17th centuries, although its basis was still a straight long shirt. A sundress is now worn over it - a type of dress with a straight bodice with straps and a flared skirt. Peasant women sew it from linen fabric, and noble girls from silk and brocade. A strip of wide braid or embroidered fabric of a contrasting color was sewn on the front of the sundress in the center from top to bottom. The sundress was belted under the chest. In addition, women's outerwear was dushegreya - short, swinging clothing with straps, with or without lining. The soul warmer was made from beautiful patterned fabrics and was additionally decorated with embroidered braid along the edges.

At that time, merchants' and boyars' daughters wore a letnik over their shirts - a long, straight-cut dress with wide sleeves, sewn to the elbow like a bell, and then simply hanging down almost to the floor. Several wedges were sewn into the sides of the dress, making the garment very wide at the bottom. The collar and hanging sleeves were richly decorated with pearls and embroidered with gold and silk. Warm outerwear was a long-sleeved fur coat. Telogrea was a long, swinging garment with folding sleeves, fastened with buttons or ties.

An important element of a woman's costume was the headdress. Girls do not cover their heads, but decorate their braids with colored ribbons and beads, and put hoops or crowns on their heads. Married women wear “kichkas” - headdresses consisting of a hoop, a cloth cover and a decorated backdrop. At the same time, the kokoshnik appeared - a headdress with a dense front part of various shapes, richly decorated with gold and silver embroidery, pearls and precious stones. The kokoshnik was tied at the back with wide ribbons, and sometimes precious pendants or beads fell from the front onto the forehead and temples. Thin beautiful fabrics could be attached to the back of the kokoshnik, which fell in folds to the waist, or even to the floor. In winter, noble ladies wore fur hats, like men's.

The traditional everyday clothing of commoners in the 10th-14th centuries were shirts and ports. Shirts were made from linen fabric of various colors or motley lengths below the hips with one-piece sleeves. They were worn untucked and tied at the waist with a colored cord or a narrow belt. On holidays, the shirt was complemented with embroidered sleeves and round collars.
Portas are men's pants that taper at the bottom and are tied at the waist with a drawstring. The traditional shoes of peasants (both men and women) were bast shoes; instead of socks in those days there were onuchi, strips of fabric that were tied around the feet and ankles. Men wore felt caps on their heads.

In the 15th-17th centuries, the everyday costume of peasants changed somewhat. Thus, the traditional cut at the neck of a man’s shirt moves from the center to the left side, and the shirt itself becomes shorter and receives the name “kosovorotka.” Swinging clothes fastened with buttons appeared: zipun and caftan. The zipun was a cloth dress above the knees, slightly wider at the bottom, with narrow sleeves and a butt clasp.

A caftan is a below-the-knee length outerwear with long sleeves and a high collar. The caftans of noble boyars were usually richly decorated with expensive fabrics, embroidery, braid or braid. Outer winter clothing was a long, swinging fur coat, with wide sleeves and a large collar, lined with sable, fox, hare, arctic fox, squirrel, and sheepskin. The top of the fur coat was usually covered with cloth (peasants used cloth for this, and boyars used expensive imported fabrics).

During this period, the costumes of the feudal nobility and peasants began to differ more and more, and not only in the quality of fabrics and decoration, but even in the cut of clothes. In the 15th-17th centuries, the wardrobe of noble persons included such items of clothing as feryaz and okhaben. Feryaz is a specially cut floor-length caftan with long sleeves, made of silk or velvet fabric. It was customary to put the feryaz on only one arm, strongly gathering the long sleeve, while the second hung freely behind almost to the floor.

Okhaben was also a type of caftan with a large square collar that hung down the back and long sleeves that tied at the back. This caftan was worn on the shoulders. Both of these items of clothing were completely unsuitable for performing any work and were intended only to emphasize the class affiliation of their owner.