The corset – ‘shokhta’ – was part of the traditional costume of Adyghe girls. They wore it only in girlhood. A girl received her first corset when she turned 9 or 10. Before putting it on for the first time she had to clasp her index finger and thumb around her wrist. If she did not manage to do that, then the girl was left without a corset, until she spent some time on a strict diet.

It was not customary to take off the corset: this could be done only during bathing or in order to replace torn or broken parts.

The Adyghes’ beauty ideal was an elegant, slender girl with a thin waist and flat chest. This distinguished them from other peoples who preferred plumper women with rounded shapes. In 1724, the French consul in Crimea Xaverio Glavani mentioned in his notes about “the famous Circassian custom of putting girls” waists in Morocco leather to make the figure slim and delay the development of breasts, for it is considered indecent for a girl to have an ample bust’.

The corset started from the collarbones and ended below the waist. It was laced up and tightened from behind. It was not intended to hide the flaws of the figure, but rather to form it in accordance with the ideas on beauty and health. Thin wooden strips were sewn into the corset at the front, which limited the breast growth. Another plate was placed behind, along the spine: with it, girls learned to maintain an upright posture.

Maiden corsets were made of Morocco leather — finely dressed sheep or goat skin, which was usually dyed in bright colours.

Married women did not wear such corsets. Under the dress, they wore a small corsage that fitted the waist and helped maintain a slim figure.

The Adyghe women’s costume, in addition to the corset, included an undershirt made of white fabric, spacious sirwal, a small caftan sewn after the male chokha, and a long oversized dress worn over it. The outerwear would be richly decorated with gold and silver embroidery. On the head girls always wore small caps of various shapes — orb, tall or in the form of a truncated cone. Such items could be casual or festive, decorated with embroidery and silver toppers. Married women from noble families covered their heads with a shawl over the caps.