Traditional women’s outfit is an elaborate complex of many objects and details. Different provinces of Russia had their own styles and methods of decorating a costume. The peculiarities of the cut and decoration depended not only on the geographical location, but also on many other factors: on whether the outfit was intended for a weekday or a holiday, on the social, family status and age of the owner.
At the heart of the Russian traditional female outfit was a shirt. The shirt was worn by women of all ages. Over the shirt, depending on the age of the woman and other factors, additional elements were worn. The two main types of Russian costume are ponyova (southern) and sarafan (northern) sets. Ponyova — one of the oldest items of Russian women’s clothing — was a rectangle sewn from several panels. It was wrapped around the waist and tied with a string. Later, it began to look more like a skirt, it was sewn, and inserts from a different fabric were made in front and on the side. An apron was often worn over the ponyova.
There were several types of ponyovas, differing in cut, color and method of decoration. There was even such a rite — wearing a ponyova, a kind of coming-of-age holiday, after which the girl could be betrothed.
Sarafan is the main element of the northern set of the Russian women’s national costume. Researchers identify several stable styles that were formed by the middle of the 19th century and were widespread throughout Russia: oblique, straight and yoke. A yoke is a cut-off piece at the top of a sarafan.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the word ‘sarafan’ was rarely used. Usually, more specific and accepted in each locality names of clothes were used, denoting design features, manufacturing techniques, colors and method of dyeing: ‘kostych’, ‘shushun’, ‘klinnik’, ‘nabivnik’, ‘atlasnik’, ‘pestryadinnik’ and many other designations.
In front of us is a female festive outfit of the Arkhangelsk province, consisting of a homespun linen shirt, neckpiece and wrists of which are decorated with embroidery, a printed sarafan, a belt with tassels. The sarafan is decorated with a cube print, one of the popular methods of decorating textiles, especially widespread in the Russian North. The tub in which the fabric was dyed was called a cube.
At the heart of the Russian traditional female outfit was a shirt. The shirt was worn by women of all ages. Over the shirt, depending on the age of the woman and other factors, additional elements were worn. The two main types of Russian costume are ponyova (southern) and sarafan (northern) sets. Ponyova — one of the oldest items of Russian women’s clothing — was a rectangle sewn from several panels. It was wrapped around the waist and tied with a string. Later, it began to look more like a skirt, it was sewn, and inserts from a different fabric were made in front and on the side. An apron was often worn over the ponyova.
There were several types of ponyovas, differing in cut, color and method of decoration. There was even such a rite — wearing a ponyova, a kind of coming-of-age holiday, after which the girl could be betrothed.
Sarafan is the main element of the northern set of the Russian women’s national costume. Researchers identify several stable styles that were formed by the middle of the 19th century and were widespread throughout Russia: oblique, straight and yoke. A yoke is a cut-off piece at the top of a sarafan.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the word ‘sarafan’ was rarely used. Usually, more specific and accepted in each locality names of clothes were used, denoting design features, manufacturing techniques, colors and method of dyeing: ‘kostych’, ‘shushun’, ‘klinnik’, ‘nabivnik’, ‘atlasnik’, ‘pestryadinnik’ and many other designations.
In front of us is a female festive outfit of the Arkhangelsk province, consisting of a homespun linen shirt, neckpiece and wrists of which are decorated with embroidery, a printed sarafan, a belt with tassels. The sarafan is decorated with a cube print, one of the popular methods of decorating textiles, especially widespread in the Russian North. The tub in which the fabric was dyed was called a cube.
