Caps of different styles were a traditional headdress of Adyghe girls. The most popular were three types of caps: cone-shaped, small and semi-circular, high with a flat top.

The ‘golden cap’ was considered the most elegant. Such a piece of headwear was made of galloon — a figured braid that was woven on special small boards.

Depending on how wide the braid was and how complex the pattern on it should have been, the craftswoman could use from 15 to 95 of such boards. The corners of each of them had several drilled holes, into which were threaded multicoloured threads. They had to be alternated in a strict order to get the correct pattern. The seamstress wrapped the finished trim on a special hook that she fastened to her belt.

It was customary with the Adyghes to decorate ceremonial women’s hats with a silver topper — “nachelnik”. The nachelnik of the headdress from the museum’s collection is covered with a layer of gilding and decorated with a chased ornament. It is crowned with nielloed, granulated and engraved metal balls, and has short chains with figured pendants descending from the purls along the edge.

Galloon caps were decorated with gold embroidery. This art was taught to girls in noble families from early childhood. It was believed that it helped to cultivate a sense of taste, modesty, obedience and diligence. Adyghe girls also learned to make braids — chains, balls, tassels made of gilded threads. Almost all the handmade items of young craftswomen became the basis of their dowry.

They decorated with gold and silver embroidery not only the details of women’s costume, but also men’s clothing, quivers for arrows, pouches, saddles. Closer to the 19th century, they began to decorate with such finishes fans, clocks, lamp cases, and other items.

Elegant bonnets of different designs, decorated with gold sewing, were the Adyghe girls’ main headwear. In the exhibition, you can see a cone-shaped bonnet that reminds a man’s helmet. Such bonnets were always worn with a scarf. The scarf was either placed over the bonnet to cover the shoulders and the back, leaving its ends at the front, or attached to a ball at the top of the bonnet so that it hang down along the back. An Adyghe girl could also cross the ends of the scarf under her chin and fix them at the top of the bonnet.

All the Adyghe bonnets, regardless of their design, were made on a hard base in order to maintain their clear-cut shape. The lining was made from leather or fabric, and the base was usually covered with a galloon. The technique of creating a galloon is considered the first weaving technique that appeared in the European continent. The Adyghe women were very skillful at that. To make the precious band, they used fine wooden rectangular boards 6-8 cm in size. At the corners of each board, 4 to 6 holes were made. Through them, the artisans threaded golden threads of two different shades to make the ornament. The beauty of those ornaments depended on the complexity of weaving of the threads. The part of the galloon that was already finished was wound on a metallic hook attached to the belt.

The bonnet here is decorated with the so-called town or bazaar hemstitch. The Adyghes started to decorate their clothes with such embroidery in the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, although it appeared much earlier. The ornament in this technique was made according to a template drawn beforehand and fixed to the fabric with golden or silver threads and fixed with silk at the borders.

The hemstitch was mostly used for elements of ceremonial outfit, so the ornaments were chosen with great care. Initially, they included elements of the surrounding landscape, but they gradually became more and more schematic, until their elements turned into lines and shapes: horn-like ringlets, circles, crosses and others. The researchers note that those symbols originate from the cult of the Sun, and the Circassiands believed that objects decorated by them were a kind of talismans. That is why not only women’s dresses were decorated with elements of gold sewing, but also men’s felt cloaks, saddles and quivers.