Zipun (just au corps) is an outermost garment, a caftan without the collar, manufactured of coarse homespun cloth of bright colors with seams trimmed with contrastive lacing.

In written sources for the first time ever zipun was named in the “Domostroy”. The term was widely known from the XVII^th century, men’s and women’s outdoor clothes were called so. The clothes were worn on the shoulders, as a jacket. It was short, skin tight, with rather narrow sleeves. Zipun was worn over the shirt under the caftan.

Apparently, zipun played a role of the modern waistcoat in the boyars’ costume of that period. In the XVIII^th century- the beginning of the XX^th century zipun as clothes worn on the shoulders was a part of Donskoy Cossack costume. It was put on over the shirt under the beshmet. Beshmet is a kind of quilted jacket.

In the XVIII^th century- the beginning of the XX^th century on the greater part of the territory of Russia zipun existed only as an outermost garment. It was used as casual and best clothes of peasants in spring and in autumn. Moreover, it was used as the clothes which were put on over the main outdoor garment for the journey or during nasty weather.

As a rule, zipun was a double-breasted garment with long sleeves, without a collar or with a small stick-up collar. It did up with buttonhooks, leather buttons and leather buttonholes right to left.