The inexhaustible creativity of the Ukrainian people is reflected in many types of decorative and applied arts, created and improved over many centuries. A special place among them is occupied by the unique in artistic and utilitarian sense Ukrainian national clothing.
Men's clothing differs from women's clothing in cut, decoration, fabrics, but also has common elements that determine the special regional features of the costume of different localities. The basis of Ukrainian clothing, as well as that of other Slavs, is the shirt. Men's undershirts were sewn from homespun linen woven from hemp or flax. Shirts were also sewn from coarse linen, which served as outerwear. The Ukrainian shirt is characterized by a "pashushka" - a cut in the middle of the front for the convenience of putting on the shirt. The pashushka is always decorated with embroidery - modest for everyday wear and colorful, even luxurious, for festive attire.
The type of shirt collar often depends on the traditions of the area. The most common is the "stand" collar, which is especially characteristic of the central regions. In the western regions, a turn-down collar is more common. Ukrainians often wore shirts without a collar at all. For this option, the neck of the shirt was slightly gathered and trimmed with a braid or border made of a narrow strip of fabric, sewing the strip to the neck from below, not from above.
Usually, the collar pocket is tied with beautiful braided cords or laces, but sometimes it is fastened with buttons. The length of the shirt allows it to be tucked into wide trousers. This convenient option for wearing a shirt is typical for the Cossacks, who borrowed it from the nomadic eastern peoples. In some, especially western regions, where the style of trousers was less wide, the shirt was worn flared. The cut of men's shirts also has some regional differences. In most cases, rectangular or triangular pieces of fabric were inserted into the armpits for convenience in work. The Don Cossacks did not recognize such a style, considering it a sign of the peasantry, to which they did not belong. Often, embroidered inserts or patches in the form of epaulettes were made on the shoulders of Ukrainian shirts, which were called "ustavki".
The trousers were fastened to the body with a cord or belt. The belt (hook, ochkur) had a beautiful metal buckle. Cossack harem pants were very wide, which made it possible to easily jump onto a horse. For this, a matnya made of a large piece of fabric was sewn between the legs. Strong cloth or canvas was used as the material for the trousers. Hutsul narrow trousers were decorated with embroidery on the bottom of the legs from the inside, and then the embroidered edge was folded outwards, like a cuff.
Women's Ukrainian costume is much more diverse than men's, and it also differs in regional features. In its most archaic form, Ukrainian clothing has been preserved in Polissya. The costume of the Middle Dnieper region is considered classic Ukrainian. The original clothing of Ukrainians in mountainous areas. The border regions adopted elements of the clothing of their neighbors. The clothing of the inhabitants of Podillia has similar features to the clothing of the Moldovans, and the inhabitants of the northwestern regions - to the clothing of the Poles.
The women's suit is based on a body shirt, also called a koshulya. It is much longer than a men's shirt. Usually such shirts were sewn from two types of fabric: the upper part from thin, and the lower part, hidden by outerwear, from coarser. Ukrainian women of some western regions wore shirts consisting of two separate parts. Ukrainian women wore one-piece shirts sewn from one thin fabric for holidays. According to their cut, women's shirts can be divided into three groups: tunic-shaped, with a yoke, and polikova. Collars on women's shirts are more common in the western regions, while in the central and eastern regions, Ukrainian women prefer the old traditional version of a shirt without a collar, when the neckline is gathered in small gatherings on a beautiful lace, or the gathered neck is trimmed with thin piping.
Ukrainian women's shirts are characterized by embroidery along the edge of the hem, which usually protrudes below the waist garment. The sleeves of the shirts are traditionally long, wide, with a small cuff at the wrist. The sleeves were heavily embroidered, especially on the inserts (Polikom) - rectangular pieces of fabric sewn in at the place where the sleeve connects to the shoulder.
Ukrainian women's waistcoat is diverse and original. There was no girl's waistcoat, since according to custom, Slavic girls wore only a shirt girded with a thin belt until the age of fifteen. When getting married, the bride put on a poneva, and since then she wore a waistcoat, like all married women. The poneva is characteristic of all Slavic peoples, differing only in decor and some features. This element of the costume was worn on the lower part of the body, fastened at the waist with a belt. Ukrainian women wore mainly three types of poneva - a zapaska, a derga in everyday chores and a plakhta on holidays.
The derga was a cloth up to three meters long, which a woman wrapped around her lower body several times. Home looms allowed weaving a fairly narrow cloth, so the derga was sewn from three cloths to get the desired length of the derga skirt. The derga was fastened at the waist with a belt. The homemade cloth for the derga was not dyed or painted black, and no decorations were made.
Zapaski were made of thinner woolen cloth, dyed red, green or blue without a pattern. Ukrainian women wore two separate different zapaski at the same time - the wider one covered the body from behind (the buttocks), and the smaller one, the predecessor, was tied in front, over the buttocks. Both zapaski were fastened at the waist with ribbons sewn to the upper corners of the zapaski. Often a pair of zapaski consisted of fabric of different colors. Sometimes the predecessor was replaced by an ordinary apron.
For holidays, plakhts were sewn from beautiful fabric woven with a multi-colored checkered ornament. Each woman tried to embroider her plakht with beautiful silk or woolen threads. In wealthy families, women could wear plakhts made of expensive fabric - silk or brocade.
In later times, skirts appeared, the most common of which were andaraks - woolen skirts with woven horizontal stripes.
It is difficult to imagine a Ukrainian women's festive costume without chest ornaments. Necklaces made of precious and semi-precious stones, glass and natural materials, necklaces - pendants with various coins and metal plates, original dukachi and many other products complemented the outfits of Ukrainian women.
Ukrainian outerwear is very diverse. Experts have conventionally divided Ukrainian outerwear into four main types based on cut.
The first type includes products of the simplest straight cut in the form of a robe, light cloak or shirt. The oponcha was popular - clothing in the form of a wide robe with a hood and free sleeves. As a cloak, Western Ukrainians wore a chuga, also called Chugani or Chugai. The chuga had sleeves that were not used for their intended purpose, throwing the chuga directly over the shoulders. Therefore, the sleeves were usually sewn up from the bottom and used as pockets. The Hutsul guglya or manta belongs to the same type. This clothing looks like a bag that is not sewn up on one long side. The sewn-up corner of the "bag" served as a hood. The guglya was fastened on the shoulders with laces. At the beginning of the last century, a festive version of the guglya or manta was used as a wedding dress for the bride.
The style, resembling a shirt, had a shushpan - outerwear made of canvas, used mainly for work. Clothing in the form of a robe includes a kirey, a kobenyak, a retinue with a kobenyak, a syryaki, a columnar retinue. This type of clothing was usually sewn from gray coarse cloth and worn over a sheepskin coat or fur coat. It had a hood, which in different localities was called a kaptur, Kobko, Shanko, etc. The hood was rounded and had slits for the eyes. In the eastern regions of Ukraine, a kobenyak was sewn not with a hood, but with a wide large collar made of cloth or other fabric.
The second type of Ukrainian outerwear is more complex, with wedges sewn in the back from the waist to the hem. The narrow end of the wedge was sewn at the waist, and below, to the hem, it widened, giving the garment a characteristic look. This cut was used for sewing svita, kutsinka, and guni.
The third type includes outerwear that was cut off at the waist and sewn together with the top and bottom. The bottom of the product was gathered in folds or pleats at the back. This style was used for skirts, corsets, suits, and fur coats.
The fourth type is characterized by folds or gathers in the lower part of the product both on the back and in the front. An example of such outerwear is the Chemera (chamarka, chemerka).
Whatever costume Ukrainians wore, an important part of it was necessarily a belt. Any belt had a practical meaning - with its help, clothes were fastened to the body. But the symbolic, ceremonial and decorative meaning of the belt was much more important for Ukrainians. Cossacks were proud of their luxurious wide and long belts, which they repeatedly wrapped around their waists, tied, and lowered the especially beautiful long ends of the belt, which often ended with tassels. The role of the belt for the bride was performed by a ceremonial specially embroidered towel. Persian belts made of colorful silk were elegant festive ones, and wealthy Don Cossacks girded themselves with forged silver belts on holidays.
A great variety is also characteristic of Ukrainian headdresses. Men wore comfortable headdresses that differed in shape and materials, and had original names. The most popular forms of men's headdresses were a cylinder, a cone, and a semicircle. They were sewn from cloth, wool, and fur (mainly sheepskin). Of the fur hats, a high, fluffy kuchma, a warm hat with long earflaps - malakhay, and earflaps were often found. In the summer, a felt or straw hat - bryl was worn. Later, Ukrainians began to use city caps and caps.
Among women's headdresses there is a great variety of shapes, colors, materials and decorations. Women's differed from girls' in that they completely covered their hair. For all Slavic women, revealing their hair in public was considered indecent and even shameful. Moreover, it was not allowed to appear with an uncovered head in church, this tradition still exists today. The most favorite headdress for Ukrainian women is still a scarf. It can be compared to a namitka - an ancient head covering, resembling a long towel in shape. The namitka covered the head, tying it in a knot at the back, and lowering the long ends down the back. Now the namitka can be found in the western regions of Ukraine.
Married Ukrainian women did not braid their long hair, but wound it around a special headdress resembling a hoop, which was called a kibalko, khomlya, khomevka. The kibalka with hair wound around it was the basis for the ochipka, which all Ukrainian women wore.
A cap or a cap (cap) was a light, soft hat made of thin fabric. It was tied on the head with a cord threaded through the hem. At the level of the forehead, the cap had a transverse undercut, made so that the fabric was smooth on the forehead and gathered above the forehead. A hem was made at the back for threading the cord. Caps could be everyday from inconspicuous and inexpensive fabric or festive, elegant ones from brocade or bright and high-quality material. The shape of the cap could vary depending on the traditions of the area. In the eastern regions, a saddle-shaped cap with two crests was common, reminiscent of the kokoshnik of neighboring southern Russian regions.
The most colorful headdress of Ukrainian girls is a flower wreath, which was woven from live or even artificial flowers, weaving colorful bright ribbons into it. This headdress is best known in the world as a symbol of the Ukrainian costume. But in addition to wreaths, girls wore many other hats - ribbons, scarves, strips of beautiful fabric, a wire hoop with pendants, a circle of cardboard. All girls' headdresses were open and did not hide their braids - the pride and beauty of every girl.
Ukrainian peasants made shoes from leather. The oldest shoes are called wrinkled or wrinkled shoes. This name is explained by the method of manufacture, since these shoes were not sewn, but wrinkled, folded in the shape of the foot, and then tied to the foot with a special rope. Sometimes, postols were also used, which had a rectangular weave, a slightly decorated toe, and low sides. Loops were made along the upper edge of the bast shoes for a rope that tied the bast shoes and strengthened them to the foot.
Leather boots were made in the form of boots with low tops and no heels. To increase the service life of the boots, metal horseshoes were attached to the heels.
In the nineteenth century, inside-out boots were popular. The name explains the manufacturing technology: the sole was sewn to the boot from the inside out, the boot leather was well moistened, and then the softened boot was turned inside out.
Ukrainian costume has always had special ritual symbolism, bringing people well-being, health and other benefits, and also protecting the owners from evil dark forces. Ritual symbols could be individual items of the costume: kryzhma - a ritual diaper at christenings, towels and scarves at matchmaking and at weddings, black (and in the old days white) scarves at funerals.
Great magical power was given to items of clothing that were specially made for the upcoming ceremony. This especially applies to wedding ceremonies. The girl herself sewed and embroidered with the necessary symbols a shirt for her groom, which he necessarily wore during the wedding. The young son-in-law gave his mother-in-law boots, and the daughter-in-law, according to custom, gave her mother-in-law a festive shawl.
During some rituals, ordinary clothes were worn in a strange way. For some rituals, elements of clothing were worn inside out, although in other cases this was a bad omen. When performing festive, joyful rituals, Ukrainians often wore items of the opposite sex's costume. Some people wore fur clothes all year round.
The color scheme of ceremonial and everyday clothing was also symbolic. Red prevailed in wedding dresses, which for Ukrainians has always personified love and joy. Black has been considered a sad funeral color relatively recently, in the last couple of centuries, while in ancient times white and sometimes blue clothes were worn for funerals.
Throughout their lives, Ukrainians surrounded themselves with objects of folk art, decorating them with their symbols. Masters created special technologies that were passed down through generations, creating national traditions.
Ukrainian folk embroidery is considered a wonderful art object. Ukrainian women decorated household items and almost all clothing with embroidery. Embroidery in original national clothing - men's and women's shirts, hats, outerwear - is especially beautiful. Traditions of composing ornaments, color schemes, and techniques were created by many generations. Ornamental motifs consisted of geometric, plant, and animal symbols.
Over the centuries, numerous embroidery techniques have developed in different regions. The most ancient are such embroidery techniques as understitching, reinforcement and laying. Overstitching embroidery eventually turned into a stitch embroidery technique. The cutting technique was widely used, it was usually used together with other techniques. In Ukraine, embroidery was intended not only for decoration, it had a symbolic meaning, and also indicated the marital status, gender, age, and wealth of a person.
The color scheme of embroidery from different regions is diverse. Poltava and Chernihiv regions are characterized by single-color embroidery, Kyiv and Podillia prefer two-color patterns, residents of the western regions and the Carpathians decorate their embroidery with colored ornaments. The northern regions of Ukraine use mainly red for their embroidery. Most of central Ukraine combines red threads with blue or black. In the embroidery of the southern regions, yellow is often found as an addition to the main color scheme. Embroidery using beads and metal elements is popular in the western regions.
Ukraine had a well-developed weaving industry, which also had its own established regional traditions. Hutsul woven cloths are distinguished by the alternation of colorful stripes with ornaments and single-colored stripes without a pattern.
The patterns in Ukrainian weaving are characterized by floral ornaments. The most common motif is a branched tree or a large flower. This ornament was used in carpet weaving, which was popular throughout Ukraine.
As dyes for fabrics and threads, as well as woolen yarn, Ukrainian craftsmen used various plants, collecting herbs, flowers, tree bark. A more laborious method was used to obtain red dye from red clover. The famous naturalist Pallas left a detailed description of the collection of red clover by Ukrainian women, the technology of making dye from it and dyeing woolen yarn with this dye. This process is very laborious and expensive, although the author believes that the resulting dye is not much superior in quality to ordinary vegetable dye. The wealth of vegetable dyes made it possible to create colored fabrics and beautiful multi-colored embroidery ornaments.
More than a century ago, Ukrainians began to switch to urban clothing, gradually forgetting the traditions of their national clothing. However, many examples of Ukrainian costumes have been preserved in museums, thanks to which Ukrainian national traditions in clothing are now being studied and revived.
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