The old clothes of the Russian nobility, in their cut, generally resembled those of the lower class, although they differed greatly in the quality of material and decoration. The body was wrapped in a wide shirt, which did not reach the knees, made of plain canvas or silk, depending on the wealth of the owner. In an elegant shirt, usually red, the edges and chest were embroidered with gold and silks, at the top a richly decorated collar was fastened with silver or gold buttons (it was called a "necklace").

In simple, cheap shirts, the buttons were copper or were replaced with cufflinks with loops. The shirt was produced over an underwear dress. Short ports or trousers were put on the legs without a cut, but with a knot that allowed them to be pulled or expanded in the belt at will, and with pockets (zep). Pants were made of taffeta, silk, cloth, as well as coarse woolen fabric or canvas.

Zipun

Over the shirt and trousers, a narrow sleeveless zipun made of silk, taffeta or dye was worn, with a narrow small collar fastened on. Zipun reached to the knees and usually served as home clothes.

The usual and widespread type of outerwear worn on a zipun was a caftan with sleeves reaching to the toes, which were gathered in folds, so that the ends of the sleeves could replace gloves, and in winter serve as a muff. On the front of the caftan, along the cut on both sides, there were stripes with ties for fastening. The material for the caftan was velvet, satin, damask, taffeta, mukhoyar (Bukhara paper fabric) or simple dyeing. In elegant caftans, a pearl necklace was sometimes attached behind a standing collar, and a "wrist" decorated with gold embroidery and pearls was fastened to the edges of the sleeves; the floors were trimmed with lace embroidered with silver or gold. "Tours" caftans without a collar, which had fasteners only on the left side and at the neck, differed in their cut from the "back" caftans with an interception in the middle and with fasteners on buttons. Among the caftans were distinguished by their purpose: dining rooms, riding, rain, "meek" (funeral). Winter caftans made with fur were called “shrouds”.

A zipun was sometimes worn "feryaz" (ferrez), which was an outer garment without a collar, reaching to the ankles, with long sleeves tapering to the wrist; it was fastened in front with buttons or ties. Winter quilts were made with fur, and summer ones with a simple lining. In winter, sometimes sleeveless quilts were worn under the caftan. Fancy fries were made of velvet, satin, taffeta, damask, cloth and were decorated with silver lace.

Ohaben

The cover-up clothes, which were worn when leaving the house, included one-row, ohaben, opashen, yapancha, fur coat, etc.

Of one order

Opushen

One row — wide, long-brimmed clothing without collars, with long sleeves, with stripes and buttons or strings — was usually made of broadcloth and other woolen fabrics; in autumn and in bad weather it was worn both in sleeves and stitching. It looked like a single row, but it had a turn-down collar that went down the back, and long sleeves fell back and under them there were holes for the arms, as in the single row. A simple ohaben was sewn of cloth, mukhoyar, and an elegant one was made of velvet, obiari, damask, brocade, decorated with stripes and fastened with buttons. The waist in its cut was somewhat longer at the back than at the front, and the sleeves narrowed towards the wrist. Opashny was sewn of velvet, satin, obiari, kamka, decorated with lace, stripes, fastened with buttons and loops with tassels. Opashen was worn without a belt ("on the hand") and saddle-stitched. The sleeveless yapancha (epancha) was a cloak worn in bad weather. Traveling yapancha made of rough cloth or camel hair was different from the smart yapancha made of good fabric lined with fur.

Feryaz

The most elegant clothing was a fur coat. She was not only worn when going out into the cold, but the custom allowed the owners to sit in fur coats even when receiving guests. Simple fur coats were made of sheepskin or with hare fur, the quality of which was higher in quality were squirrels and squirrels; noble and wealthy people had fur coats with sable, fox, beaver or ermine fur. Fur coats were covered with cloth, taffeta, satin, velvet, obiar or simple dye, decorated with pearls, stripes and fastened with buttons with loops or long laces with tassels at the end. "Russian" fur coats had a turn-down fur collar. "Polish" fur coats were sewn with a narrow collar, with fur cuffs and were fastened at the neck only with a cuff (double metal button).

Terlik

For sewing men's clothing, foreign imported fabrics were often used, and bright colors were preferred, especially "worm" (crimson). The most elegant was considered to be colored clothing, which was worn on special occasions. Clothes embroidered with gold could only be worn by boyars and Duma people. Patches were always made of a material of a different color than the clothes themselves, and for rich people they were decorated with pearls and precious stones. Simple clothes were usually fastened with pewter or silk buttons. It was considered indecent to walk without a belt; among the nobility, the belts were richly decorated and sometimes reached several arshins in length.

Boots and shoe

As for footwear, the cheapest were bast shoes made of birch bark or bast and shoes woven from wicker rods; to wrap the legs, they used onuchi made of a piece of canvas or other fabric. In a prosperous environment, shoes were shoes, chobots and ichtygi (ichygi) made of yuft or morocco, most often red and yellow.

Chobots looked like a deep shoe with a high heel and a pointed toe curved upwards. Elegant shoes and chobots were made of satin and velvet of different colors, decorated with embroidery from silk and gold and silver threads, and decorated with pearls. Elegant boots were the shoes of the nobility, made of colored leather and morocco, and later from velvet and satin; the soles were lined with silver nails, and the high heels with silver horseshoes. Ichetygi were soft morocco boots.

With smart shoes, woolen or silk stockings were worn on the feet.

Kaftan with a trump collar

Russian hats were varied, and their shape had its own meaning in everyday life. The crown of the head was covered with taffia, a small cap made of morocco, satin, velvet or brocade, sometimes richly decorated. A common headdress was a cap with a longitudinal slit in the front and back. Less well-to-do people wore cloth and felt caps; in the winter they were lined with cheap fur. Elegant caps were usually made of white satin. Boyars, noblemen and clerks on ordinary days wore low caps of a quadrangular shape with a "roundabout" around a cap made of fur of a black-brown fox, sable or beaver; in winter such hats were lined with fur. Only princes and boyars had the right to wear high "throated" hats made of expensive furs (taken from the throat of a fur-bearing animal) with a cloth top; in their shape, they slightly expanded upward. On solemn occasions, the boyars wore a taffy, a cap, and a throated hat. It was customary to keep a handkerchief in a hat, which, when visiting, was held in hands.

In the winter cold, hands were warmed with fur mittens, which were covered with plain leather, morocco, cloth, satin, velvet. "Cold" mittens were knitted from wool or silk. The wrists of the elegant mittens were embroidered with silk, gold, trimmed with pearls and precious stones.

As an adornment, noble and wealthy people wore an earring in their ears, and on their necks - a silver or gold chain with a cross, on their fingers - rings with diamonds, yagons, emeralds; some rings had personal seals.

Women's coats

Only nobles and military men were allowed to carry weapons with them; The townspeople and peasants were forbidden to do this. According to custom, all men, regardless of their social status, left the house with a staff in their hands.

Some women's clothing was similar to men's. Women wore a long shirt in white or red, with long sleeves embroidered and decorated with wrists. Over the shirt they wore a summer dress - light clothing that reached to the heels with long and very wide sleeves ("caps"), which were decorated with embroidery and pearls. Letniki were sewn from damask, satin, obiari, taffeta of different colors, but wormy ones were especially appreciated; an incision was made in front, which was fastened to the very neck.

A necklace in the form of a braid, usually black, embroidered with gold and pearls, was fastened to the summer man's collar.

The top female garment was a long cloth of cloth, which had from top to bottom a long row of buttons - pewter, silver or gold. Under the long sleeves of the farm, slots for the arms were made under the armpits, a wide round fur collar was fastened around the neck, covering the chest and shoulders. The hem and armholes of the opash were decorated with an embroidered braid. A long sundress with sleeves or without sleeves, with armholes was widespread; the front slit was fastened from top to bottom with buttons. A quilted jacket was worn on a sundress, with the sleeves tapering to the wrist; These clothes were made of satin, taffeta, obiari, altabas (gold or silver fabric), biberek (twisted silk). Warm padded jackets were lined with marten or sable fur.

Fur coat

For women's fur coats, various furs were used: marten, sable, fox, ermine and cheaper ones - squirrel, hare. Fur coats were covered with cloth or silk fabrics of different colors. In the 16th century, it was customary to sew white women's fur coats, but in the 17th century they began to be covered with colored fabrics. A slit made in the front, with stripes on the sides, was fastened with buttons and bordered with an embroidered pattern. The collar (necklace) lying around the neck was made of a different fur than a fur coat; for example, with a marten fur coat - from a black-and-brown fox. The embellishments on the sleeves could be removed and kept in the family as a hereditary value.

On solemn occasions, noble women put on dragging on their clothes, that is, a worm-colored sleeveless cape made of gold, silvery or silk fabric, richly decorated with pearls and precious stones.

On their heads, married women wore "hairs" in the form of a small cap, which rich women made of gold or silk cloth with ornaments on it. To remove the hair and "goof" a woman, according to the concepts of the 16th-17th centuries, meant to inflict great dishonor on a woman. Above the hairs, the head was covered with a white scarf (ubrus), the ends of which, decorated with pearls, were tied under the chin. When leaving the house, married women put on a "kiku" that surrounded their heads in the form of a wide ribbon, the ends of which were connected at the back of the head; the top was covered with colored fabric; the front part - the headdress - was richly decorated with pearls and precious stones; The headdress could be detached or attached to another headdress, as needed. In front of the kike were suspended pearl threads (lower), which fell to the shoulders, four or six on each side. Leaving the house, women put on a hat with brim and with falling red cords over the top of the trim, or a black velvet hat with a fur trim.

The kokoshnik served as a headdress for both women and girls. It looked like a fan or fan attached to a hairline. The headdress of the kokoshnik was embroidered with gold, pearls or multi-colored silk and beads.

Hats

The girls wore crowns on their heads, to which pearl or beaded pendants (robes) with precious stones were attached. The girl's crown always left her hair open, which was a symbol of girlhood. For winter, girls from wealthy families were sewn high sable or beaver hats ("columnar") with a silk top, from under which loose hair or a braid with red ribbons woven into it descended down the back. Girls from poor families wore bandages that narrowed at the back and fell on the back with long ends.

Women and girls of all strata of the population adorned themselves with earrings, which were varied: copper, silver, gold, with yahonts, emeralds, "sparks" (small stones). Solid gemstone earrings were rare. Bracelets with pearls and stones served as decoration for the hands, and rings and rings, gold and silver, with small pearls on the fingers.

The rich neck adornment of women and girls was a monisto, consisting of precious stones, gold and silver plaques, pearls, garnets; In the “old days, a number of small crosses were hung from the monist.

Moscow women loved jewelry and were famous for their pleasant appearance, but in order to be considered beautiful, in the opinion of Moscow people of the 16th-17th centuries, one had to be a stout, magnificent woman, rouged and painted. The slenderness of a thin body, the grace of a young girl in the eyes of the then beauty lovers had little value.

According to the description of Olearius, Russian women were of average height, slender build, had a gentle face; city ​​dwellers all blushed, eyebrows and eyelashes were tinted with black or brown paint. This custom was so ingrained that when the wife of the Moscow nobleman prince, Ivan Borisovich Cherkasov, a beauty in herself, did not want to blush, the wives of other boyars persuaded her not to neglect the custom of her native land, not to dishonor other women and achieved that this naturally beautiful woman had to give in and apply blush.

Although, in comparison with rich noble people, the clothes of the "black" townspeople and peasants were simpler and less elegant, nevertheless, in this environment there were rich outfits that accumulated from generation to generation. Clothes were usually made at home. And the very cut of the old clothes - without a waist, in the form of a robe - made them suitable for many.

Men's peasant clothing

The most common peasant costume was the Russian KAFTAN. The difference between the Western European caftan and the Russian one was already mentioned at the beginning of this chapter. It remains to add that the peasant caftan was distinguished by a great variety. Common to him was a double-breasted cut, long hem and sleeves, a closed chest. A short caftan was called a SEMI-CAFTAN or SEMI-CAFTAN. The Ukrainian semi-caftan was called the SCROLL, this word can often be found in Gogol. Caftans were most often gray or blue and were sewn from cheap material NANKI - rough cotton fabric or CANVAS - handicraft linen fabric. As a rule, the caftan was girded with a KUSHAK - a long piece of fabric, usually of a different color, the caftan was fastened with hooks on the left side.
A whole wardrobe of Russian caftans passes before us in classical literature. We see them on peasants, shop assistants, bourgeoisie, merchants, coachmen, janitors, and occasionally even on provincial landowners ("Notes of a Hunter" by Turgenev).

What was the first caftan that we met soon after we learned to read - the famous "Trishkin Caftan" by Krylov? Trishka was clearly a poor, indigent person, otherwise he would hardly have needed to redraw his worn-out caftan himself. So, we are talking about a simple Russian caftan? Not at all - Trishka's caftan had coattails, which the peasant caftan never had. Consequently, Trishka reshapes the "German caftan" presented to him by the master. And it is no coincidence in this connection that Krylov compares the length of the caftan, altered by Trishka, with the length of the camisole - also typically noble clothing.

It is curious that for poorly educated women, any clothes worn in the sleeves by men were seen as a caftan. They did not know any other words. Gogol's matchmaker calls Podkolesin's coat ("The Marriage") as a caftan; Chichikov's coat ("Dead Souls") is Korobochka.

SUPPORT was a kind of caftan. The best characterization of it was given by the brilliant connoisseur of Russian life, playwright A.N. Ostrovsky in a letter to the artist Burdin: “If you call a jersey a caftan with gathers at the back, which fastens on one side with hooks, then this is how Vosmibratov and Peter should be dressed.” We are talking about the costumes of the characters of the comedy "Forest" - the merchant and his son.
The underwear was considered a more fine-looking garment than a simple caftan. Well-to-do coachmen wore dapper sleeveless jerseys, over short fur coats. The jersey was also worn by rich merchants, and, for the sake of "simplification," some noblemen, for example, Konstantin Levin in his village ("Anna Karenina"). It is curious that, obeying the fashion, like a certain Russian national costume, little Seryozha was sewn in the same novel a “prefabricated jersey”.

A SIBERIAN was a short caftan, usually blue, sewn at the waist, without a slit in the back and with a low stand-up collar. Siberian wares were worn by shopkeepers and merchants and, as Dostoevsky testifies in Notes from the House of the Dead, some prisoners also wore them.

AZYAM is a kind of caftan. It was sewn from thin fabric and was worn only in summer.

The outer clothing of the peasants (not only men, but also women) was the ARMYAK - also a kind of caftan, made from factory fabric - thick cloth or coarse wool. Wealthy Armenians were made of camel hair. It was a wide, long-brimmed, loose-fitting robe, reminiscent of a robe. A dark army jacket wore Turgenev's "Kasian with a Beautiful Sword". We often see Armenians on Nekrasov's men. Nekrasov's poem "Vlas" begins like this: "In an army jacket with an open collar, / With a naked head, / Slowly walks through the city / Uncle Vlas is a gray-haired old man." And here is what Nekrasov's peasants look like, waiting "at the front entrance": "Tanned faces and hands, / Armyachishko thin on the shoulders, / A knapsack on bent backs, / Cross on the neck and blood on the legs ...." Turgenevsky Gerasim, fulfilling the will of the lady, "covered Mumu with his heavy army".

The Armenians were often worn by coachmen, putting them on in winter over sheepskin coats. The hero of L. Tolstoy's story "Polikushka" goes to the city for money "in an army jacket and a fur coat."
Much more primitive than the Armenian was ZIPUN, which was sewn from rough, usually homespun cloth, without a collar, with slanted floors. If we saw a zipun today, we would say: "Some kind of hoodie." “No stake, no yard, / Zipun - the whole living,” - we read in Koltsov's poem about the poor man.

Zipun was a kind of peasant coat that protected from cold and bad weather. Women also wore it. Zipun was perceived as a symbol of poverty. No wonder the drunken tailor Merkulov in Chekhov's story "The Captain's Uniform", boasting of former high-ranking customers, exclaims: "Let me die better than sew zipuns!" "
In the last issue of his "Diary of a Writer" Dostoevsky urged: "Let us hear the gray zipuns, what they will say", meaning the poor, working people.
CHUIKA was also a kind of caftan - a long cloth caftan of a dressing gown. Most often, the chuyka could be seen on merchants and bourgeois - innkeepers, artisans, traders. Gorky has a phrase: "Some red-haired man came, dressed as a tradesman, in a chuyka and high boots."

In Russian everyday life and in literature, the word "chuyka" was sometimes used as a synecdoche, that is, the designation of its bearer on the basis of an outward sign - a narrow-minded, ignorant person. In Mayakovsky's poem "Good!" there are lines: "Salop says to chuika, chuika to cloak." Here chuyka and cloak are synonyms for hardened inhabitants.
A homespun caftan made of rough unpainted cloth was called SERMYAGO. In Chekhov's story "Svirel", an old shepherd in a sermyag is depicted. Hence the homemade epithet, referring to the backward and poor old Russia - homespun Russia.

Historians of Russian costume note that there were no strictly defined, permanent names for peasant clothing. Much depended on local dialects. Some of the same items of clothing in different dialects were called differently, in other cases, different items were called with one word in different places. This is confirmed by Russian classical literature, where the concepts of "caftan", "armyak", "azam", "zipun" and others are often mixed, sometimes even by the same author. However, we considered it our duty to cite the most general, widespread characteristics of these types of clothing.

From peasant headdresses only recently disappeared KARTUZ, which certainly had a band and a visor, most often of a dark color, in other words, an informal cap. The cap, which appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, was worn by men of all classes, first landowners, then burghers and peasants. Sometimes the caps were warm, with headphones on. Manilov ("Dead Souls") appears "in a warm cap with ears." On Insarov ("On the Eve" of Turgenev) "a strange, eared cap". Nikolai Kirsanov and Yevgeny Bazarov (Fathers and Sons by Turgenev) are wearing caps. "The worn-out cap" is on Eugene, the hero of Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman". Chichikov travels in a warm cap. Sometimes a uniform cap was also called a cap, even an officer's: Bunin, for example, used “cap” instead of the word “cap”.
The nobles had a special, uniform cap with a red band.

Here it is necessary to warn the reader: the word "cap" in the old days had another meaning. When Khlestakov orders Osip to look in his cap to see if there is any tobacco, it is, of course, not about a headdress, but about a bag for tobacco, a pouch.

Simple working people, in particular the coachmen, wore high, rounded hats, nicknamed BUCKWHEATS - by the similarity of shape to the popular at that time a flat cake baked from buckwheat flour. Any peasant's hat was scornfully called SHLYK. In Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" there are lines: "Look where the peasant slimes go". At the fair, the peasants left their hats to the innkeepers as a pledge in order to redeem them later.

There have been no significant changes in the names of the shoes. Low shoes, both male and female, in the old days were called SHOES, boots appeared later, not significantly differing from the shoes, but they made their debut in the feminine gender: the heroes of Turgenev, Goncharov, L. Tolstoy had a BOOT on their feet, not a shoe, as we say today. By the way, boots, starting from the 1850s, actively replaced the boots that were almost indispensable for men. Especially thin, expensive leather for boots and other footwear was called ADULT (from the skin of a calf less than a year old) and OPOIKOVA - from the skin of a calf that had not yet switched to vegetable food.

Boots with a SET (or assemblies) - small folds on the tops were considered especially dandy.

Even forty years ago, many men wore SHIELDS on their feet - boots with hooks for winding laces. In this sense, we meet this word in Gorky and Bunin. But already at the beginning of Dostoevsky's novel "The Idiot" we learn about Prince Myshkin: "On his feet were thick-soled shoes with boots - all not in Russian." The modern reader will conclude: not only not in Russian, but also not in human terms at all: two pairs of shoes on one person? However, in the days of Dostoevsky, boots meant the same as gaiters - warm covers worn over shoes. This western novelty evokes Rogozhin's venomous remarks and even a slanderous epigram against Myshkin in the press: “Returning in narrow boots, / I took a million inheritance.”

Women's peasant clothing

From time immemorial, SARAFAN, a long sleeveless dress with pauldrons and a belt, served as village women's clothing. Before the attack of the Pugachevites on the Belogorsk fortress ("The Captain's Daughter" of Pushkin), her commandant says to his wife: "If you have time, put on a sundress on Masha." A detail that is not noticed by the modern reader, but essential: the commandant expects that in country clothes, if the fortress is captured, the daughter will get lost in the crowd of peasant girls and will not be identified as a noblewoman - the captain's daughter.

Married women wore a PANYOVA or PONYOVA - a homespun, usually striped or checkered woolen skirt, in winter - with a quilted jacket. About the merchant's wife Bolshova, the clerk Podkhalyuzin in Ostrovsky's comedy "Our people - we will be numbered!" she says with contempt that she is “almost averse to it,” hinting at her common origin. In "Resurrection" L. Tolstoy notes that the women in the village church were in panevs. On weekdays, they wore POVOYNIK - a scarf entwined around the head, on holidays KOKOSHNIK - a rather complex structure in the form of a semicircular shield over the forehead and with a crown at the back, or KIKU (KICHKU) - a headdress with protruding protrusions - "horns".

To appear in public with a bare head for a married peasant woman was considered a great shame. Hence the "goofy", that is, disgrace, disgrace.
The word "SHUSHUN" is a kind of village quilted jacket, short jacket or fur coat, we remember it from the popular "Letter to Mother" by S. A. Yesenin. But it is found in literature much earlier, even in "Arapa of Peter the Great" by Pushkin.

Fabrics

Their variety was great, and fashion and industry introduced new ones, forcing the old ones to be forgotten. Let us explain in dictionary order only those names that are most often found in literary works, while remaining incomprehensible to us.
ALEXANDREYKA, or KSANDREYKA, is a red or pink cotton fabric with white, pink or blue stripes. It was readily used for peasant shirts, being considered very elegant.
BAREZH - light woolen or silk fabric with patterns. Dresses and blouses were most often sewn from it in the last century.
BARAKAN, or BARKAN, is a dense woolen fabric. Used for furniture upholstery.
PAPER. Be careful with this word! Reading from the classics that someone put on a paper cap or that Gerasim gave Tanya a paper handkerchief at Mumu, one should not understand this in the modern sense; "Paper" in the old days meant "cotton".
GARNITUR - spoiled "grodetour", dense silk fabric.
GARUS - rough woolen fabric or similar cotton.
DEMICOTON is a dense cotton fabric.
DRADEDAM - thin cloth, literally "ladies'".
HITCH - the same as poskonina (see below). In Turgenev's story of the same name, Biryuk is wearing a wicked shirt.
ZATAPEZA - a cheap cotton fabric made of multi-colored threads. It was made at the factory of the merchant Zatrapeznov in Yaroslavl. The fabric disappeared, and the word "shabby" - everyday, second-rate - remained in the language.
KAZINET - smooth semi-woolen fabric.
KAMLOT is a dense woolen or half-woolen fabric with a strip of coarse working.
KANAUS is a cheap silk fabric.
KANIFAS - striped cotton fabric.
KASTOR is a kind of thin dense cloth. Used for hats and gloves.
CASHMERE is an expensive soft and fine wool or semi-wool.
CHINA - smooth cotton fabric, usually blue.
KOLENKOR - cheap cotton fabric, one color or white.
KOLOMYANKA - homemade variegated woolen or linen fabric.
CRETON is a dense colored fabric used for upholstery and damask wallpaper.
LUSTRINE - glossy woolen fabric.
MUKHOYAR - variegated cotton fabric mixed with silk or wool.
NANKA is a cotton dense fabric popular among peasants. According to the name of the Chinese city of Nanjing.
PESTRA - coarse linen or cotton fabric made of multi-colored threads.
FPGA is a dense cotton fabric with a pile, reminiscent of velvet. The word is of the same origin as plush. Plis was used to sew cheap outerwear and footwear.
POSKONINA - homespun canvas made from hemp fiber, often used for peasant clothing.
PRYUNEL - thick woolen or silk fabric from which ladies' shoes were sewn.
SARPINKA - thin cotton fabric in a check or strip.
SERPYANKA - coarse cotton fabric of rare weaving.
TARLATAN is a transparent, lightweight fabric similar to muslin.
TARMALAMA is a dense silk or semi-silk fabric from which robes were sewn.
TRIP is a fleecy woolen fabric like velvet.
FULAR - light silk, from which head, neck and handkerchiefs were most often made, sometimes the latter were therefore called foulards.
CANVAS - light linen or cotton fabric.
SHALON - thick wool from which outerwear was sewn.
And finally, about some COLORS.
ADELAIDE is a dark blue color.
BLANGE - flesh-colored.
DOUBLE - with overflow, as it were, in two colors on the front side.
WILD, WILD - light gray.
MASAKA - dark red.
PUKETOVY (from the spoiled "bouquet") - painted with flowers.
PYUSOVY (from the French "puce" - flea) - dark brown.

Let me remind you of this version of what it was, as well as The original article is on the site InfoGlaz.rf The link to the article this copy was made from is

Traditions section publications

The most unusual hats of Russian wives

In the old days, the headdress was the most significant and elegant piece of a woman's costume. He could tell a lot about his owner - about her age, family and social status, and even about whether she has children. About the most unusual headdresses of Russian women - in the material of the portal "Culture.RF".

Women's festive costume. Nizhny Novgorod province. Photo: narodko.ru

Kokoshnik. Photo: lebrecht.co

Women's festive costume. Bryansk province. Photo: glebushkin.ru

In Russia, girls wore rather simple headbands and wreaths (crowns), leaving the crown and braid open. On the wedding day, the girl's braid was unwound and laid around her head, that is, "twisted". From this rite was born the expression "to twist the girl", that is, to marry her to yourself. The tradition of covering the head was based on the ancient idea that hair absorbs negative energy. The girl, however, could risk showing her braid to potential suitors, but a simple-haired wife brought shame and misfortune to the whole family. Styled "like a woman's" hair was covered with a cap tied at the back of the head - a warrior or a hair worm. A headdress was worn on top, which, in contrast to the girl's, had a complex design. On average, such a piece consisted of four to ten detachable parts.

Headdresses of the Russian south

The border between the Great Russian North and South ran through the territory of the modern Moscow region. Ethnographers attribute Vladimir and Tver to northern Russia, and Tula and Ryazan to southern Russia. Moscow itself was influenced by the cultural traditions of both regions.

The female peasant costume of the southern regions was fundamentally different from the northern one. The agricultural south was more conservative. The peasants here generally lived poorer than in the Russian North, where trade with foreign merchants was actively conducted. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the most ancient type of Russian costume was worn in the southern Russian villages - a checkered poneva (waist-length clothing like a skirt) and a long shirt, the decorated hem of which peeped out from under the poneva. In silhouette, the South Russian outfit resembled a barrel; magpies and kichki were combined with it - headdresses that were distinguished by a variety of styles and complexity of design.

Kika horned

Horned kichka is a headdress of peasant women in the Bogoslovshchina district of the Mikhailovsky district of the Ryazan province. Late 19th - early 20th centuries. Photo: Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve.

Peasant woman of the Ryazan province in a horned kitch. Photo: Foundation of the Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM).

The word "kika" comes from the old Slavonic "kyka" - "hair". This is one of the oldest headdresses, which goes back to the images of female pagan deities. In the opinion of the Slavs, the horns were a symbol of fertility, therefore only a "mature woman" could wear them. In most regions, a woman received the right to wear a horned kiku after the birth of her first child. They wore a kick both on weekdays and on holidays. To hold the massive headdress (the horns could reach 20-30 centimeters in height), the woman had to raise her head high. This is how the word "boast" appeared - to walk with your nose up.

The clergy actively fought against pagan attributes: women were forbidden to attend church in horned kicks. By the beginning of the 19th century, this headdress had practically disappeared from everyday life, but in the Ryazan province it was worn until the 20th century. Even a ditty has survived:

Ryazan horns
I will never throw it.
I will eat one chaff
But I won't throw my horns!

Hoofed kika

Festive costume of a young peasant woman of the Ostrogozhsky district of the Voronezh province. Late 19th - early 20th century. Photo: Zagorsk State History and Art Museum-Reserve.

"Human" was first mentioned in a document from 1328. Presumably, at this time, women were already wearing all sorts of derivatives from the horned kiki - in the form of a bowler hat, paddle, roller. Grown from a horned and a kitsch in the form of a hoof or a horseshoe. The hard headdress (forehead) was covered with richly decorated cloth, often embroidered with gold. It was attached over the "cap" with a cord or tapes tied around the head. Like a horseshoe hanging over the front door, this piece was designed to protect from the evil eye. All married women wore it on holidays.

Until the 1950s, such "hooves" could be seen at village weddings in the Voronezh region. Against the background of black and white - the main colors of the Voronezh women's suit - the kick embroidered in gold looked like the most expensive piece of jewelry. Numerous hoof-like kicks of the 19th century have survived, collected from Lipetsk to Belgorod, which indicates their wide distribution in the Central Black Earth Region.

Magpie Tula

Festive costume of a young peasant woman in the Novosilsk district of the Tula province. Photo: Foundation of the Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM).

The costume of a peasant woman in the Tula province. Photo: Foundation of the Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM).

In different parts of Russia, the same headdress was called differently. Therefore, today experts cannot finally agree on what is considered a kick and what is a magpie. The confusion in terms, multiplied by the great variety of Russian headdresses, has led to the fact that in literature, the magpie often means one of the details of the kiki, and, conversely, the kika is understood as a component part of the magpie. In a number of regions, since about the 17th century, a magpie existed as an independent, complexly composed dress of a married woman. A striking example of this is the Tula magpie.

Justifying its "bird" name, the magpie was divided into lateral parts - wings and back - a tail. The tail was sewn in a circle of pleated multi-colored ribbons, which made it look like a peacock. Bright rosettes rhymed with the headdress, which were sewn on the back of the pony. Women wore such an outfit on holidays, usually in the first two or three years after the wedding.

Almost all magpies of this cut kept in museums and personal collections were found on the territory of the Tula province.

Headdresses of the Russian north

The basis of the northern women's costume was a sundress. It was first mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle of 1376. Initially, sundresses, shortened like a caftan, were worn by noble men. Only by the 17th century did the sundress acquire the familiar look and finally migrated to the women's wardrobe.

The word "kokoshnik" is first encountered in documents of the 17th century. "Kokosh" in Old Russian meant "chicken". The headdress probably got its name from its resemblance to a chicken scallop. He emphasized the triangular silhouette of a sundress.

According to one version, the kokoshnik appeared in Russia under the influence of the Byzantine costume. It was worn primarily by noble women.

After the reform of Peter I, which banned the wearing of traditional national costume among the nobility, sundresses and kokoshniks remained in the wardrobe of merchants, burghers, and peasants, but in a more modest version. In the same period, the kokoshnik in combination with the sundress penetrated the southern regions, where for a long time it remained the outfit of exceptionally rich women. Kokoshniks were decorated much richer than magpies and kiki: they were trimmed with pearls and bugles, brocade and velvet, braid and lace.

Collection (samshura, morshen)

"Collection" headdress. Novgorod province. Late 18th - early 19th centuries Photo: Foundation of the State Historical Museum.

Women's suit with a headdress "collection". Oryol province, late XIX century. Photo: Foundation of the Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM).

One of the most versatile headdresses of the 18th – 19th centuries had many names and tailoring options. It was first mentioned in written sources of the 17th century as samshura (shamshura). Probably, this word was formed from the verb “shamshit” or “shamkat” - to speak indistinctly, and in a figurative sense - “to crumple, press”. In the explanatory dictionary of Vladimir Dal, samshura was defined as "the Vologda headdress of a married woman."

All headdresses of this type were united by a gathered or "wrinkled" hat. A low nape, similar to a cap, was part of a rather casual suit. The tall one looked impressive, like a textbook kokoshnik, and was worn on holidays. Everyday collection was sewn from a cheaper fabric, and a scarf was worn over it. The old woman's compilation might look like a simple black bonnet. The festive attire of the young people was covered with gimped ribbons and embroidered with precious stones.

This type of kokoshnik came from the northern regions - Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Vyatka. He fell in love with women in Central Russia, ended up in Western Siberia, Transbaikalia, and Altai. The word itself spread with the object. In the 19th century, different types of headgear began to be understood under the name "samshura" in different provinces.

Kokoshnik pskov (shishak)

Women's festive headdress - "Kokoshnik". Pskov province, late 19th century. Photo: Foundation of the Russian Ethnographic Museum.

Women's festive costume. Pskov province. Photo: Foundation of the Russian Ethnographic Museum.

The Pskov version of the kokoshnik, the shishak wedding headdress, had a classic silhouette in the shape of an elongated triangle. The bumps that gave it its name symbolized fertility. There was a saying: "How many cones, so many kids." They were sewn onto the front of the shishak, decorating with pearls. A pearl mesh was sewn along the bottom edge - down. On top of the shishak, the newlywed wore a white handkerchief embroidered with gold. One such kokoshnik cost from 2 to 7 thousand rubles in silver, therefore it was kept in the family as a relic, passed from mother to daughter.

The Pskov kokoshnik gained the greatest popularity in the 18th – 19th centuries. The headdresses created by the craftswomen of the Toropets district of the Pskov province were especially famous. That is why the shishaks were often called toropets kokoshniks. A lot of portraits of girls in pearls have survived, which made this region famous.

Tver "heel"

Women's hats - "heels". Tver province. Late 18th - early 19th centuries Photo: Foundation of the State Historical Museum.

The cylindrical "heel" was in vogue at the end of the 18th and throughout the 19th century. This is one of the most original varieties of kokoshnik. They wore it on holidays, so they sewed it from silk, velvet, gold lace, and decorated it with stones. A wide pearl underside was worn under the "heel", similar to a small cap. It covered the entire head, because the compact headdress itself covered only the top of the head. "Kabluchok" was so widespread in the Tver province that it became a kind of "visiting card" of the region. Artists who worked with "Russian" themes had a particular weakness for him. Andrei Ryabushkin portrayed a woman in a Tver kokoshnik in the painting "Sunday Day" (1889). The same dress is depicted in the "Portrait of the wife of the merchant Obraztsov" (1830) by Alexei Venetsianov. He also painted his wife Martha Afanasyevna Venetsianov in the costume of a Tver merchant's wife with an indispensable "heel" (1830).

By the end of the 19th century, complex headdresses all over Russia began to give way to shawls that resembled an ancient Russian headscarf - ubrus. The very tradition of tying a headscarf has been preserved since the Middle Ages, and during the heyday of industrial weaving it received a new life. Factory shawls, woven from high-quality expensive threads, were sold everywhere. According to the old tradition, married women wore headscarves and shawls over the warrior, carefully covering their hair. The laborious process of creating a unique headdress, which was passed down from generation to generation, has sunk into oblivion.

Do you know what women wore in Ancient Russia? And what was the man allowed to wear? What did the commoners wear in Ancient Rus, and what did the boyars wear? You will find answers to these and other equally interesting questions in the article.

What is the rationale behind the shirt

- "I know what the rationale is," - we will say now, having learned the true cause of this or that incident. But in the days of Kievan Rus, this meant something completely different. The fact is that the clothes then were very expensive, they took care of them, and in order for the shirt to serve the owner as long as possible, it was strengthened for strength with a lining, that is, a background. It can be assumed that this expression acquired an ironic connotation due to the fact that some poor people boasted of rich sewing, but they were betrayed by the wrong side, sewn from cheap fabric. After all, the clothes of Ancient Rus served not only for warming, but also to emphasize their social status. The shirt was of no small importance here. For the nobility, it was underwear, for the poor it was often the only one, not counting ports and bast shoes. In addition, the shirt of a commoner was much shorter so as not to hinder movement.

Ornament from the evil eye

The boyars did not work in the field, so they could afford underwear almost to the knee. But regardless of whether you are poor or rich, the shirt had to be a belt. The word "got loose" was used in the literal sense, but had an equally negative connotation. In addition, ornament was highly desirable on this part of the garment. Its patterns protected from the evil eye and other troubles. Death was a frequent visitor to peasant huts. Then the "unfortunate" shirts were used. White ones with white embroidery, if their parents died, and embroidered with black patterns, if there was mourning for the children. Each piece of clothing also had ritual significance. When the widows plowed the village, preventing it from such misfortunes as cholera or the death of livestock, they were bare-haired, without shoes and in snow-white shirts without any decorations.

For whatever occasions the shirts were intended, they did not have a collar. For the celebration, it was replaced by the so-called necklace, which was fastened at the back with a button. This collar went well with any other clothing. And for the longest time, such a kind of shirt has been preserved as the kosovorotka. It appeared back in the IX, and was worn until the XX century. A padded cloth with a small opening for the head and a cutout on the left side of the chest is all there is to it. Simple and practical.

The curtain on the back

Shirts were rarely worn separately. In the center and in the north of Russia, a sundress was worn from above, and in the south - a ponytail. What is poneva? In Ancient Russia, it was a kind of skirt, only consisting not of one, but of three woolen or half-woolen panels, tied at the waist with a gash. This belt was a sign that the woman was married. The color of the poneva was dark, with a red or blue tint, less often black. On everyday life, they sewed braid or kumach at the bottom, and on holidays they took out poneva from the chests, the hems of which were decorated with as many-colored embroidery as possible.

Women in those days had a hard time in many ways. Clothes are no exception. A feature of the women's clothing of Ancient Russia was that over all of the above, an apron was worn, which was called a curtain, and the Russian costume was completed with a canvas, woolen or half-woolen shushpan.

Six kilograms on the head

Women's hats deserve a special mention. In a married woman, he could reach six kilograms. The main thing is that this structure completely covers the hair. The people have long believed that they have witchcraft power. The canvas base was compacted with hemp or birch bark to form a solid forehead. This was called kika, which ended with a cover made of chintz, velvet or kumach. The back of the head was covered with a backside, a rectangular strip of fabric. In total, such a "hat" could include twelve parts. In winter, a round fur hat could be seen on the head of a Slav, but the hair was completely covered with a scarf. On holidays, a kokoshnik with a bottom made of matter and a base made of solid material appeared on their heads. It was usually covered with gold cloth and trimmed with pearls.

It was much easier for the girls. Their headdress in Ancient Russia looked like a band, a hoop or a crown. If such a rim was richly decorated, then it was called koruna. A tough, often metal base covered in embellished fabric was fashionable with urban dandies. In the villages, girls' corollas were simpler. Men preferred round hats with a fur rim. Sheep, arctic foxes and foxes were used for fur. They also wore sun-dried hats and felt caps. Usually their shape was tapered, and the top was rounded. They were sewn from linen and wool, and also knitted. Sable skullcaps could only be afforded by princes and close boyars.

Footwear

The legs were wrapped with a cloth made of canvas or cloth, and on these onuchi they put on bast shoes or cats, leather shoes. But the very first leather shoes in Russia were pistons. They were made from a single piece of leather, which was gathered around the edge with a strap. Bast bast shoes were very short-lived. Even in the village they were worn for no more than ten days. On city pavements, they wore out even faster. Therefore, there were more common bast shoes made of leather straps. Metal plates were often sewn on them, so that they got a kind of sandals.

Today, felt boots are considered the most traditional footwear in Russia. But in fact, they appeared only in the 19th century and were very expensive. Usually the family had only one pair of felt boots. They wore them in turn. Boots were widespread much earlier. They were sewn from leather in the same way for men and women. The nobility sported in boots made of morocco, goatskin soaked in a solution of lime and polished with a stone, yuft, that is, thick leather, and calfskin, calfskin. Other names for boots are ichigi and chebots. Shoes, which were tied with laces, were women's shoes. Heels appeared on them only in the 16th century and could reach 10 centimeters.

From ports to trousers

If we talk about trousers, then this word came to Russia from the Turks somewhere in the 17th century. Before that, leg clothes were called ports. They were made not very wide, almost tight. A gusset was sewn between the two legs for ease of walking. These primitive trousers were long to the shins, where they tucked into onuchi. For noble people, they were sewn from taffeta in summer and from cloth in winter. There were no buttons, and there was no cut for them. At the hips, the ports were held in place with a lace. Something similar to trousers in the modern sense of the word appeared in Russia under Peter I.

You can't survive without pants in Russia

The great importance of clothing among the Russians was determined, of course, by the climate. In winter, you can't go out into the street without pants, as in Rome or Constantinople. And the outerwear of Ancient Rus was in many ways different from what was in use in most European countries. Going out into the street, they put on warm long suites made of cloth. Their sleeves were with cuffs, and their collars were with a turndown collar. They were fastened with buttonholes. This is typical for ancient Russian clothing. The richer people introduced caftans made of axamite and velvet into fashion. Zipun is a type of caftan without a collar. Boyars considered it underwear, and the common people put it on the street. The word "zupan" is now considered Polish or Czech, but it has been used since ancient times in Russia. This is the same suite, but shorter, slightly below the waist. And, of course, speaking of winter, one cannot fail to mention fur. It must be said that fur clothes and their quantity did not serve as a sign of wealth. There was more than enough furry animal in the forests. Fur coats were sewn with fur inside. They were worn not only in cold weather, but also in summer, even indoors. You can recall historical films and the sitting of boyars in fur coats and fur hats.

Old Russian sheepskin coat

One of the signs of prosperity in our time is a sheepskin coat. But among the Slavs, such clothes - a casing - were in almost every home. They made it from the skin of goats or sheep with fur inside. On the peasants it was more often possible to see a sheepskin coat, a sheepskin casing. If common people wore naked casings, then the boyars preferred to cover them on top with foreign, expensive cloth. This could be, for example, Byzantine brocade. Knee-length jackets were later transformed into sheepskin coats. Women also wore them.

But other varieties of men's winter clothing in Ancient Russia are forgotten more firmly. For example, an armyak. Initially, it was adopted from the Tatars and was sewn from camel hair. But it was too exotic, and besides, the sheep's wool was no worse. They put on an army jacket over a sheepskin coat, so there was no way to fasten it. Another indispensable attribute of the Old Russian wardrobe was used: a sash.

One of the oldest Slavic robes is epancha. It is a round hooded cloak but sleeveless. He came from the Arabs and is even mentioned in the "Lay of Igor's Host." Since the 16th century, it has become a cape, worn on ceremonial occasions, and under the field marshal of Suvorov, the epanch becomes part of the soldier's and officer's uniform. Ohaben was worn by people from the upper classes. After all, they sewed it from brocade or velvet. A feature of the ohabbia were extremely long sleeves, which were thrown over the back, where they were tied in a knot. On Easter, noble boyars went to service in the ferryaz. It was already the height of luxury, royal ceremonial clothing.

We will also mention such clothes for all classes as one-row. This is a kind of caftan, but long-lined and with buttons to the hem. It was sewn from colored cloth, without a collar.

In a robe and a fur coat

Fashionable women in winter preferred fur coats with decorative sleeves. They were long and foldable, and there were slits for the arms above the waist. Many types of Russian costume were original. An example of this is heartbreak. For peasant women, it was a festive outfit, and for more prosperous young ladies, it was everyday. Soul heat - loose, narrow clothing in front, in length rarely reaching the middle of the thigh. It was usually sewn from expensive fabrics with beautiful patterns. Shugai is another type of short, fitted outerwear that resembles a modern sweater. Could have had a fur collar. Wealthy city dwellers wore outerwear and cotton fabrics. In the annals, there is a mention of the dressing gowns on the prince's daughters. For commoners, they were apparently a novelty.

From flax and sermyaga

The fabrics from which the clothes were made were initially not very diverse. Linen and hemp were used for underwear. The upper, overhead outfit was woolen, and warm suites were made of coarse sermyagi and sheepskin. Gradually, representatives of noble families acquired more and more silk fabrics from Byzantium. Brocade and velvet were used.

Cloak and power

For a long time, the cloak was an obligatory item in the Russian wardrobe, especially the princely one. It was sleeveless, thrown over the shoulders, and chipped off with a brooch near the neck. They wore cloaks and stinkers. The difference was in the quality of the fabric and the fact that the commoners did not use brooches. The first of the known varieties of cloak is votola, made of plant-derived fabric. Both farmers and princes could wear votolu. But the spearmint is already a sign of high origin. There was even a fine for damaging this cloak during a fight. Several centuries later, mint could be seen more often on monks than on urban dandies. But the chroniclers mention the basket only when they want to emphasize the princely dignity of its owner. Most likely, even the closest boyars had no right to wear such a cloak. There is a known case when he saved a person from death. For some reason, the prince wanted to save someone, over whom the sword was already raised. For this, he threw a basket over him.

Kholstina

What is canvas fabric? Now, not every person knows the answer to this question. And in pre-Mongol Russia, canvas clothing was the most common among both nobility and commoners. Flax and hemp were the first plants to be used to make textiles and clothing, mainly shirts and ports. Girls in those ancient times wore a zapon. Simply put, it is a piece of fabric that has been folded in half to create a cutout for the head. Worn over an undershirt and belted. The daughters from wealthier families had thinner fabrics for their underwear, while everyone else had coarser, sackcloth-like underwear. The wool shirt was called a hair shirt, it was so rough that it was worn by monks to humble the flesh.

Will ohabeen come into vogue

Much of the wardrobe of ancient fashionistas and dandies, having slightly changed, has survived to this day, but it has become far from being so accessible. The same well-made casing costs as an inexpensive car. Fur warmth is also not affordable for every woman. But now hardly anyone wants to wear ochaben or in one row. Although, they say, fashion is returning.

The ancient women's headdress, like all the clothes of those times, reflected the customs and worldview of the Russian people, as well as their attitude to nature and the whole world. Some elements of clothing in the old days were borrowed from other peoples, although to a greater extent Russian costumes had their own, special style.

How women dressed in Russia

The main component of women's clothing was a shirt or shirt. The first was a kind of underwear and was made exclusively from thick and coarse fabric. The second was always sewn from thin and light materials. Shirts were mostly worn by wealthy women, while the rest were always wearing shirts.

Along with this, the girls wore canvas clothes called "zapona". It looked like a piece of cloth folded in half with a small cutout for the head. The zapona was worn over the shirt and belted.

In the cold season, the inhabitants of Russia wore fur jackets. In honor of various celebrations, they donned long sleeves - special shirts. Around the hips, women wrapped a fabric of wool, intercepting it at the waist with a belt. This piece of clothing is called "poneva". Most often it was made in a cage. The colors of the poneva were different in different tribes.

Vintage women's hats in Russia

In the days of Ancient Russia, men always wore the same hats, but women's hats were classified as maiden and intended for married ladies. Each girl had to strictly adhere to the style and rules of wearing clothes. All types of vintage women's headwear are listed and described below.

Headbands and ribbons

The traditional girly headdress was not designed to cover the crown of the wearer's head. He left a fairly large part of his hair exposed. From the earliest years, girls in Russia wore ordinary ribbons made of cloth.

At an older age, they had to wear a different girlish headdress - a bandage (bandage). In some areas, it was often called withered. This element completely wrapped around the forehead and was fixed at the back of the head with a knot. As a rule, such headbands were made of birch bark, silk ribbons, and brocade. Their owners adorned their hats with bugles, embroidery, precious stones and gold.

In the census of the property of the daughter of one of the Russian tsars, Alexei Mikhailovich, a "pearl dressing" was mentioned. Often there were bandages, the forehead part of which was distinguished by a special decoration made in the form of a figure or a patterned knot.

Corolla

Another type of old women's headdress is the crown (corolla). It originated from a wreath, which was made up of different colors. According to the beliefs of ancestors, this headgear protected from evil spirits.

Corollas were made from a thin metal tape, the width of which did not exceed 2.5 centimeters. Bronze and silver were also used for this. In appearance, such a headdress looked like a bandage, but the only difference was the hooks for a ribbon or cord to tightly tie the corolla at the back of the head.

Often, the crown was decorated with patterns with teeth at the top. On big holidays, girls wore headdresses decorated with strings of pearls hanging along their cheeks - the so-called cassocks. Such decoration was at the wedding of Tsarina Evdokia Lopukhina.

Warm hat

In the cold season, on the heads of the girls one could see hats, which at that time were called stoluns. A long maiden braid fell out of them on the back, decorated, in turn, with a red ribbon.

After marriage

Ancient women's headdresses performed not only an aesthetic function - they served as a kind of indicator of both the status and marital status of the beauty. As soon as the girl got married, this element of the outfit immediately changed. This happened for the reason that after marriage, all the beauty of a wife belonged only to her husband. Foreigners who visited the Russian lands described the wedding custom as follows: during the celebration, a man threw a headscarf over the head of his chosen one and thereby demonstrated that from now on he was becoming her legal husband.

Scarf, or ubrus

This old female headdress was especially popular with girls. It was called differently in different regions. Among the most common names are: fly, towel, hem, basting, veil, and so on. This scarf consisted of a fairly thin rectangular cloth, the length of which reached a couple of meters, and the width was about 50 centimeters.

One of the ends of the trim has always been decorated with embroidery with silk threads, silver, and gold. He hung over his shoulder and never hid under clothes. The second end was intended to be tied around the head and chopped off at the bottom of the chin. In the 10-11 centuries, it was customary to place a beautiful set of jewelry trifles over such a scarf - hanging rings and all kinds of jewelry.

Some time later, the ubrus began to be made in a triangular shape. In this case, both ends were chopped off under the chin or tied at the top of the head with a curly knot, but this required a special skill, which not every Russian woman possessed. Also, the ends could go down to the shoulders or back and were richly embroidered. This fashion of wearing headscarves came to Russia only in the 18-19th centuries from Germany. Previously, the scarf simply wrapped around the girl's neck, and the knot was located at the very top of the crown and tightened rather tightly. This method was called the "head". One of the contemporaries of the 18th century wrote that the expressiveness of the headscarf was necessary in order to "exalt the beauty and give even more color" to the faces of women.

How they hid their hair

When making up their own headdress, on ordinary days, women used a sub-bilberry, or volostnik (povoinik). It was a small mesh hat made of thin material. This dress consisted of the bottom, as well as a band, in which lacing was provided around the head - especially so that the cap was tied as tightly as possible. Povnik, as a rule, was decorated with various stones, pearls, which women themselves sewed on the forehead area. Such a patch was unique and special, since each craftswoman took care of it and passed it on to her daughter, attaching it to her headdress.

The main purpose of the crib was to hide women's hair from prying eyes. There were also women who were too zealous, pulling off the dress so that they practically could not blink. In winter, a hat or a scarf was necessarily worn on top of the warrior. Beginning in the 18th century, these headdresses began to change and eventually acquired the shape of a cap. Sometimes it was worn along with a garment, put on over it. This depended mainly on the beauty and degree of decoration of this element. Each woman treated her clothes and headdresses with trepidation, because it was they who spoke of her as a mistress and faithful wife.

What married women wore: what is brocade kitsch

After a woman got married, she had to wear a special headdress, a kiku (kichku), along with a headscarf and warrior. Nowadays, few people know what a brocade kitsch is, but in those days it was a real privilege of married ladies. It is for this reason that the historian Zabelin called this headdress "the crown of marriage."

The kiku could be easily recognized by the horns or scapula, which protruded directly above the forehead and were directed clearly upward. Horns had some connection with beliefs in protective power, since through them a woman was likened to a cow, which, as you know, was a sacred animal for our ancestors. The main function of the horned chick was to protect the newly-made wife and her child, and she also contributed to fertility and procreation.

The headdress was worn over the warrior and consisted of a hoop that did not close at the back and was trimmed with fabric. This hoop looked like a horseshoe or a crescent moon. The height of the horns attached to the headdress reached 30 centimeters, and they were made exclusively of tightly rolled canvas. In addition to the front, the rear was also of great importance. It was made of fur or expensive fabric and was called a cuff. This element was always decorated elegantly, because it replaced a long girl's braid. It contained rather rich embroidery, as well as a wide decorative pendant, on which long chains of plaques were attached. A special cover-cover was attached to the top of the kichka, which in the old days was called a magpie.

It was in this vestment that a married woman should have walked. At the same time, she should have kept her head held high, and made her steps beautifully and softly. Thanks to this, the expression "to boast" appeared, which meant "to exalt oneself above other people."

Koruna was created by the type of kiki. She was a headdress for persons of the royal and princely family. The main difference between koruna was its shape. It was a richly decorated crown that had to be worn over the trim. As a rule, various adornments in the form of cassocks, kolts, pearl bottoms were added to the headdress, and special fabrics impregnated with various smells were put inside.

Kokoshnik

Many people are interested in the name of the old Russian women's headdress, which can also be seen on modern girls. Despite the fact that it is quite difficult to wear it due to its weight, our ancestors (women) every day to wear such an ornament on their heads was only a joy.

The Russian folk kokoshnik got its name from the ancient Slavic word "kokosh", which in translation meant "chicken", "rooster", "hen". Its distinctive feature was the front part - the ridge. The entire Russian folk kokoshnik was made on a solid basis, which allowed him to better stay on his head. The ridge was raised high above the forehead and was visible from a fairly large distance. At the back, the Russian folk headdress was fixed with ribbons and tightened with a cloth.

Despite the fact that initially the kokoshnik was the prerogative of only married women, after a while young girls began to wear it. But they already had the top open.

Such a Russian folk headdress was covered with cloth or leather. It could be decorated with metal thread, beads, pearls, as well as glass beads. A special cover made of expensive patterned fabric was attached to the headdress. Above, as a rule, a veil or scarf was worn, always folded into a triangle.

Among ordinary people, the kokoshnik became widespread in the 16-17 centuries. He has become an excellent replacement for the kitsch. Representatives of the clergy fought against the "horned", categorically forbidden to attend church in it. They welcomed a more convenient, safer and more beautiful option.

Hats

Starting from the end of the 16th century, during the transition from winter to spring, women, "going out to the people", put on a hat over the ubrus. It was created from felt of different colors and was quite similar to the one that Orthodox people wear for a walk.

Fur hats

Velvet hats trimmed with fur should also be attributed to old winter women's headdresses. From above, they were made of fabric or glued paper. The cap itself was tapered, round or cylindrical in shape. It differed from men's headdresses by the presence of jewelry - pearls, sewing, stones.

Since the hats were high enough, light fur or satin was placed inside them in order to keep warm. Women treated their clothes very carefully. From some sources it is known that at the end of the season, the tsar's daughters had to hand over their hats for storage to a special Workshop chamber. There they were placed on blockheads and covered with covers.

Winter hats were made of different furs - fox, beaver, sable. For young girls, a squirrel or a hare was considered the ideal option. One of the few similarities with men's clothing was the name. Women's hats were also called "gorlatny hats", so they were worn in several layers at once.

Triuch

Another magnificent headdress that women were able to successfully adopt from men is the triukh. Its top was covered with cloth, and part in the frontal region was covered with sable, as a rule. These hats were decorated with lace or pearls.

Kaptur

An equally interesting winter hat called "kaptur" was especially popular among widows. She protected the head of its owner from the cold, because in appearance it was a cylinder with fur that covered both the head and face on both sides. A beaver hat was sewn, but the poorest had to wear sheepskin headdresses. From above it was necessary to put on a bandage.

Brad a, f. Beard . | There is an old man in the cave; clear view, // Calm look, gray-haired brada(Pushkin). Suddenly there is a noise - and a warrior enters the door. // Brada in blood, battered armor(Lermontov).

V e wait, pl. , units yes, w. Eyelids. | In those days, when there are no more hopes, // And there is one memory, // Fun is alien to our leaders, // And suffering is easier on the chest(Lermontov). And close the old veins // We wish you the last, eternal sleep(Baratynsky).

Vlas NS, pl. , units vlas, m. Hair. | An old man in front of the lamp // Reads the Bible. Gray-haired // Hair falls on the book(Pushkin). And then on my forehead // Gray hair did not shine(Lermontov).

V s i, f. Neck . ¤ Bend the neck in front of someone- to cringe. | Go, and with a rope on your neck // Appear to the vile killer(Pushkin). He sang over the cosmic haze, // Having developed hair and arched his neck(A. Bely). Prussian baron, girding his neck // White frill three inches wide(Nekrasov).

Heads a, pl. chapter you, f. Head. ¤ Put something at the forefront- to be considered the most important. At the head something- leading something, ahead of someone else. Led by someone- having someone as a guiding, leading beginning. | Bow down the first chapter // Under the shelter of the trustworthy law(Pushkin). Having bowed his head, he stands, // Like a girl in fatal sorrow(Lermontov).

Glezn a, pl. glee zna, f. Shin. | I hurriedly dragged my leg along the bloody field of battle(Homer. Per. Gnedich).

Desn and tsa, f. The right hand, as well as the hand in general. ¤ Desn s th- right, located on the right side. Odesn u u- on the right hand, on the right. Punishing right hand- retribution. | The sharp sword on the thigh shines, // The spear wards the right hand(Pushkin). And with my holy right hand // He showed the true path(A. K. Tolstoy). With a dart another, who had swept near the elbow, he grazed the gum: // Black blood flowed(Homer. Per. Gnedich).

Hand, w. Palm . | You will take the hammer in your hand // And you will cry: freedom!(Pushkin). He sees the circle of the family, left for battle, // of the Father, stretching out his numb hands(Lermontov). Lame Porfiry took off the censer from a wooden nail, hobbled over to the stove, blew up a coal in cedar pitch, gave it to the elder with a kiss on his hand(A. K. Tolstoy).

Zen and tsa, f. Pupil. ¤ Protect someone like the apple of your eye- to protect carefully, carefully. | Prophetic apple opened, // Like a frightened eagle(Pushkin). Dumb thunderstorms went with a whirlwind, // Sometimes shining with the apple of things(Block). A tear quietly swirled at his apple, and his gray head drooped dejectedly(Gogol).

Lan and that, f. Cheek. | With an involuntary flame, she licks // Stealthily a young nymph, // Without understanding herself, // Sometimes she looks at the faun(Pushkin). They love you, and you will substitute the whole back for them for joy(Dostoevsky). His cheeks never blushed from shame, except from anger or a slap in the face(Radishchev).

Face, m. Face. | But the pale face often changes color(Lermontov). And I cried before you, // Looking at your face dear(A. K. Tolstoy). Forever // In my soul, like a miracle, it will remain // Your light face, your air is incomparable(Nabokov).

Oh to, pl. about chi and stripping, cf. Eye . ¤ An eye for an eye - about revenge. In the blink of an eye - in an instant, instantly, immediately. | The eye sees, but the tooth doesn’t(last). Tombstones are heavy // On your sleepless eyes(Akhmatova). Again I see your eyes - // And one of your southern gaze // Of the Cimmerian sad night // Suddenly the sleepy coldness dissipated ...(Tyutchev). I see your emerald eyes, // A bright appearance rises before me(Soloviev).

NS e rsi, pl. Breasts as well as women's breasts. | Their voluptuous melodies // The heat of love is poured into the hearts; // Their Persians breathe with lust(Pushkin). Like pearls of percy whiteness(Lermontov). The [dove] quietly sat on her on the persie, embraced them with wings(Zhukovsky).

Finger, m. Finger, usually a finger on the hand. ¤ One is like a finger - completely alone, all alone. | The apostle of destruction, to the weary Hades // With the finger he appointed sacrifices(Pushkin). Fingers obedient hair thick strand(Fet). Orphan, your honor, like one finger, neither father nor mother ...(Dostoevsky).

Flesh, f. Body . ¤ Somebody's flesh and blood or Flesh of the flesh of someone- someone's own child, brainchild. To clothe in flesh and blood or to put on - to give something or take one or another material form. Enter flesh and blood- take root, become an integral part. Into the raft and- embodied in a bodily image, in reality. | But a man with flesh and blood is outraged even by such a death(Turgenev). Not flesh, but spirit is corrupted in our day(Tyutchev). The Lord // Transfers his to the Chosen One // The ancient and blessed right // Create worlds and into the created flesh // Breathe in instantly a unique spirit(Nabokov).

Metacarpus Fist (part of the hand between the wrist and the main phalanges of the fingers). | He had already left the room, when the king ordered him to turn off the light, which is why a hand came back and a pastern in a glove fumbled and turned the switch(Nabokov). Now only that which could be weighed and measured became real, // What could be weighed and measured, // Touch with the metacarpus, express as a number(Voloshin).

Fri a, pl. fifth you, well. Heel as well as foot. ¤ Up to the toes - about a very long, almost to the ground clothing or braid. On the heels of someone(walk, chase) - follow someone without lagging behind. Under someone's heel- under oppression, under power. From head to toe - completely, completely, completely. | Greedy sin chases after me(Pushkin). Russian coat to toe. // Galoshes creak in the snow(Nabokov). Because if I really fly into the abyss, then I’m so straight, head down and upside down, and even happy that it is in this humiliating position that I’m falling and I consider it a beauty for myself.(Dostoevsky).

R and mo, pl. frame, cf. Shoulder . | Alone, raising a powerful labor on the shoulder, // You are vigilantly awake(Pushkin). The spear of the ramen pierces, // And gushes blood from them like a river(Lermontov). And rushed to Palestine, the cross on the ramen!(Zhukovsky).

Ust a, pl. Lips, mouth. ¤ On everyone's lips - everyone is talking, discussing. On the lips of anyone- ready to say, to say. From someone else's mouth (learn, hear) - to hear from someone. Firsthand ( learn, hear) - directly from someone who knows better than others. Pass by word of mouth- communicate from one to another. In someone's mouth to put(words, thoughts) - make them speak on their own behalf, on their own behalf. Drink honey with your lips- it would be nice if you were right, if your assumptions came true. | Speaks the truth through the mouth of a baby(last). Fool, wanted to assure us, // That God speaks through his mouth!(Lermontov). She gazed at me and laughed with her lips alone ... without a sound(Turgenev). Nature has an insidious smile on its lips(Okudzhava).

People O, pl. chela, cf. Forehead . ¤ To beat with a forehead - (to someone) bow low to the ground; (to someone) to thank; ( somebody something) to bring a gift, gifts; (to someone) to ask for something; ( to somebody to somebody) to complain. | Look at the darling, when her brow // She surrounds flowers in front of the mirror(Pushkin). I again appeared among people // With a cold, gloomy brow(Lermontov). His kiss burns on your, like marble, pale brow!(Turgenev).

Cz e weak, pl. Loin, hips. ¤ Gird the loins with a sword- prepare for battle. | And chastely and boldly, // Shining naked to the loins, // The divine body blooms // With unfading beauty(Fet). I still have a tingling tingle in my very loins from the pistol firing of these blows.(Nabokov).

NS at the egg, f. Left hand . ¤ Osh wu yuyu- on the left hand, on the left. | He touched the table with a heavy shuytse(Zhukovsky). Shuytsa Ajax covered up, // Strongly hitherto held the shield(Homer. Per. Gnedich). Forgive the simpleton, but is this ray on your swarthy shuyets not a magic stone?(Nabokov).