Costume history:Headdresses in Rus'. Types of vintage hats and the rules for wearing them (21 photos)

February 18, 2014, 17:06

It is known that according to tradition in Rus', a married woman had to braid her hair in two braids, style them with a crown and certainly cover them with a scarf or headdress. Girls, unlike married women, were allowed to open the top of their head, and braid their hair in one braid. It is clear that there was no fundamental difference, and if so, if we are to walk all the time in a headdress, let it be at least extraordinary and beautiful ...

1. According to the headdress

The headdress in Rus' was not only protection from the sun, cold and everything else, but also served as an indicator of status.

Unmarried girls could walk with their heads uncovered or with a headdress that left the top of their head open (sometimes even in church). Since everything was hidden from the girl layered clothing, the open "crown" was designed to emphasize its beauty, to the delight of good fellows.

After the girl got married, her head was covered with a woman's headdress. In the X-XI century, the dress married woman was called a "warrior", resembled a head towel. In the XV-XVI centuries. women began to wear "ubrus" - an embroidered white or red cloth, the ends of which were richly decorated with pearls and went down to the shoulders, chest and back.

2. By the crown

Sometimes the crown could have three or four teeth and a removable front part, which was called an ochelie. When getting married, the girl said goodbye to her crown or the groom kidnapped him.

The word "crown" itself comes from the Russian "vinit", that is, "to harvest". Harvest is the eternal concern of grain growers, and therefore the spouse received an assistant “for vein” (“for the harvest”), for which he had to pay a ransom to his parents, since they lost their assistant. Hence the participation of the wreath in the wedding ceremony.

3. Earrings

The unmarried wore elongated earrings of a simple shape, with little or no decor. The earrings of a married woman were more expensive, more complex, richer - in terms of status.

There are a number of signs and superstitions associated with earrings.
So, losing an earring has always been considered bad news, an unpleasant event.
If a married woman loses her earring, her husband may be cheating on her.
Whoever finds the earring of an unmarried girl will become her husband.

Anyone who finds a married woman's earring will soon find a heartfelt girlfriend, a lover.
If a newlywed loses an earring at a wedding, then any of the guests can find it, and a married bridesmaid must pick it up.

The bride had to put earrings in her ears happy wife so that she would be happy.
And if a married woman did not wear earrings, she was destined to be a widow.
Well, it was a sin for a widow to wear earrings.

4. On the braid

As soon as a girl in Rus' reached a certain age, she began to wear a strictly defined hairstyle - a braid, usually woven from three strands. The first braid is new adulthood. Together with the scythe relied on another, not for children, but women's clothing.

Spit - girlish beauty, was considered the main external dignity of the girl. Good, thick hair was highly valued as it spoke of strength and health. Those who could not grow a thick braid resorted to vile deception - they wove hair from horse tails. If a girl wore one braid, it meant that she was in an “active search”.

If a ribbon appeared in a girl’s braid, then the girl’s status meant “marriable”. As soon as she had a fiancé, and the blessing for marriage had already been received from her parents, instead of one ribbon two appeared, and they were woven not from the base of the braid, but from its middle.

This was a signal to the rest of the boyfriends that their further efforts were in vain, since the girl and her family had already decided on a candidate for husbands.
On solemn occasions, girls of marriageable age wore their hair loose. To communion in church, on a holiday, down the aisle, the girl went "cosmic". In such cases, hair curling was welcomed in wealthy families.

Before the wedding, the girlfriends weepingly unbraided the bride's hair, and she said goodbye to her usual hairstyle as a symbol of carefree girlhood. Upon marriage, the girl was braided with two braids, which were then laid around her head like a crown - a hint of her new, higher family status. A covered head is a document of marriage. Now no one but her husband could see her hair and take off her headdress.

If a girl cut her braid on her own, then, most likely, she mourned the deceased groom, and cutting her hair was for her an expression of deep sorrow and unwillingness to get married.

Old maids were not allowed to wear the clothes of married women. They weaved a braid like girls, covered their heads with a scarf. They were forbidden to wear a kokoshnik, a magpie, a warrior, to wear a ponyova. They could only walk in a white shirt, a dark sundress, and a bib.

5. According to the ornament and color of clothes

The ornament on the clothes could tell a lot about its owner. So, for example, in the Vologda region, a tree was depicted on the shirts of pregnant women. The chicken was embroidered on the clothes of married women, white swans - on unmarried girls.

Sundress of blue color worn by unmarried girls preparing for the wedding or old women. But, for example, a red sundress was worn by those who had just married. The more time passed after the wedding, the less red the woman used in her clothes.

What did the horned frog mean in the picture of the apron? Horns are a symbol of fertility, confirmation that this girl can give birth. And the frog is a symbol of a woman in labor, in the state of which every self-respecting girl of that time strove to get. So, the horned frog indicated that in front of you was a girl who wanted her first child.

6. Over the skirt

basis women's costume was the shirt. It differed from the male one only in length - up to the feet. But it was considered indecent to walk in one shirt - more tight clothes.

Unmarried girls wore a zapon - a canvas rectangular piece of fabric folded in half and having a hole for the head on the fold. The zapona was not stitched on the sides, it was shorter than the shirt and was put on over it. The zapon was always girdled.

Married women wore a paneva (or ponyka) over their shirts - a skirt that was not sewn, but wrapped around the figure and fastened around the waist with a cord - a gashnik. Where is the best place to hide? - for the gash! - it's been since then. For the first time, a pony was worn on the day of the wedding or immediately after. The girl symbolically jumped from the bench into the paneva - this symbolized her consent to marriage.

Parents, or a brother, tied a panya on it. If a girl didn’t get married, she wore a zapon all her life, she couldn’t put on paneva.

7. According to the wedding ring

If it was possible to get close enough to a woman to see if she had a ring on her finger, then they also used this proven method. Orthodox wedding rings were worn on ring finger right hand. It was smooth and simple...

Updated on 18/02/14 20:31:

VERTOGRAD

SEVEN SIGNS THAT DIFFERENTIATED A GIRL FROM A HUSBAND IN Rus'

IN modern society it is customary to avoid "conventions" in clothing, everyone dresses as they want. Meanwhile, in the old days, an outfit (dress, jewelry) had its own features, which emphasized not only the beauty of a woman, but also her special status. Now it's hard to get back to it. Although those age-old landmarks have been preserved in the memory of the people, knowing which, it is possible for a modern girl or woman to change something in the style of her outfit. So, for what outward signs distinguish a girl from a married woman?

By headdress

The headdress in Rus' was not only protection from the sun and cold, but also served as an indicator of its position. Unmarried girls could walk with their heads uncovered or with a headdress that left the top of their head open (sometimes even in church). Since everything about the girl was hidden by layered clothes, the open top of her head was designed to emphasize her beauty, to the delight of the good fellows. After the girl got married, her head was covered with a woman's headdress. In the 10th-11th centuries, the dress of a married woman was called a warrior, reminiscent of a head towel (later a soft cap made of cloth, which had a different shape, was also called a warrior). In the 15th-16th centuries, women began to wear "ubrus" - an embroidered white or red cloth, the ends of which were sometimes decorated with pearls and went down to the shoulders, chest and back.

By the crown

Crowns in Rus' were worn exclusively by girls, so the crown is a symbol of girlhood. The crown was a hoop made of leather or birch bark, covered with fabric and richly decorated (beads, bones, plates, embroidery, freshwater pearls and stones). Sometimes the crown could have three or four teeth and a removable front part, which was called an ochelie. When getting married, the girl said goodbye to her crown, or the groom kidnapped him. The word "crown" itself comes from the Russian "vinit", that is, "to harvest". Harvest is the eternal concern of grain growers, and therefore the spouse received an assistant “for vein” (“for the harvest”), for which he had to pay a ransom to his parents, since they lost their assistant. Hence the participation of the wreath in the wedding ceremony.

Earrings

In Rus', there was a tradition associated with wearing earrings: for girls and married women, they differed in shape and size. The daughter received her first earrings from her father as a gift at the age of five; women kept these earrings all their lives. The unmarried wore elongated earrings of a simple shape, with little or no decor. The earrings of a married woman were more expensive, more complex, richer - in terms of status.

On the spit

As soon as a girl in Rus' reached a certain age, she began to wear a strictly defined hairstyle - a braid, usually woven from three strands. The first braid is a new adult life. Together with the scythe, other clothes were relied upon - not for children, but for women. A scythe is a girlish beauty, it was considered the main external advantage of a girl. Good, thick hair was highly valued as it spoke of strength and health. Those who could not grow a thick braid sometimes resorted to deceit - weaving hair from ponytails into their braids. If a girl wore one braid, without jewelry, it meant that she did not know guys who would look after her. If a ribbon appeared in a girl’s braid, then the girl’s status meant “marriable”. As soon as she had a fiancé and a blessing for marriage had already been received from her parents, two ribbons appeared instead of one, and they were woven not from the base of the braid, but from its middle. This was a signal to the rest of the boyfriends that their further efforts were in vain, since the girl and her family had already decided on a candidate for husbands.

Before the wedding, the girlfriends weepingly untangled the bride's hair - she said goodbye to her usual hairstyle as a symbol of carefree girlhood. Upon marriage, the girl was braided with two braids, which were then laid around her head like a crown - a hint of her new, higher family status. A covered head is a marriage certificate. Now no one but her husband could see her hair and take off her headdress.

If a girl cut her braid on her own, then, most likely, she mourned the deceased groom and cutting her hair was for her an expression of deep sorrow and unwillingness to get married. Old maids were not allowed to wear the clothes of married women. They weaved a braid like girls, covered their heads with a scarf. They were forbidden to wear a kokoshnik, a magpie, a warrior, to wear a ponyova. They could only walk in a white shirt, a dark sundress, and a bib.

According to the ornament and color of clothes

The ornament on the clothes could tell a lot about its owner. For example, in the Vologda Oblast, a tree was depicted on the shirts of pregnant women. The chicken was embroidered on the clothes of married, white swans - unmarried girls. A blue sundress was worn by unmarried girls preparing for the wedding, or by old women. But, for example, a red sundress was worn by those who had just married. The more time passed after the wedding, the less red the woman used in her clothes. What did the horned frog mean in the picture of the apron? Horns are a symbol of fertility, confirmation that this girl can give birth. And the frog is a symbol of a woman in labor, in whose state every self-respecting girl of that time strove to get. So the horned frog indicated that in front of you was a girl who wanted her first child.


Paneva and zapon

By the skirt

The basis of the women's costume was a shirt. It differed from the male one only in length - up to the feet. But it was considered indecent to walk in one shirt - thicker clothes were put on over it. Unmarried girls wore a zapona - a canvas rectangular piece of fabric folded in half and having a hole for the head on the fold. The zapona was not stitched on the sides, it was shorter than the shirt and was put on over it. The zapon was always girdled.

Married women wore a paneva (or ponyka) over their shirts - a skirt that was not sewn, but wrapped around the figure and fastened around the waist with a cord - a gashnik. Where is the best place to hide? - for the gash! - that's where the word "zagashnik" comes from in our language. For the first time, a pony was worn on the day of the wedding or immediately after. The girl symbolically jumped from the bench into the paneva - this symbolized her consent to marriage. Parents or brother tied paneva on it. If a girl didn’t get married, she wore a zapon all her life, she couldn’t put on paneva.

By wedding ring

If it was possible to get close enough to a woman to see if she had a ring on her finger, then they also used this proven method. The Orthodox wedding ring was worn on the ring finger of the right hand. Usually it was smooth and simple.

In Rus', wedding rings have been known for a long time. Even before the adoption of Christianity, the bride, along with the ring, was given a key, symbolizing her new position as the mistress of the house. Since the 15th century, the groom was supposed to wear an iron ring (as a symbol of strength), and the bride - gold. And a hundred years later, the situation changed: the groom began to wear a ring of gold, and the bride - of silver. Over time, this has changed - both rings become gold. Well, in 1775 the Russian Orthodox Church connects the betrothal ceremony with the wedding ceremony; Since then, engagement rings have been called both wedding and wedding rings.

It has long been well known to everyone that at the first meeting a person is evaluated not so much by his mind and character, but by his appearance. The beauty and neatness of clothing, headwear, hairstyles, emphasizing the best qualities of the owner - all this has been a hallmark since ancient times, by which they judged nobility and wealth, marital status owner or mistress.

A.P. Ryabushkin.
A merchant's family in the 17th century.

At the merchant's feet is a hat

The study of headdresses and hairstyles allows us to penetrate deeper into the distant world of our ancestors, to study the peculiarities of the Russian fashion of the past. The source for this study was archaeological finds, frescoes in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, eyewitness accounts (mainly foreigners who visited Russia in the period from the 15th century), reproductions of ancient icons, and paintings.

I'm sitting on top
I don't know on whom
meeting a friend,
I'll jump off - I'll welcome you.

Russian folk riddle

One of the main elements of the costume from ancient times was a headdress. In addition to its main purpose - to keep the head warm, it performed ritual and distinctive functions. Without violating the traditions of society, a person sought to at least somehow distinguish himself outwardly. In Rus', a hat is larger than any other piece of clothing, testified to the belonging of a person to one or another class. Perhaps, in those days, the saying "According to Senka and a hat" appeared. By what a woman wore on her head, it was possible to determine her age - an adult or not, married or betrothed, in what area she lives.

In general, the custom to cover the hair came to us from ancient times. It was then that the idea was born that hair is the seat of magical life force. Therefore, when a child was born, they tried not to cut it for at least a year. This was due to a popular belief: "To cut off a year is to cut off the tongue." Young parents believed that the mind of the child, who gathered in this hair, directly depends on the density of the hair.

Our ancestors treated combed and cut hair with special respect. In no case should they be thrown away and left anywhere. Hair is alive, you throw it on the ground - your head will hurt or the sorcerer-grandfather will pick up and destroy a person. Combed hair was collected during life in a special bag, which was then placed in a coffin under the head of the deceased, or hidden under the horse at home, or burned, or washed off with water.

Young girls used their hair for love spells, divination. For example, in order to find out about the betrothed, they hung a ring on a hair that fell out of the head and looked through it at the water - maybe the face will appear there. At Svyatki, they guessed like this: they left the comb in the barn for the night, maybe the groom will come, comb his hair, and they will recognize him by the color of the hair left on the comb. The curl cut off as a keepsake, which the girl gave to her beloved, also spoke of special love. Few people know that in ancient times there was a ban on combing hair on certain days. So, about the feast of the Annunciation among the people there was a saying: "The bird does not nest, the girl does not weave braids." They also tried not to comb their hair on the day of someone's funeral, so as not to go bald. But on Easter, on the contrary, they often took up the comb, especially grandmothers, so that there would be more grandchildren.

Our ancestors took great care of their hair. They washed them in a bath with lye - boiled water with wood ash, decoctions of onion peel, chamomile, nettle; after washing, combed thoroughly with a wooden or bone comb. At the same time, from childhood, a girl or her mother used to say: “Grow, braid, to the waist, don’t shed a single hair, grow, scarf, to toe - the suitors are in a hurry!” For more rapid growth hair trimmed during the new moon.

"Scythe - girlish beauty" has been the main hairstyle for unmarried girls since the time of our Slavic ancestors. Weaved it flat, low on the back of the head from 3-4 or more strands; decorated with ribbons, fringes, flowers, strings of pearls and beads, simple wire ornaments, for example temple rings. Hair was braided into one or two braids, which fell down the back of the back or to the shoulders. Persons of noble origin also had such a hairstyle: two braids were braided at the back, and loose hair remained on the sides. A brush or pendant, called kosnik (kosnik), which consisted of silk or gold thread. On solemn occasions, girls of marriageable age wore their hair loose. To communion in church, on a holiday, down the aisle, the girl went "cosmic". In such cases, hair curling was welcomed in wealthy families.

Changing a hairstyle in a woman's life played a huge role, it was a whole ritual that took place at her wedding - she became married. Under crying and singing, the girl's hair was braided into two braids and laid in a wreath around her head, covering the top with a headdress. This rite of "twisting" was a kind of marriage registration act, and the woman received a document - a new hairstyle. Now no one but her husband could see her hair and take off her headdress. If this happened, the woman could sue, and the offender faced a hefty fine. From now on and forever, a woman was obliged to hide her hair. Before doing household chores - kindling the stove, approaching the cattle, going out into the street, the woman carefully covered her hair. Put them on display, open, i.e. "to goof off" was considered a disgrace.

Men, unlike women, cut their hair short. They did it in a very simple way: they put a clay pot on their heads and cut off all the hair that came out from under it. This hairstyle was called "under the pot." Later, its varieties appeared, such as “under the bracket” and “in the circle”, where the ends of the hair curled inward, and in the 16th century. the fashion for shaving the head will be established. But Ivan the Terrible will forbid the boyars to shave their heads, and he himself will wear a brace hairstyle. Adam Olearius, who visited Russia as part of the Schleswig-Holstein embassy in 1633, wrote: “Russian men are mostly tall, fat and tough people, skin and natural color similar to Europeans<…>Only their priests, or priests, wear long hair on their heads, hanging over their shoulders; others have short hair. The nobles even allow this hair to be shaved, believing beauty in this.<…>However, as soon as someone sins in something before his royal majesty or finds out that he has fallen out of favor, he randomly lets his hair go as long as the disgrace lasts. Long hair men also let go as a sign of grief, on the occasion of mourning, but women, on the contrary, cut their hair as a sign of sadness.

All headdresses and hairstyles can be conditionally divided into two parts according to the time of their appearance in Russia: before the time of Peter the Great and after.

The basis of the headdress of our ancestors was a cap.

As I sit down, I will ride a dashing horse ...
I'll break my hat on the barrel
velvet,
Trimmed with black sable…

This is how M.Yu. Lermontov describes in the “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, the young guardsman and daring merchant Kalashnikov” the headdress of the guardsman Kiribeevich, well-born and noble, having prosperity and wearing a rich hat accordingly.

Byzantium had a great influence on the formation of the image of Russian headdresses, especially after the baptism of Rus'.

The basis of the male cap was a cap of pointed or spherical shape with a slightly lagging band - a rim fitting the head. Judging by the Izbornik of Svyatoslav (1073), the privilege of the nobility was hats made of velvet with valuable fur.

All Russian men's hats were divided into several types. “Ordinary citizens have hats made of white felt in summer, and made of cloth lined with fur in winter,” Olearius noted. These hats are called cap, although the name itself appeared only in the 17th century, before that the hats were felted and were called felt boots.

Wealthy people sewed hats from fine cloth or velvet, and the rich - from brocade or satin with a fastened band, studded with pearls; Moscow dandies could add gold buttons to this. The description of the costume of Prince Vyazemsky in A.K. Tolstoy’s novel “Prince Silver” testifies to how colorful the headdresses of the nobility were: “The head of the prince was covered with a white brocade murmolka with a flexible diamond feather.” Murmolka was a kind of cap - a quadrangular, low shape, the top of which was cloth, bright cherry, green or black, and the main part was made of expensive fabric, brocade or velvet. Boyars, merchants and clerks preferred to wear such headdresses. In winter, the murmolka was lined with fur, which turned outward with a wide strip so that it did not tighten the head, a cut was made in the center in front, and the lapels were fastened to the crown in two places with buttons and richly decorated.

Another type of hat sinner (Greek) came to Rus' from the Mongol-Tatars at the end of the 13th century. It was sewn from a poyarka - wool sheared from a young bright sheep, and got its name from its similarity to a buckwheat flour pie. This cake was baked during Lent, it had the shape of a column 2 inches high (about 8 cm), wide at the top and slightly tapering at the bottom, and the hat was of the same shape. In the 19th century the Greek man will become the favorite headdress of Moscow cabbies. In winter, the peasants wore sheepskin hats of various styles - malachai And triplets. Malachai had four blades: two of them covered the forehead and the back of the head, and the other two - the ears and cheeks, they were long and could be wrapped around the neck, tied at the back of the head. Three- “three ears”, reminiscent of a modern hat with earflaps with a falling back.

third kind men's hats was tafya, or skufya, a small soft hat, like a skullcap, covering only the crown, embroidered with silk or gold threads. It came to Rus' from the East and gained popularity among the rich part of the population as a home headdress. In particular, Tsar Ivan the Terrible went to church in it, which Metropolitan Philip did not approve of.

Nizhny Novgorod province.
19th century

And here is another variation: “during public meetings, princes and boyars or their state advisers wear hats made of black fox or sable fur, an elbow long.” They were called throaty. These hats were worn as a symbol of wealth, prosperity and generosity. Usually, the boyar first put on a tafya, then a cap, and then a throat cap. They sewed it from the whole fur of the animal's throat - "darling", 6-8 inches high (up to 40 cm). Sometimes they used not fur, but dressed leather, brocade and suede. Noble people did not take off their hats either at the entrance to the premises, or at the table, or in the presence of the king. Only when he came home, the owner took off his hat and put it on a special painted bobblehead made of soft wood or fabric stuffed with sawdust.

The headdresses of the kings especially amazed foreigners with their wealth and splendor. "He<Иван IV>wears a tiara<венец>richly adorned with pearls and precious stones, and not one (he constantly changes them to show his wealth; they say that they were brought from Byzantium). He either has them with him when he sits on the throne, or wears them on his head, ”wrote Anthony Possevin, the papal ambassador who visited Russia in the 16th century.

K.E. Makovsky. Down the aisle.

1890s

One of the most famous royal headdresses, a symbol of autocracy, is the "Monomakh's hat", a golden filigree pointed hat of Central Asian work with a sable edge, decorated with precious stones and a cross.

Currently, it is stored in the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin. The cap arrived in Russia in the 14th century. as a gift from the Khan of Bukhara to the Moscow prince. It got its name thanks to the legend about its Byzantine origin: allegedly Emperor Constantine sent it to the Kyiv prince Vladimir Monomakh.

"Monomakh's Cap" was worn at the wedding ceremony for the kingdom of the rulers of Rus', starting with the son of Ivan Kalita.

In Rus' they said: “The guy and the peasant still have the same hat; and the girl has simple hair, the wife is covered ”(from the dictionary of V.I. Dal). Since ancient times, all women's hats were divided into girls' and for married women.

Before marriage, the headdress did not cover the crown of its owner, leaving her hair open. From childhood, girls wore simple ribbons made of cloth on their heads.

Growing up, the girl received bandage (dressing), called in some areas withered, which clasped the forehead and fastened at the back of the head with a knot. This bandage was made from silk ribbon, birch bark, and in rich families from Byzantine brocade. It was decorated with embroidery, beads, glass beads, gold and precious stones.

In the census of the property of the daughter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - Anna, "a dressing strewn with pearls" is mentioned. Sometimes the forehead part of the bandage had a special decoration in the form of some patterned knot or figure and was called forehead (bangs).

Another type of girl's headdress was crown (whisk), which originated from a wreath made up of meadow flowers, and according to the beliefs of the ancestors, was a talisman against evil spirits. The crown was made from a thin (about 1 mm) metal ribbon, the width of which was no more than 2.5 cm. Silver and bronze were used for its manufacture. In its form, the crown resembled a bandage, with the only difference being that at the ends the master made hooks for a lace or ribbon that was tied at the back of the head. Often the crown was covered with some kind of pattern with teeth at the top. A girl's crown, studded with pearls along her cheeks, was worn by a girl for a big holiday or wedding, and then it was already called cassava. Such a headdress adorned the head of Empress Evdokia Lopukhina, the wife of Peter I, at the wedding - "a crown with stones and pearls."

In winter, the girls covered head cap called columnar. A braid fell out from under him onto his back, into which a red ribbon was woven.

M. Shibanov.
Celebration of the wedding contract.

Fragment

It is quite difficult for an uninitiated person to understand the intricacies of women's headdresses and hairstyles of the past. So, M.Yu. Lermontov in the already mentioned “Song ...” combines two images in the main character - Alena Igorevna, girlish and married:

In holy Rus', our
mother,
Can't find, can't find one
beauties…
Braids are blond, golden,
In bright ribbons braided,
Running over the shoulders, squirming,
They kiss with white breasts.

This is how a young oprichnik talks about a married woman.

And a little later, the heroine herself complains to her husband, the merchant Kalashnikov:

How I rushed out of his hands ...
And remained in the hands of the robber
My patterned handkerchief, yours
present,
And my Bukhara veil.
He shamed me, he shamed me...

The shame of Alena Igorevna was quite understandable to her contemporaries, because she lost her headdress, the main “passport” of a married woman. It was after marriage that a woman’s dress changed dramatically, because her beauty now belonged only to her husband. Foreigners who visited the Russians left a description of such wedding custom: during the holiday, the groom threw a scarf on his chosen one's head and thus became her husband.

One of the most ancient women's headdresses is a scarf - ubrus. IN different areas In Russia, he received different names: towel, width, basting, underwidth, veil etc. The ubrus consisted of a thin rectangular cloth up to 2 m long and 40-50 cm wide, one end of it was decorated with embroidery, silk, gold, silver embroidery and hung over the shoulder, while the other was tied around the head and chopped off under the chin. In the X-XI centuries. a jewelry set consisting of hanging rings and various ornaments was placed on top of the ubrus. Later, the ubrus acquired a triangular shape, then both ends were chopped off under the chin or tied on the head with a beautiful knot, which required special skill. The ends of the scarf descended to the shoulders and back and were also richly embroidered. The fashion to wear headscarves, tying a knot under the chin, came to Russia only in the 18th-19th centuries. from Germany, before that, the scarf wrapped around the neck, and the knot was placed high on the top of the head, as if the teeth hurt. This method was called "head". The expressiveness of a women's headscarf, as he wrote in the 18th century. one contemporary, served the purpose of "giving greater color and exalting beauty" of women's faces.

Composing her headdress on weekdays, a woman put on boletus or warrior(volosnik), which was a small cap-grid of fine fabric, it consisted of a bottom and a band with lacing around the head, with which the cap was tightly tied at the back. The povoinik was decorated with pearls, stones, sewn on the forehead area, this stripe was protected and passed from mother to daughter, altered for a new headdress. The main task of the warrior was to hide the woman's hair from others, but many were zealous, pulling it together so that they could not blink. On top of the povoinik, the woman put on a scarf or hat. Since the 18th century The warriors begin to change and take the form of a cap, which was sometimes worn over the ubrus, this depended mainly on the richness and beauty of this or that object. TO headwear, scarves, clothes were treated with trepidation. So the author of "Domostroy" (XVI century) instructed the housewives: "Wear a dress, and shirts, and skirts on yourself carefully all the days ...".

After marriage, along with an ubrus and a warrior, a woman received kiku(kichka).

... High tower.
On the porch stands his old woman
In an expensive sable shower jacket,
Brocade on the top of the kichka.

(A.S. Pushkin
"The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish")

The historian I.E. Zabelin called her the “crown of marriage”, because. this headdress was the privilege of only husband wives. In Old Russian, one of the meanings of the word kick is "that which covers the hair". Kiku could be recognized immediately by the shoulder blade or horns sticking up above the forehead. The horns were associated with beliefs in a protective force, it was they who likened a woman to a cow - an animal sacred to our ancestors. Protection of a young woman, her child - here main idea horned kiki, another meaning was fertility, procreation.

Kiku was worn over a warrior, and it consisted of a hoop, open at the back, sheathed with fabric on top. The hoop had the shape of a crescent or a horseshoe. The height of the kiki horns could reach 30 cm, they were made of wood or tightly twisted canvas. The back of expensive fabric or fur was called slap, decorated it especially elegantly, because it was he who replaced the braid, which the woman lost. Rich embroidery or a wide decorative pendant with long chains of plaques was placed here. On top of the kiku was attached a cover-blanket, called magpie, later he will give the name to this composite headdress. In such a vestment, a woman had to walk with her head held high, with a beautiful and soft step, which gave rise to the expression “boast”, i.e. rise above other people.

A kind of kiki for persons of the princely and royal family was coruna. It was distinguished by its shape - a crown, richly decorated, under which an ubrus was worn. Duckweeds were added to the headdress, a pearl lace on the forehead, kolts, inside of which they put pieces of fabrics soaked in “aromas”, i.e. spirits.

Another headdress of our great-grandmothers was kokoshnik(from Old Slavic kokosh- hen, hen, rooster). Distinctive feature the kokoshnik was a comb - its front part. A crest was made on a solid base and was raised high above the forehead, behind the kokoshnik was fixed with ribbons. It was wrapped in cloth. Later, kokoshniks will also be worn by unmarried girls, their top will remain open. Tall and flat, covered with cloth or, for the rich, with leather, kokoshniks were decorated with metal thread, pearls, beads, glass beads. A coverlet made of expensive patterned fabric was attached to the kokoshnik, a veil or a scarf folded in a triangle was worn over it. Among the common people, the kokoshnik appeared around the 16th-17th centuries, replacing the kiku. The clergy fought against the "horned", forbade going to church in it and welcomed the replacement with a more "safe" headdress.

From the end of the 16th century in the spring-autumn period, women, leaving "into the people", put on over the ubrus hat. “They wear hats made of white felt, similar to those that the bishop and abbots wear on a walk, only they are dark blue or black,” testified Jacques Margeret, captain of the foreign bodyguards of Tsar Boris Godunov.

In winter, they wore velvet hats trimmed with fur. The top of the hats was made of glued paper or fabric, it was round, cone-shaped or cylindrical in shape and differed from men's decorations - sewing, pearls, stones. Since the hats were high, light fur was placed inside to keep warm or satin was stuffed. Hats were treated with care, it is known that after the season, the royal daughters were obliged to “surrender” their winter clothes for storage in the Master's Chamber, where they were placed on blockheads and covered with covers. Went for hats different fur- beaver, fox, sable, "girl's fur" was considered hare and squirrel. Just like men's Women's hats were called "throat" and were worn in several layers. The English diplomat Giles Fletcher, who has been ambassador to Russia since 1588, left the following testimony: “Noble women wear a taffeta bandage on their heads, and on top of it a cloak called naurusa, white color. On top of this hat, they put on a hat made of golden brocade, called a Zemstvo hat, with a rich fur edge, with pearls and stones, but recently they have ceased to humiliate hats with pearls, because the wives of clerks and merchants began to imitate them.

In the already mentioned “Domostroy”, in the chapter “How to cut every dress and take care of the leftovers and trimmings”, we find another type of winter women's headdress: “In household use, if it happens to cut a dress for yourself, or your wife, or children, or people,<…>or letnik, or kaptur, or hat,<…>and the sovereign himself looks and is savvy; saves the remains of scraps ... " Kaptur was a distant relative of the hood and was popular with widows. He protected his head from the cold, because. in shape it was a fur cylinder, covering not only the head, but also fitting on both sides of the face. Kaptur was sewn from beaver fur, and in poorer families sheepskin was used. On top of the captur, women put on a special cover or bandage. Unknown artist first half of XVIII V. depicted the mother of Peter I - Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina in such a headdress, which speaks of the popularity of capturs among women of the noble class.

From men, women adopted another headdress, which was mentioned above - triplets. Unlike captur, the top of the triukh was covered not with fur, but with cloth, and the forehead part was trimmed with sable and decorated with pearls or lace.

From the Slavs to Peter I, the hairstyles and headdresses of our ancestors have undergone minor changes. Their basis was a hat and a scarf. But already in those days, people understood that a headdress is a kind of business card that can tell a lot about its owner.

Literature

1. Burovik K.A. Red book of things. M., 1996.
2. Domostroy. SPb., 1992.
3. Zhilina N. Russian jewelry // Motherland. 2002. No. 11-12.
4.Zabelin I.E. Home life of Russian queens in the 16th and 17th centuries. Smolensk, 2003.
5. History of the costume. Rostov-on-Don, 2001.
6. Kaminskaya N.M. Costume history. M., 1986.
7. Korotkova M.V. Journey into the history of Russian life. M., 1998.
8. Kostomarov N.I. Feature article home life and mores of the Great Russian people in the 16th and 17th centuries. Smolensk, 2003.
9. Lermontov M.Yu. Works. T. 1. M., 1988.
10. Pushkareva N. And to the world, and to the feast // Motherland 1995. No. 2.
11. Pushkareva N. Barbarian beauty // Motherland 1995. No. 7.
12. Pushkareva N. In all of you, darling, you are good attire ... // Motherland. 1995. No. 8.
13. Pushkin A.S. Cit.: In 3 vols. T. 2. M., 1986.
14. Russia of the 17th century. Memories of foreigners. Smolensk, 2003.
15. Ryabtsev Yu.S. Reader on the history of Russian culture of the XI-XVII centuries. M., 1998.
16. Semyonova M. Life and beliefs of the ancient Slavs. M., 1988.
17. Tolstoy A.K. Prince Silver. M., 1996.

The headdress in Rus' was an integral part of the women's wardrobe. Hair was necessarily braided, and the head was covered, depending on social status. A headdress could say a lot about its owner - her marital status, status in society, and territorial affiliation.

Girlish attire

A girl's braid could be made by a metal hoop attached to the back of the head, with temporal rings and various forehead decorations.

But a hoop covered with fabric, decorated with embroidery, plates, beads, pearls and stones was called a crown.

Usually crowns were worn on holidays and at weddings.

The hoop and the crown are the transformations of the wreath, which is well known to us - the oldest girl's jewelry in Rus'.

The female headdress in Rus' was organically connected with the hairstyle and complemented it.

Also, a girl could decorate her hair with a bandage - a strip of silk, brocade, velvet or woolen fabric covering her forehead or crown. The bandage was tied under the scythe, and wide embroidered ribbons descended on the girl's back.

The headdress was completed with embroideries, pearls, flowers. Bandages were worn mainly by peasant women, more often they were worn on holidays, and sometimes for a wedding - instead of a crown.

Attire of the married

After marriage, women completely covered their hair, and the more multi-layered the headdress was, the more prosperous its owner was considered.

One of these hats was kick (kichka) - high female decoration, consisting of a back of the head - a cloth covering the shoulders;

povoynika - fabric twisted around the head;

the headman - the frontal part and the headband - pearl mesh or fringe.

Kichki were different in shape, they resembled horns, hooves and even a shovel. Ladies wore "horned" kitties, the front part of which was filled with ornaments, and the headband was trimmed with gold.

Horns in Rus' were considered a talisman for the mother and, according to legend, protected the child from dark forces and the evil eye. The height of such horns sometimes reached 20 cm, so it was customary to walk in a horned kichka with your head thrown back.

Boast - walk with your head held high.

It is interesting that the name of this dress can be found in architectural dictionaries, it means an elevation on the front of the ship. Subsequently, the kichka was replaced by simpler hats - magpie And new.

Magpie was considered one of the richest headdresses and consisted of a large number parts, from 8 to 14.

The basis for the dress was the kichka, the back of the head and the magpie itself, which was an elevated crown.

The magpie was called a sazhen if it was sheathed with precious stones and winged if ribbons with ties were sewn to it from the sides.

Decorations for such decoration were artificial flowers, beads and jewelry.

"If you look at the back of a woman's head in this dress, it's like looking at a sitting bird with bent wings", - wrote the Penza author Krotkov at the end of the 19th century.

povoynik- a scarf or towel that was previously worn under the kitch to cover the head. However, walking in the same dress in public was considered bad manners.

To remove a headdress from a married woman in Rus' was considered a terrible insult. Hence the expression "goof off", that is, to remain with an uncovered head.

However, in the second half of the 19th century, the headdress became an independent piece of clothing, displacing the magpie and kiku. Most often, warriors were worn by peasant women to protect their hair from tangling and pollution.

A festive warrior was sewn from silk, satin or velvet and decorated with beads or precious stones.

History of the kokoshnik

The history of the kokoshnik is full of secrets and mysteries, says Dmitry Savitsky. And no one knows the exact time of the appearance of this headdress.

Kokoshnik - an old Russian headdress in the form of a fan or a rounded shield around the head. Kichka and magpie were worn only by married women, and the kokoshnik was worn by unmarried women as well. Kokoshnik is a light fan made of thick paper, sewn to a cap or hair; it consists of a removed headman and a bottom, or a headman and a hair, with a descent behind the ribbon. In the 19th century existed in the merchant and peasant environment (mainly in the northern provinces), and in pre-Petrine Rus' - and in the boyars.

The name "kokoshnik" comes from the ancient Slavic "kokosh", meaning chicken and rooster. A characteristic feature of the kokoshnik is a comb, the shape of which was different in different provinces. So, for example, in the Pskov, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov and Vladimir lands, kokoshniks resembled an arrowhead in shape. In the Simbirsk province, women wore kokoshniks with a crescent. In other places, headdresses similar to kokoshniks were called "heel", "tilt", "gold head", "horn", "kokui", or, for example, "magpie".

Kokoshniks were made on a solid base, decorated on top with brocade, braid, beads, beads, pearls, and for the richest - with precious stones.

Kokoshniks were very diverse in design and character of decorations. At the same time, their main feature was that they tightly covered the woman’s head, covering her hair, braided into two braids and styled in a wreath or bun.

The custom of covering the hair of a married woman has been known to everyone since ancient times. Slavic peoples Eastern and Western Europe and is associated with pre-Christian religious ideas. In the Russian village, it was customary to believe that a woman with an uncovered head could bring misfortune to the house: cause crop failure, loss of livestock, people's illness, etc.

Kokoshniks were usually made by professional craftswomen, sold in village shops, city shops, at fairs, or made to order. Peasants carefully kept kokoshniks, passed them on by inheritance, they were often used by several generations. Kokoshniks were considered a great family treasure.

The kokoshnik was considered a festive and even a wedding headdress. It was embroidered with various ornamental amulets and symbols. marital fidelity and fertility, thus the kokoshnik was not only an adornment of a woman, but also her amulet.

In the Simbirsk province, it was first worn on the wedding day, and then worn big holidays before the birth of the first child. Kokoshniks were made in cities, in large villages and monasteries by special craftswomen-kokoshniks. They embroidered expensive fabric with gold, silver and pearls, and then stretched it on a solid (birch bark, later cardboard) base. The kokoshnik had a cloth bottom. bottom edge The kokoshnik was often sheathed under the bottom - with a net of pearls, and on the sides, above the temples, a cassock was fastened - strings of pearl beads falling low on the shoulders. Such a headdress was very expensive, so kokoshniks were carefully preserved in the family and passed on by inheritance.

The ornament of the headdress of the kokoshnik necessarily consisted of three parts. A lace - a metal ribbon - outlines it along the edges, and inside each part an ornament - a charm - is embroidered with a "gimp" (twisted wire). In the center is a stylized "frog" - a sign of fertility, on the sides - S-shaped figures of swans - symbols of marital fidelity. The back of the kokoshnik was especially richly embroidered: a stylized bush symbolized the tree of life, each branch of which is a new generation; often a pair of birds was located above the branches, a symbol of the connection between earth and sky and a mating couple, in the paws of birds - seeds and fruits. Thus, the kokoshnik not only adorned the heads, but was a female amulet.

Later kokoshniks in the form of a cap are ornamented simply with a beautiful ornament of the wedding symbols "grapes and roses", which appeared in embroidery under the influence of urban fashion, and personified in the popular mind "sweet berry and scarlet flower".

The female headdress in its forms and decor, more than other parts of the costume, retained archaic features, contained numerous temporary layers. Hats were kept in families from generation to generation and were an indispensable part of the dowry of a bride from a wealthy family.

Peter I, by his decrees, forbade the hawthorns to wear this headdress. But the kokoshnik survived among the peasantry as an attribute of festive or wedding clothing.

In the Catherine era, interest in Russian history and Russian antiquities revived.

Passion for Russian antiquity becomes fashionable at court. Attention is also shown to the female boyar and royal costume of Moscow Rus' of the 17th century. The fashion includes a court dress resembling a sundress and complemented by a kokoshnik and a long pleated shirt. A description of the costume of Catherine II, dating back to 1863, has been preserved: “The Empress was in a scarlet-velvet Russian dress, studded with large pearls, with a star on her chest and a diamond diadem on her head ...”.

The war with Napoleon, having stirred up an unprecedented wave of Russian patriotism, returned interest in everything national in literature, poetry, and clothing. In 1812-1814 in European fashion red and blue Russian sundresses with an empire waist and filigree buttons in front entered. In the portraits of that terrible time, they depict English women, and Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna, wife of Alexander I, and even French women. The pro-Russian movement in fashion has returned to secular society a kind of old kokoshniks.

In 1834, Nicholas I issued a decree introducing a new court dress, complemented by a kokoshnik. It consisted of a narrow open bodice with long sleeves"a la boyars" and a long skirt with a train.

By the end of the 19th century, these dresses were often sewn in St. Petersburg by the workshop of Olga Bulbenkova from velvet of various colors and brocade (for the empress and grand duchesses) with white satin inserts. The pattern of luxurious gold embroidery was predetermined by decree in accordance with the position of the lady at court. The order of wearing these dresses was preserved in Russia until the abdication of Nicholas II in February 1917.

I would like to finish with the verses of Vladimir Sadovnik:

Russian beauty,

How good!

Smiling with happiness

You have a soul.

Russian beauty,

You are not dearer!

Looking for, trying in vain

All over the earth.

Your thoughts are clear

The world does not understand.

You are a beautiful wife

And such a mother!

You are not a shiny thing

Mannequin Doll,

You give a real soul to your neighbors to everyone.

Your heart is pure

There is no profit in it

The eyes are radiant

They radiate light!

Russian beauty,

Always be like this

Though the enemy does not like

Holy side!

What is the essence behind the shape of the kokoshnik

Have you ever wondered why some of the headdresses, such as kokoshniks, have such a rather unusual shape? After all, if we consider the kokoshnik from a pragmatic point of view, then with its help it is impossible to protect ourselves from the Sun, rain or snow, which means that a completely different meaning was originally invested in it. Then which one?

At present, thanks to the creation of special technical devices, it became possible to obtain an image of the human biological field, which is a combination of radiation human body over a very wide frequency spectrum. In fact, a person continuously resides in a special energy cocoon, which most people in normal conditions does not perceive with his eyesight. Comparing the images of the human biological field obtained with the help of these technical devices with the shape of the kokoshnik, it is easy to notice a completely obvious similarity between them. Therefore, it is logical to assume that the kokoshnik is a material aspect of the luminosity of the human biological body, locally isolated in the head area.

It can be assumed that in ancient times, when a person had the ability to see the subtle planes of the existence of matter, there was no need for this kind of headwear, since a girl or woman naturally was perceived as radiant, but since the time when people for the most part lost the ability to see the biological field surrounding a person, it arose in the creation of certain elements of clothing, with the help of which it would be possible to form and transmit to a blind person information about the internal state of a woman, her integrity and perfection. Therefore, the kokoshnik not only repeats the shape of the biological field of a healthy woman, but also due to its color (white with shades of blue, light blue, purple, etc.), as well as various decorations and decoration elements, contributes to the non-verbal transmission of information about the degree of her spiritual perfection.

In this regard, you can also pay attention to how kings and kings used to be called - a crowned person. So called because the crown (or crown) also symbolizes the human aura or halo. Traditionally, the crown or crown was made of gold or other precious metals and decorated with precious stones, which on the material plane was supposed to symbolize the development of the corresponding energy center in this person(crown chakra).

Commentary by Alexander Doroshkevich

The value of hats for our Ancestors

Not so long ago, literally 50-200 years ago, people's buildings and clothes had a completely different look and were much richer and more elegant than at present. Now a person is surrounded by multi-storey building-boxes made of glass and concrete with low ceilings and small rooms, and clothes are unisex, monotonous and also multi-storey.

Let's look at the clothes of the past 18-19 centuries, at the headdresses. It is known that men evaluate women by looking down at them, while women look at a man from the bottom up. Now hats are not in fashion, in cold weather we put on hats and fur coats to protect ourselves from the cold. And before there were hats very interesting and mandatory to wear.

Dance Ensemble "Slavitsa"

Firstly, they performed a protective function, not only from the cold, but also from energy pollution.

Like clothes, the headdress of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers (as well as great-great-great-great-great-and further, further, into the depths of centuries) served, among other things, for social communication. Every resident of a city, village or community was oriented in women's and men's clothing, in the symbolism of embroidery and the general arrangement of clothing elements is much better than we, modern ones, are guided by models of mobile phones. By clothes and headdress (and especially women's headdress), anyone passing by, not even personally acquainted with this woman, understood who was in front of him, what social status this woman had and what her marital status was.

A young girl, ready for marriage, wore a special girl's dress, which showed her hair to others in all its glory - the primordial symbol of female power in Rus'. He represented, most often, a red ribbon tied around the head and converging under the scythe into a kind of bow. Marriable girls had the right to braid their hair (most often one, married women braided two) and wear their hair open for public viewing. And when a girl got married, a special ceremony took place - farewell to the scythe. This does not mean at all that the young wife's hair was cut off at the root. Just from that day on, after saying goodbye to the braid, after marriage, the hair of an already married woman went forever under a scarf, becoming invisible to others. In general, only women who had not lost their virginity could put a braid on display, lower it down their backs. There were, however, special cases, especially solemn, when a woman could let her hair down over her shoulders - the funeral of her parents (I remind you that death was not considered such a grief before), a wedding, especially large Slavic holidays. If a woman has illegitimate children, or the loss of innocence, she lost the ability to wear a braid down her back or show the top of her head. If a woman was seen in a dissolute lifestyle, the community could cut her bangs to mark the woman's "occupation" in this way.

Hiding one's hair from prying eyes when married was considered so necessary and important that even one's father-in-law could no longer see it (largely family scandal peeping at the son's wife could end in the process of changing her scarves - day to night). Only other women, in the bath, could see all the female power, which now, after marriage, belonged to the only man. Married women already braided two braids, laying them over their heads in a variety of ways, which they carefully hid under a scarf. And if a woman, wife, mistress, did not hide her hair well, then the “esoteric” owner of the house, brownie, could begin to take revenge on her for this, arranging some special nasty things. Indeed, by showing her hair, a woman, as it were, took away her energy support and nourishment from her husband, shared her female power which should rightfully belong to only one man. “Lighting up the hair” was not only a disgrace, but also an energetically unpleasant act that could lead to various troubles in the personal and “economic” life of the family and the woman. They believed that a woman (not a marriageable girl) with an open head has access to evil spirits. IN Slavic mythology mermaids and witches, representatives of evil spirits, walked with loose hair.

Authentic Russian hats

Oddly enough, but the names of the most popular in modern Russia headwear borrowed from foreign languages- as, of course, and the dresses themselves. The “hat” was borrowed from French back in the Middle Ages, the “hat” came to us from German language simultaneously with the return of Peter the Great from his famous European voyage, and the “cap”, of course, is nothing more than a Russified English cap or German Kappi (in turn, borrowed from Latin). As for the truly Russian headdresses, of them, perhaps, only the kokoshnik is known to the general public for certain - in its many varieties, but above all the one that the Snow Maiden and Vasilisa the Beautiful wear without taking off, coupled with the inevitable light brown braid to the waist. And the older generations, probably, will only imagine the Orenburg shawl, which actually spread in the European part of Russia only in the 19th century.

Meanwhile, in pre-revolutionary Russia, there were no less than fifty types of traditional headdress - primarily, of course, women's - and the variety of bizarre styles, shapes, materials and decorations is one of the most interesting pages in the history of Russian costume and Russian fashion in its true, popular sense. Unfortunately, this page has not yet been written: a separate monograph exploring the history and geography of the Russian headdress does not yet exist, despite the fact that many eminent Russian ethnographers were engaged in it - as an integral part of the costume.

Variety of women's headwear

Since ancient times, girls have had a metal hoop as a headdress. Temporal rings and forehead metal ornaments were attached to it. Each Slavic tribe had its own, special ones: bracelet-shaped among the Krivichi, seven-lobed among the Vyatichi, spiral among the northerners, etc. Sometimes archaeologists even determine the boundaries of the settlement of certain tribes by the types of temporal rings. Such rings were fastened at the temple to a metal hoop or even woven into the hair, put on a ring on the ear, etc. Of the festive attire, even then the girls had a kind of kokoshnik, a bandage, (“brow”) and a crown, and of the decorations - temporal rings, a headband, pendants, plaques, buckles.

The female headdress of a married woman assumed a complete "covering" of the head. In the X-XI century, this is a kind of head towel, which was wrapped around the head, the so-called povoi. Somewhat later, such a canvas will be richly decorated and will become a trim. In the XII-XV centuries, women from the rich and noble classes use a whole combination of several dresses: a warrior, an ubrus and, on top, a kichka or beanie with fur around the edges (especially in winter). The front part of the kiki later becomes removable and gets the name of the ochelya (although according to some historians, the ochelye could have existed before, and dressed directly on the povoy). The ochelie is especially richly decorated with pearls, beads, etc. In women, jewelry was no longer attached to the hair (as was the case with girls), but directly to the headdress. At first, these were various temporal decorations, and by the 14th-15th centuries, cassocks became the most common.

Less rich and noble women in the 11th-12th centuries and later often wore magpies and less expensive ubruses, without richly decorated kichka. As for scarves, they began to use it as an independent women's dress somewhere from the 17th century. Then he begins to displace the robes and head towels, becoming the main dress.

Symbolism Mokosh

From the symbolism of the World Duck Mokosh, sitting on the top of the withers of Veles-Baal, the national headdress of Russian women, the kokoshnik, got its name. In pre-Petrine Rus', the kokoshnik existed in the boyar environment and below, and with the advent of Peter I, it remained only in the merchant and peasant environment and so lived until the 19th century.

The name "kokoshnik" comes from the ancient Slavic "kokosh", meaning chicken or rooster. The kokoshnik was made on a solid base, decorated on top with brocade, braid, beads, beads, pearls, for the richest - with precious stones. Kokoshnik (kokuy, kokoshko) is made in the form of a fan or a rounded shield around the head, it is a light fan made of thick paper, sewn to a cap or hair; it consists of a removed headman and a bottom, or a headman and a hair, with a descent behind the ribbon. Kokoshnik is not only a women's headdress, but also an ornament on the facades of buildings in the Russian style.

On fig. Kokoshniks, from left to right: 1 - kokoshnik of the Arzamas district of the Nizhny Novgorod province, Russian Museum; 2 - Russian kokoshnik; 3 - Russian kokoshnik with the image of Makoshi, stylized as a bee; 4 - a large helmet made of bronze, Etruria (7th century BC), National Museum "Villa Giulia", Rome.

The shape of the kokoshnik resembles a crown in front, and a duck on the side. Numerous Russian words of the same root also lead us to the latter meaning: coca, coco - an egg, kokach - a pie with porridge and eggs, kokosh - a mother hen, kokish - the first regular feathers of a goose wing, for writing, kokotok - a finger joint, kokova - knob, upper tip, head, carved decoration on the ridge of the hut, copper heads on sledges, cart goats, etc.

Rice. The development of the image and symbolism of the kokoshnik, from left to right: 1 - the Slavic god Veles with a duck-Makosha on his head; 2 - Egyptian goddess with two birds on her head; 3 - King Khafre (Chefren) (mid-26th century BC), Egypt; 4, 5 - Russian kokoshniks.

The presented figure shows the development of the image and symbolism of the Russian kokoshnik. First, we find a deep religious mythology hidden in the image of the Makoshi duck, located on the head of Veles. In the image of Veles, the duck directly sits on his head. Next, we see an Egyptian goddess wearing a headdress made from two birds. One of them spread over the head, starting to form the back canopy of the kokoshnik - an elegant magpie (note that the bird's name has been preserved). Another bird in the nest continues to sit on its head. In the image of King Khafre, the first bird has already turned into a simple magpie canopy, and the upper one has slid closer to the king's neck. On Russian kokoshniks (4 and 5), the headdress has almost completely lost its bird features, but the symbolism itself has remained. The shape of the nest, which is formed by the cap-headman, also remains. The silhouette of the duck resembles the very front of the kokoshnik. In section 4, we also see that top part The kokoshnik resembles a bird spreading its wings down - on its head. Kokoshniks end with a back part - forty.

Another Russian national headdress, the kichka, also drew its symbolism from the stellar Slavic religious cult of the Makoshi duck (Pleiades constellation), located on the head (nape) of Veles (Taurus constellation).

Rice. The development of the image and symbolism of the kichka, from left to right: 1 - Veles in a horned and circular headdress with a star-duck-Makosha in the center; 2 - Egyptian god in a horned headdress and with a circle; 3, 4 - on an Egyptian fresco, the horns turned into two feathers of Maat (Makoshi) with the sun inside; 5 - Russian kichka, Tambov province (19th century); 6 – pattern fragment; 7 – Scythian-Koban figurine from Dagestan (6th century BC); 8 - horned kichka - a wedding headdress of a Cossack-nekrasovka (beginning of the 19th century); 9 - horned Makosh, Russian embroidery; 10 - Russian kichka.

The figure clearly shows the development of the image of the Slavic god Veles, holding a Makosh duck with a nest on his head. On fragments 3 and 4, the horns turn into feathers (ostrich), which symbolize the Egyptian Maat (Russian Makosh). There is a pattern on the kichka (5), which is shown on a larger scale in fragment 6. It is completely similar to the Egyptian two feathers and the sun between them. For the dating of the Mokosh cult, see paragraph 5.3.3.1. ch. VI. We only note that the oldest sculptural image of Mokosh is dated to the 42nd millennium BC. and found in Rus', in the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region. Therefore, we have the right to attribute the origin and development of the cult of Mokosh in Rus' to the Slavs, and consider the Egyptian use of this Slavic cult of Mokosh-Maat as its continuation, brought to the Nile Valley by proto-Russian settlers. The Protorians brought to Egypt the cult of the Slavic god Veles-Baal, whose horns turned into two feathers in Egypt.

It was this filling, corresponding to Slavic religious mythology, that the kichka carried. This Russian headdress imitated the horns of a cow, which symbolized the fertility of its mistress. Horned kichka was worn by young married Russian women, changing it in old age to a hornless one. Slavic married women for a long time(to this day!) the way of tying a scarf was preserved, when its angular ends stuck out on the forehead in the form of small horns. They also imitated the horns of a cow and symbolized the productive period in a woman's life.

Note also that in Russian and others. Slavic embroideries Makosh has always been depicted and is depicted as horned. “Horned” is also called the two moose-calves accompanying her. This is Lada and Lelya, reflecting the cosmic essence of the Slavs, they are on starry sky- Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

All of the above also applies to other traditional Russian headdresses - hats with earflaps, scarves and scarves.

Rice. The development of the image and symbolism of a hat with earflaps (third and fourth words) and a scarf (far right).

In particular, the word "shawl" comes from the Russian "field", which is the original patrimony of Mokosh. The etymology of the word "kerchief" directly comes from the name of Makoshi. Academician B.A. Rybakov derived the name of this goddess from the Russian mokos, where the first syllable means "Mother", and the second - "lot, fate, fate." Since Makosh contains both the Share and the Nedolya, the scarf - the diagonal part of the whole shawl-field (clothes, towel) - corresponds to the Share and fertility. What in the dictionary of V. Dahl is confirmed etymologically, for example, mowing chickens. foal. The Russian word kosous refers us to a duck with an oblique wing - a carpenter, a shelf rolled out in gooseneck, a cornice.

Coca - this is what they call in Tver an incomplete cob, a spindle with an open yarn, and a chiseled stick for winding threads and weaving belts and lace is called a bobbin. This again brings us to the symbolism of Mokosh, whose attributes are the spindle, threads and the weaving process.

In addition to the thread of life associated with the duck and its laid egg, Makosh also spins the thread of death. The latter meaning is also enshrined in words with the root cook: cock, cock something - beat or smash, clap, hit, cock someone - lower. tamb. beat, beat with fists, kokshila - a fighter, a bully, cocoon someone, cocoon - beat; kill to death, deprive of life, cokov - cool and harden, harden, freeze, freeze, kokoven sib. or kok-kokoven - a cold, from which everything ossifies, ossifies, numbs.

By the way, here we have come to the etymological concept of the meaning of the word bone - root ko- + suff. -st = "Makosh / fate / basis is."

To summarize:

Thus, we came to the conclusion that the headdress in Rus', as well as in other territories of the spread of Slavism (Europe, pre-Semitic Greece, Sumer and Egypt):

1) was a Slavic religious cult object;
2) reflected the cosmic symbolism of the Slavic religion, namely, the location of the constellation Pleiades-Makoshi-duck (who patronized Rus', in particular Moscow), at the withers of the Taurus-Veles-bull;
3) symbolized the fertility phase of Slavic women;
4) if the dress contained elements similar to horns, then they symbolized Veles;
5) the rest of the headdress symbolized the Makosh duck and its nest.
This purpose of headgear in most cases remains to this day.

Reconstruction of ancient women's headdresses

Vladimir kokoshnik, early 20th century.

Headdress of a meryanka, a resident of the Alabuga settlement of the 7th century. n. e.

Kostroma women's festive dress - "tilt". (Galich Mersky)

Mari women's headdress "shurka"

Udmurt women's headdress "aishon"

Erzya women's headdress "pango"

Women's headdresses in the paintings of artists

K.E. Makovsky

M. Shanko. Girl from the Volga, 2006

A.I. Korzukhin. Hawthorn, 1882

M. Nesterov. Girl in a kokoshnik. Portrait of M. Nesterova 1885

K.E. Makovsky. Boyar at the window with a spinning wheel

K.E. Makovsky. Portrait of Z.N. Yusupova in Russian costume, 1900s

A.M. Levchenkov. hawthorn

05.01.2017

The headdress in Rus' was an integral part of the women's wardrobe. Hair was necessarily braided, and the head was covered depending on social status. A headdress could say a lot about its owner - her marital status, status in society, and territorial affiliation.

Girlish attire

A girl's braid could be made by a metal hoop attached to the back of the head, with temporal rings and various forehead decorations.

But a hoop covered with fabric, decorated with embroidery, plates, beads, pearls and stones was called a crown.

Usually crowns were worn on holidays and at weddings.

The hoop and the crown are the transformations of the wreath, which is well known to us - the oldest girl's jewelry in Rus'.

The female headdress in Rus' was organically connected with the hairstyle and complemented it.

The headdress was completed with embroideries, pearls, flowers. Armbands were worn mainly by peasant women, more often they were worn on holidays, and sometimes at a wedding - instead of a crown.

Attire of the married

After marriage, women completely covered their hair, and the more multi-layered the headdress was, the more prosperous its owner was considered.

One of these hats was kick (kichka) - high female attire, consisting of a back of the head - a cloth covering the shoulders;

povoinika - fabric twisted around the head;

the headman - the frontal part and the headband - pearl mesh or fringe.

Boast - walk with your head held high.

Magpie was considered one of the richest headdresses and consisted of a large number of parts, from 8 to 14.

The basis for the dress was the kichka, the back of the head and the magpie itself, which was an elevated crown.

The magpie was called a sazhen if it was sheathed with precious stones and winged if ribbons with ties were sewn to it from the sides.

Decorations for such decoration were artificial flowers, beads and jewelry.

"If you look at the back of a woman's head in this dress, it's like looking at a sitting bird with bent wings", - wrote the Penza author Krotkov at the end of the 19th century.

povoynik- a scarf or towel, which was previously worn under the kitch to cover the head. However, walking in the same dress in public was considered bad manners.

To remove a headdress from a married woman in Rus' was considered a terrible insult. Hence the expression "goof off", that is, to remain with an uncovered head.

A festive warrior was sewn from silk, satin or velvet and decorated with beads or precious stones.

History of the kokoshnik

The history of the kokoshnik is full of secrets and mysteries - Dmitry Savitsky believes. And no one knows the exact time of the appearance of this headdress.

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