Vologda national costume. Summer suit of the Vologda province. Leather pistons, bast sandals
Costumes-images are costume compositions typical for each region, compiled taking into account the available museum and literary materials.
Illustrations from F.M. Parmon "Russian folk costume as an artistic and constructive source of creativity" and brief descriptions. The graphics are so-so, but the difference between the regions is shown very clearly.
Arkhangelsk shower warmer suit
Shirt made of raspberry damask. The collar, neckline and chest slit are adorned with gold and silver thread embroidery, black beads and sequins. Woolen "guns" are laid along the edge.
Skirt from canvas.
Sundress from raspberry jam. Hinged, trimmed with brocade and metal buttons along the fastener line.
soul-warming satin, finely mottled chintz lining.
Kokoshnik.
Handkerchief.
Arkhangelsk suit with a mottled sundress
White canvas shirt trimmed with lace at the bottom of the sleeves
Sundress motley, in a red-black-and-white checkered, laid in folds at the top.
Apron from motley, with a woven ornament. One-sided folds are laid along the upper cut.
Outerwear- jacket made of white half-cloth homespun.
Girl's bandage.
Handkerchief from factory calico.
Vologda suit with silk sundress
Shirt from white muslin, gathering at the neck and bottom of the sleeve.
Sundress made of silk damask lined with chintz and canvas. Fastening with air loops and metal buttons. Decorated with stripes of yellow brocade along the clasp.
silk shawl with jacquard pattern.
Headdress - " borushka".
Outerwear- sweater. When expanded, it is a circle. The back is laid in tubular folds. 
Vologda printed canvas sundress suit
Shirt from white canvas. On the line of the shoulders and along the bottom - patterned weaving, around the neckline - tucks, collected on the facing of red fabric.
Sundress with straps. Made of blue canvas with a printed pattern.
Woven belt with tassels, from red garus.
Headdress.
Handkerchief from white homespun canvas. The edges are decorated with patterned weaving and gathering.
Sheepskin coat with embroidered ornaments.
Moscowsuit with red sundress
canvas white shirt with red straight lines. Red fabric trim.
Sundress red, open. Colored fabric trim.
Kokoshnik.
Handkerchief.
Bast shoes.
Moscow suit with blue sundress
Red shirt with long sleeves. Decorated with patterned weaving.
swing sundress with button closure.
Apron with fringed bodice.
Kokoshnik.
Bast shoes.
Nizhny Novgorod suit with sundress
Shirt white, decorated with white embroidery.
Blue silk sundress lined with bouquets of flowers. Gray calico lining. The bottom is embroidered with gold fringe.
"Fridge", quilted on wadding. Finished with gold embroidery and fringe.
soul-warming with sleeves.
Handkerchief.
Leather boots on lacing.
Smolensky pony suit
Shirt with a decorative placket along the slit.
Poneva from fabric in a cage, below - a strip of red satin.
Apron with an ornamental insert-embroidery.
sleeveless shirt made of white fabric, lined with homespun cloth. Decorated with pieces of leather with fur.
headband- guns.
Bast shoes.
Smolensky suit with sundress.
Shirt with red and yellow embroidery.
Motley sundress in a yellow-red cage. The sewing line of the release on the bodice has a frequent assembly.
Outerwear from cloth.
Belt.
Headdress - hoop.
Handkerchief.
Bast shoes.
Tambov suit with skirt
Shirt with oblique polka from printed chintz.
Skirt from seven sheets.
Headdress - magpie.
cashmere shawl.
Bast shoes oblique weaving.
Kursk pony suit
Shirt with straight polykami from kumach. Neck assembly. The decorative seam on the sleeve is a continuation of the front line of the polik.
swing poneva. Worn "with poking", the ornament is located on the wrong side. Plaid fabric, embroidery with woolen threads and sequins.
Apron with a chest strap is decorated with red calf stripes and a braid.
Cap.
Shawl.
Zipun from homespun cloth.
Bast shoes.
Kursk suit with sundress
Shirt with long sleeves. Gathering "on edge" at the neck. Decor - red cross-stitch and lace superimposed on red calico.
Woolen wedge sundress.
Apron- veil, hinged at the back.
Woolen sash belt
Headband.
Leather shoes.
Tula pony suit
Shirt. Finishing - patterned weaving.
Blue poneva in a cage, the bottom is decorated with colored ribbons and patterned weaving.
Apron with bodice.
Girl's bandage.
Shuspan from white homespun cloth.
Bast shoes with onuchs.
Tula suit with sundress
Shirt on the shoulder line is decorated with patterned weaving. The sleeve is straight, gathered at the bottom into assemblies, fixed with a cuff.
Sundress from factory printed cotton fabric, the bottom is trimmed with white factory lace.
Girl's bandage.
Bast shoes with onuchs.
Kaluga suit with sundress
Shirt with slanting polykami and long sleeves. Embroidery with pale pink threads.
Kosoklinny sundress- "Chinese", on a canvas lining. Imitation of a swing sundress. Finished with red fabric.
Woven belt.
Horned kichka, chokhry(headband).
Bast shoes.
Kaluga pony suit
Shirt with straight strips of calico, decorated with patterned weaving. The cuffs are trimmed with colored silk ribbons.
Poneva from fabric in a large cage.
Apron with a breast, from motley. Decorated with patterned tack, colored lace.
Headdress: horned kitty, bows(headband), mohair(headband), ear pads.
Bast shoes with onuchi.
Now you can hide from the sweltering heat within the walls of the Vologda Kremlin. Here in the museum of local lore there is a curious exhibition "Golden Grain of Traditions", which tells about the Vologda crafts.
How did our ancestors dress? What household items did you use? You can see objects recreated by the hands of modern craftsmen who study and preserve ancient traditions.
By the suit, one could determine the marital status of a person, his financial situation, and even from which district of the Vologda Oblast he came. - told Komsomolskaya Pravda Dina Telenkova, one of the authors of the exhibition, a teacher at the embroidery studio of the Vologda Murals studio. - All the clothes presented at the exhibition are recreated from the festive costumes of the inhabitants of the Vologda region, preserved in the archives of the local history museum.
It turns out that the drawing used by the folk in a costume can tell a lot about its owner. So, for example, a tree was depicted on women's costumes, more often in pregnant women. The chicken was embroidered on the clothes of married women. White swans - unmarried girls ...
Each girl had several costumes. So, for example, going to the evening, the girl took with her a whole bundle of clothes and changed clothes several times during the evening, demonstrating outfits, as well as her ability to weave, sew and embroider.
Looking at this costume, we can say with confidence that it was worn by a resident of the Totemsky or Babushkinsky district. The embroidery technique that decorates the sundress and apron in this suit is called "tambour". It is more common on the things of the inhabitants of these areas.
Such dark shirts made of coarse fabric were worn in the Gryazovets region. And it's a festive shirt! A woman could wear this on the first day of haymaking, harvesting and on a big holiday. The shirts-haymakers are characterized by a fully decorated camp. In this case, the decoration is a heeled fabric, which was manually stuffed by craftsmen onto the canvas.
Such patterns on the collar and sleeves of the shirt distinguished the inhabitants of Nikolsk. We see half-swastikas. It was believed that such a pattern catches the eye and averts the evil eye. So clothing, in this case, acts as a talisman. The swastika symbol itself symbolizes the perpetual motion of the universe.
Here we see a wedding apron-curtain. A blue sundress was worn by unmarried girls preparing for a 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.
The figure of this apron depicts a horned frog. 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. It took Dina two months to embroider such an apron.
Costume from Totma. The fact that he is later tells us a short sleeve, as well as a cross-stitch pattern. Such patterns were drawn on the wrappers of Bokkar soap. The hostesses simply copied the drawings from the wrapper and transferred them to clothes.
The decoration of this costume has a female pattern - a rhombus with a dot. It is a symbol of the month and the woman. Perhaps it was the costume of an unmarried girl who could potentially give birth, or a young woman.
Late costume, late 19th century. This is evidenced by the shirt on the yoke.
At one time in Rus', straight sundresses and slender women were in fashion. Over time, ideas about female beauty have changed, and, accordingly, the costume has changed. With the advent of European fashion for magnificent forms in Russia, peasant clothing adopted some of its elements. This is evidenced by the large number of folds on the sleeves, which imitate the puffy sleeves of urban fashionistas.
The costume is typical for the eastern regions of the Vologda Oblast. This is evidenced not only by patchwork inserts, but also by the characteristic weaving on the sleeves of the shirt.
In addition to costumes, at the exhibition "Golden Grain of Traditions" in the Vologda Kremlin, you can see examples of folk painting, lace, patchwork quilts, and birch bark products.
The exhibition is open until September 1st. After its closure, some of its exhibits will be available for purchase from the authors.
The Vologda folk costume includes a "sleeve" shirt, a sundress, and a headdress. A shirt made of white muslin is an old festive outfit for women and girls. The shirt on a mouth and a sleeve on a bottom are gathered. Shirt front, chest slit. The sleeve is shortened in length.
Silk sundress, made of ornamented damask. Stripes of yellow brocade run along the clasp, the clasp is made with air loops and metal buttons. The sundress is made on a lining of chintz and canvas.
Headdress - "borushka", one of the types of kokoshnik.
Shoes - leather ankle boots with lacing and heels.
The costume touches the figure mainly in the area of the shoulders and thus hides the structure of the figure, creating an impression of fluidity and grandeur. Silhouette images express the dynamics of the form of the costume.
Ornamented fabrics add decorativeness to the costume. Color sound is achieved by using related-contrasting colors. The costume is built on a combination of green-blue and yellow colors, complemented by golden-silver and white-pearl shades.
Plasticity and combination of colors, the texture of the decorative solution create the image of a festive costume.
Vologda suit with a sundress made of canvas with a printed pattern
The costume is built on a combination of red, blue, white and black colors. The elements of the uniform are coordinated in the costume according to the principle of contrast. The places where the decor is concentrated are the lines emphasizing the forms, and constructive lines - the neckline, the lines of the shoulders, the bottom of the sleeves of the shirt, the upper edge of the sundress.
White canvas shirt. On the line of the shoulders and on the bottom of the shirt - patterned weaving and crochet trim.
Sundress with shoulder straps in printed canvas, navy blue background, rosette pattern printed with white and orange oil paint. The upper cut is sheathed with a calico and a variegated row. Ornamental floral and geometric motifs of a sundress, shirts are laconic, interconnected according to the rules of ornamental rhythm and symmetry.
Red-and-white woven belt with tassels, an ornament in the form of comb-shaped rhombuses from a red garus. The length of the belt is 250 cm. It completes the formation of the plastic and color solution of the costume.
Headdress - kokoshnik - from a collection of embroidered headdresses that existed among the peasants of the Vologda region in the 18th - early 20th centuries. Shoes - leather boots with elongated tops, lace-ups and high heels.
The kokoshnik and shoes, combined with clothing, constitute a single closed system of the Russian folk northern costume, which was complemented by a scarf made of white homespun canvas with a red ornament, worn over the kokoshnik.
A peculiar folk costume of the Vologda province is a real storehouse of ideas. The costumes of various counties are a source of invaluable information that can be applied in modern fashion.
peasant shirt
The formation of the folk costume of the Vologda province, which stretched from the Sukhona River to the Pechora and the Northern Dvina, was influenced by the gradual settlement by Russians of vast territories of the northern lands, which took place starting from the 11th-12th centuries: Novgorodians were advancing from the west, and people from Vladimiro were advancing from the south. -Suzdal and Moscow Rus'. An essential factor for the development of the northern provinces was trade with Holland and other Western European countries, which was carried out through the White Sea. Being engaged in various crafts, the peasants of the northern provinces took their goods to large fairs, where they then bought fabrics and decorations from visiting merchants, which explains the presence of velvet, brocade and silk in the folk costume.
The main forms of the folk costume of the peasant women of the Vologda province did not differ from the forms characteristic of the clothes of the North of Russia. As a rule, linen canvas served as material for shirts (archaeological finds, 
dating from the Neolithic era (II millennium BC), discovered in the Vologda region, confirmed the antiquity of the cultivation of flax) or wool. As elsewhere in Rus', the favorite clothing in the Vologda land was a shirt, the feature of which was puffy sleeves gathered below the elbow. In some suits, complex and multi-patterned embroidery on shirts looks especially impressive against the background of the dark smooth fabric of a sundress, in others, the soft and calm tones of this embroidery are perfectly combined with the multi-colored satin ribbons sewn along the front of the sundress.
The special beauty of this costume, in which the proportions between the ornamental details and the shirt as a whole are striking, was created under the influence of the centuries-old culture of decorating clothes. It is also necessary to note the surprisingly logical arrangement of embroidery in relation to the constructive lines of the cut. Hems of shirts were often embroidered with a cross and only with red threads. Cotton threads had a thick pink color, and linen threads were red-brown. First they were dyed red, and then boiled in linseed oil for strength. Judging by the details of the upper part of the shirt, kept in the Vologda Museum of Local Lore, it was often made of striped or checkered motley and decorated on the sleeves, collar and shoulders with a geometric woven pattern or stripes of calico.
By the end of the 19th century, there were changes in the cut of shirts: they began to be made on a yoke and with round inserts at the collar. In the Velsky and Veliky Ustyug counties, on girls' shirts, a strip of red 2-3 cm wide was sewn to the collar, and a strip of patterned weaving with a red thread was sewn below the red. This decoration gave the impression of a round coquette and was called "chubby".
And to the feast, and to the world
In all counties of the province, sarafans straight in shape were widespread. Until the 19th century, sundresses were usually sewn from woolen plain homespun fabric, blue canvas or purchased blue calico. The favorite fabric for making straight women's sundresses was blue canvas with a white or yellow floral pattern.
The cut of the Vologda costume with a sarafan-clinic, narrow at the top and freely diverging downwards, and a shirt with long sleeves gave the female figure harmony and majesty.
The cut and arrangement of the decor of the skew-wedge sundress of the early 19th century arose under the influence of women's boyar clothing of pre-Petrine times. 
(feryazi, padded jackets, fur coats). By the middle of the century, it becomes straight, pleated and is sewn from both smooth and patterned fabrics. Although the panels of the pleated sundress were cut in a straight line along the top line, when sewn they bent under the weight of the fabric, forming two arcs diverging from the center of the back. However, assemblies were not always used: sometimes they were small, neatly laid folds, stitched several times. These clothes were distinguished by noble simplicity of lines and rich play of folds. The blue canvas sundresses of the Nikolsky and Veliky Ustyug districts were very wide along the bottom line, but the width of the hem was hidden, since its excess on the back was laid in small folds from the inside and fastened with strips of braid. Often sundresses got their name from the fabric from which they were sewn: kumachniks, satin, cashmere, mottled and abivalyshki, as well as tanning (from the word to tan, i.e. paint) and sandals (from sandal color). Among the most common home-made fabrics was variegated, which was made from linen yarn with the addition of cotton.
Sometimes sundresses were tied with belts with pockets embroidered with gold thread and glass beads.
Apron, shugai and others
The apron ("bib") is another important element of women's clothing, which differs from the usual apron in length and in that it is tied not at the waist, but over the chest, as evidenced by the very name "bib". The patterns of Vologda aprons and shirts reflect pre-Christian 
ancient ornamental motifs. Aprons from the north-east of the province are especially diverse in ornament and technique. From embroidery with archaic long-necked horses and human figures with rhombic-shaped heads, it breathes deep antiquity.
But the Vologda land is famous not only for embroidery, it has been and remains the center of northern hand weaving. It is characterized by an inclination towards small-scale development of weaving patterns, combined into larger shapes - rectangles, squares, stripes. The decor of woven aprons, decorated with ornaments around the entire perimeter, represents a single closed composition.
Shoulder clothing - shugai - was sewn with elongated sleeves and a turn-down or standing collar. This type of clothing has several more names: "epanechka", "trumpet", "magpie". The back of most shugai is detachable, with dense rollers arranged vertically and formed thanks to the tow inserted inside, which was hidden by the lining, or with deep smoothed folds. In addition, in the Vologda province, dushegrei were worn - a type of clothing in the form of a cape on the straps, which was worn on a sundress so that the front floors covered the entire chest. The back of the dushegrey was designed similarly to the shugai. Sometimes folds were laid around the entire perimeter.
On Vologda soil, they also wore a ponitka (ponitka) made of semi-woolen homespun fabric, decorated with braid and weaving.
Coats made of light silk with squirrel fur appeared in women from families of wealthy peasants. They were sewn long, narrow at the bottom, with long sleeves and folds down the back.
"Job" and Koruna for rent
Headdresses in the Vologda province, as elsewhere, were divided into girls' and women's. Girls' festive ones were made from a rectangular strip of silk, which was fixed on a solid base of birch bark or several layers of paper connected with bread glue, with a ribbon on the back of the head, which was called a "bandage". The betrothed girls attached a circle - “temnik” to the bandage. In Solvychegodsk and Velsk counties, brides put on a knitted cap (up to 40 cm long) under a bandage, in which they hid a braid.
During wedding ceremonies, a “koruna” was put on the head. Sometimes there was one “koruna” for the whole volost and it was rented, most often paying with grain.
Festive girls' and women's dresses were made of brocade, velvet and silk. When leaving the house, silk scarves were put on the headdress. Of the women's headdresses in the Vologda province, the most common were "collections", also called "boyar kokoshnik", "zdorovka", "hat", "borushka", "bush". In addition, "warriors" and "tatted" were worn almost everywhere. The head was covered with "jambs" - triangular scarves.
Northern feet
Shoes in the Vologda province were not much different from the shoes of most Russian provinces. The most common type of summer shoes were closed bast shoes - northern feet (or barkers, birch bark). In some counties there were boots woven from birch bark and bast, with a high top. They also wore cats, boots and other types of leather shoes. In winter, in severe northern frosts, they put on felted shoes - felt boots known to everyone. Despite the commonality of many details of the Russian folk costume, the costume of the Vologda province has its own distinctive features: here each county created its own, unique image. The characteristic differences of Russian folk clothing: its expediency, proportionality of proportions, the organic connection of the decor with the cut, the correspondence between the properties of the fabric and the created form are the most valuable material and a source of inspiration for contemporary artists.
Clothing as a cultural phenomenon
Clothing is the creation of culture. It arose in the process of separating man from nature. Man created it to protect itself from cold, heat, rain and wind. But gradually it acquired not only practical significance.
From the depths of centuries, a saying came to us: "They meet by clothes ...". In the old days, it was enough to look at a person’s clothes to determine who he was by nationality, where he came from, what class and age group he belonged to. Clothing also made it possible to judge the material well-being of people and their marital status. This became possible because she is a carrier of information. It reflects social relations, national traditions, artistic tastes, moral values.
By clothes, you can form an opinion about its owner even now. Only the "signs" that it contains have become more difficult to decipher. Cultural boundaries between peoples and social groups are gradually blurred. In addition, in choosing the manner of dressing, a person today is more free than before.
The history of clothing is closely connected with the history of the people. Petrine reforms of the late 17th - early 18th centuries. had a strong influence on everyday material culture. It was the duty of the nobility to dress according to the European model. Following him, representatives of the third estate - the townspeople and merchants - gradually began to master the new costume.
The peasantry became the guardian of national traditions in clothing. This happened because there were no fundamental changes in the way of life of the peasant.
Separate details of peasant clothing form a single complex. All elements of this complex: upper and underwear, shoes, headgear - are interconnected, and each of them matters only as part of a single whole.
The traditional clothing complexes of the East Slavic peoples (Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians) have developed a very long time ago. The costume in the folk environment changed slowly, so the clothes of the peasant for a long time retained such features that were characteristic of her back in the Middle Ages.
The basis of the women's and girl's costume was a shirt, underwear. Its name comes from the old Russian word "rub" - a piece, a segment.
Woman suit.
Shirt
Shirts in the North were made of linen. They could be solid (from one piece of canvas folded in half) and composite (from several pieces).
The upper part of the composite shirt, up to the waist (chest, shoulders, sleeves), was called a "collar" and was sewn from bleached patterned canvas or purchased fabric, and the lower part - "stand" (hem) - from coarse canvas. There was a longitudinal slit (collar) on the front of the shirt. It was taken under the skin, but could also have a stand-up collar (necklace). Wedge-shaped or rectangular-shaped inserts on the shoulders widened the upper part of the garment so as not to restrict the movement of the arms. Shirt sleeves, depending on local traditions, could be both wide and narrow. In place of the armpits, square pieces of fabric were inserted - gussets. They were an element of both women's and men's clothing. The collar, hem, bottom of the sleeves - those parts of the shirt through which the naked parts of the body (legs, arms, head) were opened - were decorated with ornaments. Finishing served as a talisman, had to protect a person from evil spirits. In some places in the Vologda province, parts of the shirt (collar, chest, shoulders, sleeves) were sewn from fabric of different colors.
Particular attention was paid to the design of ritual clothing, which was worn on the first day of cattle pasture after a long winter (Yegoriev's day, April 23/May 6), on the first day of haymaking (Petrov's day, June 29/July 12) and on the first Harvest day ("zazhinki").These three days were important labor holidays.It was believed that the well-being of the peasant throughout the year depended on them.
For a long time in the Russian North, shirts with sleeves up to two meters long (“long sleeves”) were used as festive and ritual clothing. These sleeves were gathered in horizontal folds or had slits for threading hands.
Later, in such a shirt, during the wedding ceremony, the bride said goodbye to girlhood (“beauty”). And the shirt was called "weeping". She was sewn as a bride on special days to endow her with magical protective power. In the ritual lamentations of the bride it is sung:
... embroidered for three nights.
On the first night - Christ's,
In a friend's night - in Ivanovskaya,
On the third night - Petrovskaya.
Christovskaya is the night of Christmas (December 25 / January 7), Ivanovskaya - on the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24 / July 7), Petrovskaya - on the eve of the day of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29 / July 12).
The clothes in which the bride performs wedding ceremonies and walks down the aisle were attributed healing properties, so she was used in the future, at especially important moments in her life.
The costume of girls and boys up to three years old (and sometimes until a later age) was limited to a shirt. Entering the time of youth, young people already had a traditional set of clothes.
Sundress
The usual idea of a Russian women's costume is associated with a sundress and a kokoshnik. The word "sarafan" was first recorded by Russian written sources in the second half of the 14th century. It is of eastern origin, borrowed from Persian through the Turkic languages, where serapa meant "long honorable robe". In Rus', this was originally called men's clothing like a narrow and long caftan. In the XIV-XVII centuries. it was worn by princes and boyars.
A complex of women's clothing with a sundress became widespread in Russia at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. This complex, in addition to a sundress, included a shirt, belt, apron. It could also be supplemented with headdresses - a bandage, a warrior, a kokoshnik or a crown. At first, sundresses were worn by women of all classes. After the nobility switched to a European-style dress, they became the clothes of women from a peasant, merchant or craft environment. Dresses resembling sundresses were worn by noblewomen only when it was necessary to demonstrate patriotism - or when there was a fashion for "folk" motives.
The simplest definition of a sundress is long women's clothing with shoulders or straps, worn over a shirt. But in terms of cut, sundresses could be of different types.
The earliest type of this clothing is a kosoklinnik. It is called so because oblique wedges were inserted into the sundress from the sides. For such a sundress, brocade, thick silk and other heavy fabrics were used. On the front, along the seam, it was decorated with rows of metal buttons and gold braids.
Brocade and silk skew-wedge sarafans were complemented with an epanechka, a short blouse without sleeves and a collar. She repeated the shape of the upper part of the skew-wedge sundress and was also on the straps. In cold weather, a sundress was worn over a sundress, a swing sweater up to the waist or to the middle of the thigh. Soul warmers were both on straps and with sleeves. Tubular folds on the back, extending from the waist, gave them special elegance.
A suit with a skew-wedge sundress expanded the silhouette downwards, giving the woman's gait lightness and smoothness. But in order to acquire them, funds were needed. Therefore, this type of clothing in the XVIII-XIX centuries. only wealthy peasant women could afford to wear them.
Another type of sundress is simpler in shape and more like a high-waisted skirt. It is called straight or round. Such a sundress was sewn from straight panels of fabric, gathered on the chest under the lining, on the shoulders, like a skew-wedge, it was held by straps. In the popular mind, his appearance was associated with the influence of Moscow fashion. It was easier to sew a round Moscow sundress than a wedge one. For everyday wear, sundresses were sewn from motley.
In a traditional women's suit, the waist is not marked. This was facilitated by the cut not only of the sundress, but also of the apron.
Apron
In addition to a shirt and a sundress, an apron was a necessary part of a peasant woman's costume (both everyday and festive). There were several types of aprons. The earliest form is the zapon. Such an apron looked like a linen cloth covering the shoulders and the front of the body up to the knees. A cutout was made in the cloth for a rectangular or oval head, as well as armholes. Sometimes sleeves were also sewn to it. Such aprons were worn by peasant women of Kirillovsky, Cherepovets, Ustyuzhensky counties.
Another type of apron was called a "curtain". Such an apron was a long panel of fabric on a lining with ties. With the help of these strings, it was fastened above the chest, under the armpits. In the XIX-beginning of the XX century. curtains were common in Velikoustyugsky, Kadnikovsky, Kargopolsky counties.
From the end of the 19th century the apron, an apron, fastened at the waist, is also becoming widespread in the villages of the Vologda province.
The main purpose of aprons is to protect clothing from contamination. But they also performed a decorative role in the complex of clothes of a peasant woman. They were decorated with embroidery, stripes of colored fabric, garus, dimensional lace. Festive aprons were especially colorful.
Belt
A belt was considered an indispensable attribute of clothing for both women and men. According to ancient ideas, walking without a belt was just as sinful as without a cross. To ungird a man meant to dishonor him. It was believed that the belt protects from all misfortunes. He presses the clothes to the body and thus retains heat. But he also has a magical function: he is able to protect against forces that harm people.
Belts were worn on both underwear and outerwear. Only sometimes (so as not to wrinkle the fabric of a sundress, for example), women limited themselves to girdling their shirts.
According to the manufacturing technique, belts can be divided into several types: braided, woven and knitted. The greatest distribution in the North in the XIX century. received braided and woven belts made of woolen and linen threads. There were different ways of weaving belts: on a special board, on a fork, along the wall, using a bottle. The ends of the belts were decorated with colored tassels, pendants, embroidery, beads, and foil. Bells were often hung from the belts of children. Their ringing was supposed to scare away evil spirits.
Hats
An integral part of the traditional folk costume was the headdress. It was considered possible to do without it except in childhood.
Embroidered with gold, woolen threads, pearls or colored stones, women's headdresses were expensive, worn with care, passed down from generation to generation.
Women's headdresses corresponded to their marital status. The girls wore bandages in the form of strips of brocade, silk, velvet fabric lined with canvas. In width, they could be from 5 to 25 cm, and in length up to 50 cm. This headdress was worn on the forehead or crown and tied with ribbons under a scythe at the back of the head. At the back, two blades of heavy fabric (brocade, silk) or two multi-colored ribbons descending along the back were sewn to it. In the northern provinces, bandages were embroidered with gold threads, pearls, beads, glass beads. They were attached to the bottom of beads or pearls, hanging on the forehead. The bandage was often supplemented by a kosnik - an ornament made of elegant fabric on a canvas or cardboard base, woven into a braid. Usually braids were in the shape of a triangle, heart or bow.
The girl braided her hair in one braid. This meant that she was not yet married. The scythe was considered a symbol of girlish honor, just like a beard - a man's. Pulling the girl's braid meant insulting her.
The betrothed girls in the Totemsky and Veliky Ustyug counties put on an “honest cap”, a special kind of hat made of chintz and red velvet, embroidered with gold threads, on the bandage. From the end of the 19th century hats were knitted.
In addition to bandages, betrothed girls in the Russian North wore crowns (they were also called crowns and kennels in some districts). In the Vologda province, they were common until the end of the 19th century. The basis of the crown is a wide hoop made of birch bark or cardboard glued with canvas. It had a heart-shaped shape, and "towns" (teeth) went along its upper edge. These "towns" made the crown look like a crown. The front side of the crown was decorated with gold fringe, pearls, chopped mother-of-pearl, colored glass, and foil. Ribbons were attached to the ends of the base hoop. They were tied under a scythe at the back of the head. In such a headdress, worn over a girl's bandage, the bride got married, and then sat at the wedding feast.
Married women were required to cover their heads. According to popular beliefs, hair is the focus of vitality. They symbolize material wealth. Therefore, the people said: "How much hair - so much wealth." Uncovered hair could bring misfortune, cause the death of the crop, bring trouble to loved ones. A woman with loose hair gave reason to suspect her of having connections with evil spirits, with witches and mermaids. To “goof off” a woman, to tear off her headdress meant to dishonor her.
Having married, a woman braided two braids and put on an old headdress - a kokoshnik. By design, it was a cloth cap with a high solid band. But, corresponding to such a design, kokoshniks at the same time could take on different shapes. So, in Tarnoga they were a round cap with ruffles in the frontal part and were called borushki. In Kargopol, they were made on a solid base with ears and a triangular protrusion above the forehead, resembling a horn. In Solvychegodsk, the kokoshnik was given the shape of a cow's hoof. In the Kadnikovsky district, these headdresses were often decorated with openwork weaving in the form of a light net of freshwater pearls or chopped mother-of-pearl. The headdress of the women of Belozerye had a solid front part (ochelye) in the form of an isosceles triangle or crescent, and it was called the Belozersky cap. And in the western counties, married women wore kiki - soft hats with a solid triangular headband or cylindrical hats with a flat top and small lobes that covered their ears.
All varieties of kokoshnik are festive headdresses. On weekdays, married women wore a warrior, a cloth cap covered with a scarf.
The headscarf became an important part of the headdress of girls and women in the 18th century. It was worn not only with a warrior, but also with a kokoshnik. And the end of the XIX century. it became so widespread that it could already be considered the main headdress of peasant women. Types of scarves, their colors and ways of tying were varied. Festive ones were distinguished by elegance, bright patterns. Casual - plain or plaid - looked more modest. Scarves were tied around the neck not only by women, but also by men.
Clothing and hats for men
In men's traditional clothing there was no such variety as in women's. throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. peasants in the North wore a shirt-kosovorotka and ports.
The men's shirt was cut in much the same way as the women's. Only it was a little shorter. It was called a kosovorotka, because it had a section of the collar going vertically downwards on the left side. The collar was fastened or tied with buttons or ribbons. A shirt with a slit on the side, and not in the middle, better protects the chest from the cold. According to experts, this type of men's shirt appeared no earlier than the 15th century. Perhaps this is a trace of the influence of the clothes of the Mongols. They wear a men's shirt over trousers and pull it together at the waist with a belt.
Shirts could be from both homespun and factory-made fabrics. Everyday ones were sewn from linen, and festive ones from satin, chintz, satin, calico, and calico. They were most often decorated with embroidery along the collar, along the cut on the chest, on the wrists of the sleeves, and sometimes along the bottom.
Ports, usually not wide and not long (just below the knee), were sewn from canvas, motley, heels, and cloth. Pants were tucked into onuchi or boot tops. The upper, waist part of the ports was bent inward. It turned out a wide scar, hollow inside. A cord or belt was pulled through it, which was called a gashnik. A simple rope could also be used as a damper. Often, however, gashniks became an element of clothing decoration. They were woven in the form of a braid from linen, woolen, cotton threads, giving them colorfulness and elegance. The change in fashion in men's suits occurred faster than in women's, since in the late XIX-early XX centuries. many men went to work in the city. There they were influenced by urban culture and returned to the village in different clothes. Influenced by urban fashion at the end of the 19th century. ports began to be sewn from factory dense fabric. Smart pants were usually plush (from velvet-like cotton fabric with pile). Around the same time, a manner of wearing them outside appeared. At the same time, a jacket, vest and cap appear as festive men's clothing. Both men and women considered it necessary to wear galoshes on leather shoes in any weather.
The traditional headdress for men for spring, summer and autumn was a hat with a low crown and narrow brim. Hats were rolled from sheep's wool. They are usually black or brown in color. Their shape could be different: with a round, cone-shaped and cylindrical top, with and without an interception in the middle of the crown.
The usual men's headdress in the northern village of the XIX century. there were also hats made of felt (felt boots, yarmulkes). They had the shape of a truncated cone, about 20 cm high, with lapels tightly adjacent to this cone.
By the end of the 19th century, a cap - a cap with a high band, a round flat top and a hard visor - became a widespread men's headdress.
Winter hats for both men and women were hats made of thick fabric (cloth, velvet, plush) with fur lining and fur trim. Such hats were sewn without headphones. But treukh, a sheepskin hat with a round top, had not only two fur headphones, but also a blade that covered the back of the head and neck.
Hands from the winter cold were protected by mittens - cloth, leather, fur. Unlined leather mittens in the Vologda province were called golits, and knitted from sheep's wool - varegs and mittens. Crocheted from linen or cotton threads and embroidered, foxcloths (gloves) belonged only to the festive costume.
Men's and women's shoes
Bast shoes were worn all year round - both in winter and in summer. They were comfortable for work, for walking on roads, over rough terrain, through the forest. Natural material was used for their manufacture, which was not difficult to obtain. Bast shoes could be woven by yourself or bought for a small price.
Before putting on a bast shoe, the foot and lower leg were wrapped with a strip of white canvas on the foot. In winter, for warmth, they added another onucha, cloth. On top of the onuch, a long rope was wound crosswise - obora.
Its middle part was passed through the loops on the back and sides of the bast shoes. The ends were tied under the knee.
They tried to give an elegant look to bast shoes under festive clothes. Using narrow strips of bast, simple patterns were woven. A multi-colored braid was passed between these stripes. The bast was sometimes dyed, and the rope upholstery was replaced with leather, wicker, and woven ones. Of course, mainly not men's, but women's bast shoes were decorated.
Boots appeared in Ancient Rus'. But until the middle of the XIX century. for most peasants, they were less familiar than bast shoes. And they were considered shoes not everyday, but festive. They were kept and used only a few times a year. Boots were worn mostly by men. Festive leather shoes for women from wealthy families were half boots with a top to the middle of the calf - with elastic, buttons, laces. They were usually worn with white stockings.
Another type of elegant women's shoes were cats. So called deep shoes with thick soles and wide heels. They had round noses and high backs. Cats were decorated with embossed leather, embroidery and beads. They, like half boots, were worn with stockings - white or colored. A sign of panache at the same time was to lower the stockings from the knee to the ankle with an accordion.
Valenki (kataniki) as winter footwear became widespread among the peasantry by the end of the 19th century. Prior to that, they were worn only by wealthy people.
Outerwear of peasants
The main type of both men's and women's clothing was zipun - a long-brimmed double-breasted caftan made of cloth with a wide smell. It was fastened from right to left with buttons or hooks. But the fasteners could be absent, and the floors of the clothes were kept only by a belt - a rope or a sash. They wore zipuns in spring and autumn. Everyday zipuns were sewn from gray or black homemade cloth. For festive occasions, factory-made fabrics of a higher quality in blue or black were bought. Zipuns for everyday wear often did not have collars. The festive ones could have low standing collars.
In the eastern districts of the Vologda province, there was such a type of outerwear as azyam. It was a straight-cut caftan with long, wide sleeves and ankle-length hem. Azyam also had a large collar, which in inclement weather was raised and tied with a scarf. In such clothes they went on a long journey.
In winter, sheepskin coats served as outerwear for the peasants. Sheepskin is a dressed sheepskin. It was tanned, impregnated with a solution of oak, willow or some other tree bark. From this, it became softer and more durable, and also acquired a red-brown, orange or black color. To get a white sheepskin, it was soaked not in a tanning solution, but in bread kvass (sometimes with the addition of salt).
In terms of cut, a short fur coat is a swinging garment with fur inside with a stand-up collar and floors slightly below the knee. If it was sheathed on top with a cloth, it was called covered. If such a skin was not made, then naked.
Costume details in beliefs and rituals
Clothing and shoes were given great importance in beliefs and rituals. When cattle were driven out to pasture for the first time after wintering, they were forced to step over a belt or belt lying on the ground. It was believed that after that he would not go far from home. An old bast shoe hanging in the chicken coop was supposed to help the hens lay more eggs.
It was believed that the things of the parents have miraculous power and are able to protect the little person from the troubles that lie in wait for him. In Nikolsky district, for example, a newborn boy was swaddled in his father's shirt, and a girl in her mother's shirt. And children's shirts were sewn from old parental ones. This was done not only because the fabric on them was softer than new. Such a shirt also became a talisman, helped to avoid misfortunes. The same meaning was acquired by clothes inherited from parents.
In Totemsky district, during the wedding ceremony, the bride gave the groom her worn scarf. This gift was supposed to "dry" the groom, along with him some of the qualities of the bride passed to the groom.
A fur coat was an indispensable "participant" in the wedding ceremony. Thick fur, according to folk beliefs, symbolizes wealth. Contact with him should provide the newlyweds with material wealth. Young people were seated on a fur coat during the “bratchina” (wedding feast). In fur coats turned inside out, the father and mother of the groom met after the wedding a new married couple on the threshold of their house. The young woman asked: “Father and mother, why are you hairy?” They answered: “Because you are furry, so that you live richly.”
N. A. Ivanitsky
Fashionistas
The change in national costumes is mainly influenced by the proximity of cities and towns. In suburban villages, not only are original and often beautiful headdresses and sundresses abandoned, but women and girls are no longer content with silk head scarves, a skirt with a blouse and a coat. They buy satin, velvet and straw hats with feathers and flowers in shops, sew tight dresses for themselves and put on drape burnouses. It is impossible to look at half-witted brides and young women without laughter and compassion when they come to the city to ride in barege dresses and straw hats with multi-colored feathers and figure in this costume around the city for two or three hours, despite the blizzard and frost. The mania for dressing up comes to the point that the father of the family sometimes sells a cow or a horse so that his daughter-bride can sew for herself a silk dress, usually blue or apple green.
