Folk costumes of Russia. Costumes of the Russian people

National clothes are part of the culture of the people. It is formed depending on the characteristics of the climate, world outlook and the kind of people's activities. Every nation must know its past and its traditions. In many countries, national clothes are used on holidays and at home, and in Russia very few people know how our ancestors dressed. When talking about traditional clothes, most people represent a woman in an embroidered shirt, kokoshnik and sarafan. Yes, and most of them are familiar only from the photo. Folk costumes, in fact, were very diverse. On them it was possible to judge the social status of the owner, his age, marital status and occupation. People's costumes of Russia were different depending on the geographical location. For example, only in the north wore sarafans, and in the southern regions over the shirt was worn poneva.

The history of national Russian clothing

Basically, folk costumes of Russia since the 18th century have been studied. Many clothes were preserved in museums, private collections and in ordinary village houses. From works of art, you can also find out what the costumes of Russia looked like. Pictures from old books give an idea of the traditions and culture of the people. About the same as dressed our ancestors earlier, we learn from the fragmentary information from the annals, archaeological excavations or from fairy tales. Archaeologists in bitterness restore not only the style and coloring of the clothes of people from burials, but also the composition of the fabric and Even embroidery and decorations. The scientists found out that up to the 18th century both peasants and boyars dressed alike, the differences were only in the wealth of fabrics and finishes. Peter the First forbade the boyars to wear traditional clothes, and from that time it remained only among ordinary people. In the villages traditional Russian costume was spread as early as the beginning of the 20th century, though they were dressed up only on holidays.

What made clothes in Russia?

Since ancient times in Russia, for the production of costumes, natural fabrics have been used: cotton, linen, hemp cloth or woolen sheepskin. Painted them with natural colors. In most areas of Russia , red was the most common. In richer families sewed clothes from expensive imported fabrics, for example, silk. In addition to the fabrics used fur, sheepskin and skin. For warm clothes used also woolen thread from sheep and goat hair. The folk costume of Russia was very richly decorated. Drawing on the fabric and embroidery could make a gold or silver thread, trim the dress with beads, precious stones or metal lace.

Features of national clothes in Russia

1. The outfit was multilayer, especially for women. On the shirt they put on a burlap ponone, on top a "cuff" or an apron, then an apron.

2. All clothes were free cut. For convenience and freedom of movement, it was supplemented with rectangular or oblique inserts.

3. All the costumes of the Russian people had a common obligatory element - the belt. This The detail of clothing was used not only for decorating or holding clothes. Ornaments on the belts served as an amulet.

4. All clothes, even everyday and working, were decorated with embroidery. It was sacred to our ancestors and served as a defense against evil spirits. By embroidery, you could learn a lot about a person: his social status, age and belonging to a particular kind.

5. Folk costumes of Russia were sewed from bright fabrics and richly decorated with braid, beads, embroidery, sequins or patterned inserts.

6. An obligatory element of both men's and women's clothing was a headdress. In some areas in married women it was multilayered and weighed about 5 kilograms.

7. Everyone had a special ritual clothing, which was more ornate decorated and embroidered. She tried not to wash and put on several times a year.

Features of the costume in different areas

Russia is a huge country, so in different regions people's clothing was different, often even significantly. This can be seen well in the ethnographic museum or in the photo. Folk costumes of the southern regions are more ancient. Their formation was influenced by Ukrainian and Belarusian traditions. And, in spite of common features, in different areas they could differ in the color of embroidery, the style of the skirt or the features of the headdress.

The popular women's costume in the south of Russia consisted of their canvas shirt, which was worn with a puff - a swinging skirt. In some areas, instead of the ponies, they wore an andorak skirt - a wide one, gathered in a belt on a braid or elastic band. A high apron and a cuff were put on top. Obligatory was a wide belt. The headdress consisted of high kicks and magpies. The clothes were richly decorated with embroidery and patterned inserts. The brightest colors were used in the costumes of the Ryazan province, and the Voronezh masters embroidered their shirts with black patterns.

Traditional women's clothing from other regions of Russia

A female Russian suit in the middle lane and in the North consisted of a shirt, sarafan and apron. For sewing clothes, expensive overseas fabrics were used there, for example, silk, satin or brocade. Shirts were richly decorated with bright embroidery or patterned inserts. Sarafans could be sewn from slanting wedges, with a seam in front or from one fabric. They were on wide straps or with a shoulder strap. They decorated them with braid, lace, hanging buttons.

The headdress of women in these regions consisted of a kokoshnik and a kerchief. Often they were decorated with pearls or beads. In the North were also distributed short heaters and long fur coats from natural fur. In different areas, craftsmen were famous for some needlework. For example, in the Arkhangelsk province, luxurious embroidery and lace were known, Tver province was famous for its gold embroidery, and the Simbirsky outfits were distinguished by a large, beautifully decorated kokoshnik.

Male Russian costume

It was less diverse and almost did not differ from residents of different regions. The basis of his was a long, often knee-length, shirt. Its distinctive feature was the neckline on the neck from the left edge, sometimes skewed. These shirts were called "kosovorotka." But in many southern provinces the notch was Direct.

Pants were most often narrow, sewed with crotch for easy movement. They did not have pockets and fasteners, they were held by a braid called "trash". Most often they were from simple linen monophonic fabric or from thin wool to a narrow strip. In some areas, for example, among the Don Cossacks, broad red, or blue bloomers were common.

An obligatory element of the men's costume was a wide belt, which, apart from its protective significance, had also practical application: various necessary trifles were tied to it. In the central strip of Russia and in the North, vests were also worn, put on top of the shirt. On the head, men wore a soft cloth cap, and at a later time - a cap.

Folk shirt

This is the main element of clothing of all Russian people, regardless of gender, age or social status. The differences were mainly in the fabric from which it was sewn, and in the richness of the ornaments. For example, a children's shirt was made most often from the old Clothes of parents and had a minimum of embroidery. In many areas, children under the age of 12 did not wear anything else. All the national costumes of Russia necessarily included this garment.

Features of folk shirt

1. Cover it was simple, free, and it consisted of direct details. For convenience, the gusset was inserted under the arms.

2. The sleeves of the shirt were always long, often such that they closed their fingers. Sometimes they were too wide. In such cases, special bracelets were worn to support them on the seam.

3. All the shirts were long. In men, they often reached the knee and were worn over their pants, and in women they could be up to the floor.

4. Often women's shirts sewed from two parts. The upper was made from a more expensive fabric, richly decorated, and the lower one - a simple and cheap homespun material. This was necessary in order that it could be whipped and washed or replaced with another, as this part was more worn out.

5. Shirts are always richly decorated with embroidery. And this was done not only for decoration, these patterns protected the person from evil spirits and evil eye. Therefore, the embroidery was most often located on the hem, collar and cuffs. They also covered the breastplate of the shirt with an ornament.

6. There were a lot of rubies for a person, for all occasions. The most elegant - ceremonial - were worn only a few times a year.

Sundress

This is the most common women's clothing in the middle lane and in the north of Russia. They were worn until the 18th century in all classes, and after the Petrine reforms it remained only among peasants. But in the village until the middle of the 20th century, the sarafan was the only smart clothes.

It is believed that this garment in Russia began to be worn in the 14th century. At first the dress looked like a sleeveless dress, worn over the head. Later they became More diverse. And in some areas, sarafans called a wide priborennuyu skirt, worn under the chest. They were sewn not only from homespun canvas, but also from brocade, satin or silk. The sarafans sewed stripes of colored cloth, braid and satin ribbon. Sometimes they were embroidered or decorated with applique.

Kinds of sarafans

1. A tunic-shaped deaf earskin sarafan. It was made of one cloth of cloth folded in half. The neck was cut in a fold, and a few wedges were inserted from the sides. They were simple not only in cut: they sewed them from homespun cloths - canvas, fine cloth or wool. They were decorated along the hem, the collar and the armhole with pieces of bright kumach.

2. Rapid kosoklinny sundress appeared later and became more common. He wore their 3-4 cloths and decorated with patterned inserts, satin ribbons and embroidery.

3. In recent centuries, a popular open sarafan has become popular. It was made of several straight canvases of light matter. He looked like a skirt priborennoy on the chest with two narrow straps.

4. The less common kind of sarafan is a variety of straight, but sewn from two parts: skirts and bodice.

What else were women wearing in Russia?

In the southern regions of Russia, instead of a sarafan, they put on the overcoat over the shirt. It is a skirt made of three woolen fabric sheets. We weaved the fabric of the house, alternating woolen and hemp threads. This created a pattern on the tissue from the cells. The ponies were decorated with fringe, brushes, sequins, and the younger the woman, the brighter her skirt was decorated. It was worn only by married women, and the figure in it seemed not so harmonous, as in a sarafan, since they often released a shirt on their waists, which hid the waist line.

Over the ponies put on an apron, which was called a "curtain" or "zapon". He was sewn from a straight cloth of cloth bent in half with a hole for the head cut in the bend. The apron was beautifully decorated, decorated with stripes of patterned cloth or braid.

In the cold season, they wore quilted brocade from brocade or satin with cotton lining and often trimmed with fur. In addition to fur coats they wore a "scribe" - warm clothes made of cloth.

Embroidery on folk clothes

The people were very strong in the power of Nature, in gods and spirits. Therefore, to protect all things decorated with embroidery. She was especially important in ceremonial festive clothes. But there was a lot of embroidery and ordinary folk costume of Russia. Its drawing was located more often on the hem, collar and cuffs. Embroidery also covered the seams of clothing, sleeves and breastpiece. Most often, geometric figures, solar symbols, signs of land, fertility, birds and animals were used. Most of all embroidery was on women's clothing. And it was located in tiers: on the hem of the symbols of the earth, seeds and plants, often black, and the top of clothing decorated with images of birds, animals, sun and stars, made with red thread.

Recently, more and more began to talk about the revival of native traditions and Russian culture. And many people are interested in folk costumes in Russia. Photos in the network increasingly imprint modern people in national dress.