Kazakh national costume: description and photo

Kazakh national costume is not only a matter of pride of the local population, but also an object of increased attention from both Russians and guests from near and far abroad. What is so unusual about this outfit? And how does it differ from the usual sarafan or kokoshnika?

This article is aimed at telling in details about such an original element of culture as the Kazakh national costume, a photo of which can now be found in any directory or guide dedicated to this corner of the globe. In a simple and understandable form, we will try to answer all questions of interest to readers.

general information

According to experts involved in studying the outfits of different peoples, the Kazakh national costume is a true embodiment of the entire history of this semi-nomadic community.

Of course, over time it changed and improved, and now we can confidently say that it is fully adapted to the conditions of life of both modern Kazakhs and the difficult climate of the region. But that's not all. The fact is that the Kazakh national costume has its own very interesting aesthetics.

Modern materials for manufacturing

Many people know that Kazakhs have long valued tiger skins, saiga and kulan, dark fur martens, raccoon, sable, muskrat and white - ferret and ermine.

Of course, to this day, the most sought after here are products made from marten and sable. By the way, this people from time immemorial owns a variety of techniques for making fur coats.

Kazakh national costume is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Sometimes a stranger does not know what is what. For example, warm sheepskin coats from the skins of large animals are called "tone", but "skins" are made from the skins of small fur-bearing animals. Even now, the local, mostly rural, population often sews outfits from the fluff of swans, herons and eider.

What did people do before?

In the old days, when making fur coats from goatskin, Kazakhs plucked long hairs from them, leaving only the undercoat. Such winter clothes were called "Kilka Zhargak". In addition, from the goat skins suede sued, from which were then sewn pants, robes and even light raincoats.

Fur coats from above always covered with brocade, cloth, silk and so on.

All the coats differed in the type of fabric and its color. For example, only noblemen could wear a fur coat covered with blue cloth, trimmed with beaver. And the most valuable dowry of the Kazakh bride was a fur cape called "bass tone", covered with high-quality silk.

What tools used by local craftsmen

Kazakh national costume was decorated with special silk embroidery. The needlewomen used special hoops when embroidering small patterns, which, depending on the shape of the product and the outline of the embroidered ornament, could be round or rectangular.

Kazakhs have always been great embroidery masters embroidered with a tambour, a loop in a loop, which is carried out by an awl with crochet and needles.

Kazakh embroidered embroidered embroidered headdresses, breast decorations and frills of women's dresses.

Decoration of national costumes of Kazakhs

Kazakh national costume for girls, a photo of which recently quite often found in open sources, was decorated with embroidery smooth. By the way, she was embroidered also with cloth men's trousers called kimesheki.

When embroidering with a smooth face and a tambour, plant and geometric patterns, contour images of animals and people were mainly used. And sometimes embroidery was a whole story.

The value of felt and wool

What else can surprise Kazakh national costume? Photos (women's and men's attire in this case are almost identical) of old times prove that fel, sheep and camel wool were very popular .

Out of felt felt outerwear. Shekpen rolled down from camel's wool - an old fashion. It was a wide long cloak to protect from any weather. The ceremonial Shakedins were rolled out of dyed camel wool with seams embroidered with galloon.

Features of local outfits

In general, the national costume of any community has always been a distinctive feature of these people.

The costumes of the upper strata of the population of this state were characterized by a stronger accent of elegance, using a large number of embroidery and fur rims.

Kazakh national costume is very convenient not only for a feast or some festivity, but it is also great for work, for spending the night in the steppe cold night, and for long riding. Basically it consists of men's trousers or a woman's skirt, a camisole and a dressing gown or a coat on top. The head must have a headdress, which also emphasizes the social status of the wearer.

Clothes for special occasions

I would like to emphasize that there are no cardinal regional differences in different juzes of Kazakhstan among national costumes, although in some places archaic elements are still preserved.

The Kazakhs never had special working clothes. Also there was no border between the festive outfit and everyday, but the dress costume should have been cut more freely, and the decor and hats should have been more voluminous. A festive outfit was made of silk, velvet, brocade and expensive furs, and everyday clothes - from simple and cheaper materials.

Kazakh mourning female attire was an ordinary everyday clothes, from which all the ornaments were removed. At the funeral of a man his wife was supposed to dissolve her hair, and his sisters and daughters to take off their maiden caps and put black shawls on their shoulders. Men at the funeral girded with a 3-4-meter mourning sash made of cotton fabric.

An obligatory element of the Kazakh national costume was the Beldyk belt. It was made of wool, silk, velvet and leather. To the belts of adult men, clinging pendants, cases for a knife and powder flasks also clung. Belts of young men had no suspensions. The belt also had buckles and lining heart shaped in the form of animals. Belts for women's clothing, nur beldyk, usually made of silk, were wider and more elegant. In most cases sewed decorative viscous.

Men's costume of Kazakhs

One of the main elements of the male Kazakh costume is a pointed headdress. It resembles a saki or a cap of ancient Scythians and is called a morak, or ai-urkalpak.

Do the children wear a Kazakh national costume? Photo for boys in this case will look much more presentable than for girls. Why? The thing is that men, regardless of their age, dress not only prettier, but also more functional. For example, men's trousers for the Kazakhs have so-called wedges, represented by special inserts of sheepskin, and are called "shalbar-sim". These elements greatly help with prolonged riding, as they protect the skin from erasure in prolonged migrations. By the way, when wearing sarouars, they are put into boots.

Camisole of Kazakh men is called beshmet. At the waist, he pulls together a waist - sheklan. In ancient times, the caftans were made of leather and painted in bright colors. In the cold season wears a warmed version of a camisole - a scoop.

Kaftan and trousers are worn on underwear, which is made of silk or thin cotton fabric.

An invariable part of any Kazakh costume is a fur coat. And its substitute for poor sections of the population continues to act a long-polished robe of felt, which perfectly preserves heat.

Kazakh shoes for men and women have never been anything special. All wore embroidered boots with a small heel or leather ichigi, which resemble socks or Czechs.

Women's costume of Kazakhs

The female headdress of the Kazakhs is zahulyk. It is made of white silk fabric and got to the Kazakh people from the ancient Turkic tribes.

Once upon a wedding, women wore a special gown on their heads - saukele, which was richly decorated with gold and silver fringes. Sometimes his cooking took a whole year. Girls from good families also wore a borik - a warm hat, trimmed with fur.

The Kazakh women's skirt, white-washed, flings open on two sides. Over her, women wear a robe or a camisole. Sometimes Kazakhs wear a dress with a skirt flared to the bottom - "kulish kojlek" or "jak-kojlek" - a long dress with a turndown collar and a pleated yoke.

A female robe is called a shalan. In winter it is worn with wool lining. By the way, even now girls in Kazakhstan are sometimes wearing a robe of red color for the wedding.

The top women's winter clothing is represented by a fur coat - a coupe. It is made of fox fur and covered with patterned satin.

All kinds of women's clothing were to be richly decorated with lurex, embroidery and all sorts of decorative elements.

Children's clothes

Special popularity and some special popular love is enjoyed today by the Kazakh national costume for a girl whose pattern is quite simple, which means that it can be sewn at home. By the way, recently there has been a tradition of wearing such a dress not only during stage performances, but also on public holidays, when the streets are filled with small Kazakhs in traditional decoration.

How does the Kazakh national costume look like? Photo for girls, as for boys (and unfortunately we can judge from the picture only), do not differ much from adult decorations. In general, he repeats the form and type of clothes of parents, only represented by a smaller size.

The only exception is that the outfit for newborns is ich kojlek. It is sewn slightly elongated, without fringing and shoulder seams, from a single piece of cotton fabric (calico, chintz or paper).

Kazakh shoes

All Kazakh men have long worn leather boots - koksauyr, made of green shagreen. It was obtained as a result of the shedding of millet on the softened skin and pressing it all with some heavy object.

Older Kazakh men wore igich - shoes, which when leaving the house they put on leather galoshes to the cab. By the way, not everyone knows that the ancient Kazakh boots never differed on the left and right and had pointed and bent socks to the top. The most primitive and poor shoes were shocking - rawhide sandals.

Kazakh national costume: photo, female and male style, main features

Traditional dresses of Kazakhstan have several characteristic features. We list some of them:

• Swinging and fitted outerwear, which is plowed on the left side, regardless of the floor.
• High caps, decorated with feathers, precious stones and embroidery.
• Women's dresses are richly decorated with frills, fringed and border.
• There are very few flowers in the ensemble of the costume.
• Clothing is complemented by a kind of national ornament - embroidery, lurex stripes, diaper and various kinds of jewelry.
• Tailoring is performed using leather, fine felt, fur, lamb and camel wool cloth.