Slavic folk costume is not only our national treasure, but also a source of inspiration for modern clothing modeling and for creating stage images in different genres and types of art, and is a vivid embodiment of folk art.
Whole clothing items of the 9th-13th centuries has not survived to our time, and the found remains of clothing and jewelry are the main source. In addition to archaeological data on the clothing of the Eastern Slavs of this period, several pictorial sources give the most complete picture.
We will consider the main details of the clothing of the ancient Slavs, and a number of protective ornaments decorating these clothes. Of course, much of the following is controversial and requires much more detailed study, but …
So, "They meet by their clothes …".
Looking at a person, one could say for sure: what kind of tribe belongs to, what locality he lives in, what position in society he has, what he does, what age he is and even in what country he lives. And looking at a woman, one could understand whether she was married or not.
Such a “visiting card” made it possible to immediately decide how to behave with a stranger and what to expect from him.
Today, in our everyday life, “speaking” details of clothing and even whole types of costume have been preserved, which can only be worn by a member of a certain gender and age or social group.
Now, when we say “odeja,” it sounds like vernacular, almost like jargon. Nevertheless, scientists write that in Ancient Russia, it was "clothing" that was used much more often and wider than the term "clothing", which was familiar to us at the same time.
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What did the wardrobe of the ancient Russians consist of?
First of all, clothes were strictly divided into casual and festive. It differed in both the quality of the material and the colors.
In addition to the simplest and coarse fabrics, there were many finely woven fabrics, both local and imported. Of course, the quality of clothing depended on the well-being of its owner - not everyone could afford expensive imported silk fabrics. But wool and flax were available to all segments of the population.
The fabric was painted with natural dyes - leaves, roots, flowers of plants. So oak bark gave brown color, madder roots - red, nettle when dyed hot - gray, and when cold - green, onion peel - yellow.
Since the times of Ancient Russia, “red” has been beautiful, cheerful, and therefore festive, elegant. In Russian folklore, we find expressions: "spring is red, a girl is red, beauty is red (about the beauty of a girl)." The red color was associated with the color of dawn, fire, all this was associated with life, growth, the sun-world.
White. Associated with the idea of Light, purity and sacredness (White Light, White Tsar - king over kings, etc.); at the same time - the color of Death, mourning.
Green - Vegetation, Life.
Black is Earth.
Gold - the sun.
Blue - Sky, Water.
Gold embroidery has long been known. The ancient Kievites wore clothes with a lot of gold embroidery. The oldest known - Russian gold embroidery was found by archaeologists in the mound of Prince Cherny (near Chernigov), and dates back to the tenth century.
Interesting fact:
Among the Slavs, it is widely known that the first clothing of a person affects his subsequent life. Therefore, a newborn was often accepted in a shirt, sewn by the oldest woman in the family, so that he inherited her fate and lived a long time; in an old unwashed shirt of his father, “so that he would love him,” and for diapers they used parts of the clothes of adults so that the child would certainly inherit their positive qualities
The ancient name of clothing was among the Slavs "portishche" - a cut (piece of cloth); hence the word "tailor" - a person who sews clothes. This name lasted in Russia until the fifteenth century.
The shirt is the oldest, most beloved and widespread type of underwear among the ancient Slavs. Linguists write that its name comes from the root "rub" - "piece, cut, piece of fabric" - and is related to the word "cut", which once also had the meaning of "cut".
Another name for a shirt in the Russian language was "shirt", "shirt", "srachitsa". It is a very old word, related to the Old Icelandic "serk" and the Anglo-Saxon "sjork" through common Indo-European roots.
Long shirts were worn by noble and elderly people, shorter ones - by other classes, since, unlike the measured and unhurried life of princes and boyars, the everyday life of the working people was filled with hard work and clothes were not supposed to hinder movement. Women's shirts reached to the heels.
Men wore a shirt for graduation and always with a belt. Hence the expression "unbelted" - if a person did not put on a belt, then they said that he was unbelted. Festive shirts of the nobility were made of expensive thin linens or silks of bright colors and decorated with embroidery. Despite the conventionality of the ornament pattern, many of its elements had a symbolic character, they seemed to protect a person from another evil eye and misfortunes.
The jewelry was “mounted” - removable: richly embroidered with gold, precious stones and pearls. Usually, ornaments of protective motifs were embroidered on shirts: horses, birds, the Tree of Life, plants and floral ornaments in general, Lankans (emphasis on “and”) - anthropomorphic characters, images of Gods … It should be noted that sometimes the embroidered parts were changed from an old shirt to a new one.
The collars of Slavic shirts did not have turn-down collars. Most often, the incision at the collar was made straight - in the middle of the chest, but there was also an oblique, right or left.
The embroidery, containing all kinds of sacred images and magic symbols, served as a talisman here. The pagan meaning of folk embroidery can be traced very well from the oldest samples to quite modern works, it is not for nothing that scientists consider embroidery an important source in the study of ancient religion.
The dress of the Slavs was sewn on narrow straps and resembled a semicircle, due to the large number of wedges that greatly expand the hem.
We do not wear sundresses nonh
We have losses from them:
You need eight meters of calico, Three spools of thread …
Slavs-northerners preferred the traditional red color. The central part of Russia mainly wore a one-color blue, paper, purchased material for their sundresses or a motley (cloth, similar to a mat). The lower part of the front seam and hem were decorated with stripes of silk ribbons and stripes of patterned fabric.
The first mention of a sarafan, or sarfan, dates back to 1376 in the Nikon Chronicle. This word originally denoted the subject of a man's suit. Mention about men's sundresses is found in old songs:
He is not in a fur coat, not in a caftan, In a long white sundress …
Before the Peter's decrees on the obligatory wearing of European clothes in cities, sundresses were worn by noble women, noble women, townspeople, and peasant women.
In the cool season, a soul warmer was worn over a sundress. It, like the sundress, expanded downward and was embroidered with amulets along the bottom and armhole. Dushegreya was worn on a shirt with a skirt or over a sundress … The material for the dushegreya was taken more dense, and velvet, brocade were sewn for the holiday, and all this was embroidered with beads, bugles, braid, sparkles, and ribbon.
The sleeves of shirts could reach such length that they were gathered in beautiful folds along the arm and at the wrist they were seized with a braid. Note that among the Scandinavians, who at that time wore shirts of the same style, tying these ribbons was considered a sign of tender attention, almost a declaration of love between a woman and a man …
In festive women's shirts, the ribbons on the sleeves were replaced by folding (fastening) bracelets - "hoops", "hoops". The sleeves of such shirts were much longer than the arm; when unfolded, they reached the ground. Everyone remembers the fairy tales about the bird girls: the hero happens to steal wonderful outfits from them. And also the tale of the Frog Princess: waving her sleeve down plays an important role in it. Indeed, a fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it. In this case, it is a hint of ritual women's clothing of pagan times, clothing for sacred rites and witchcraft.
A belt in Slavic outfits was present in both women and men.
Slavic women wore woven and knitted belts. The belt is long, with embroidery and fringe at the ends, tied under the bust over a sundress.
But since ancient times, belt belts have been one of the most important symbols of male prestige - women have never worn them. Let's not forget that almost every free adult man was potentially a warrior, and it was the belt that was considered almost the main sign of military dignity.
The belt was also called the "girdle" or "waist".
Wild tur leather belts were especially famous. They tried to get a strip of skin for such a belt right on the hunt, when the beast had already received a mortal wound, but had not yet expired. Presumably, these belts were a decent rarity, the mighty and fearless forest bulls were very dangerous.
The Slavs wore pants not too wide: on the surviving images, they outline the leg. They were cut from straight panels. Scientists write that the pants were made about ankle-length and tucked into onuchi on the shins - long, wide strips of fabric (canvas or woolen), which were wrapped around the leg below the knee.
Another name for footwear is “trousers” and also “leggings”.
Ports, narrowed at the ankle, were sewn of canvas, noble men wore another one on top - silk or cloth. They were tied at the waist with a string - a cup (hence the expression “keep something in the store”). Ports were tucked into boots made of colored leather, often embroidered with patterns or wrapped in onuchi (pieces of linen), and bast shoes were put on them, into the ears of which the strings were pulled - obor, and they were wrapped around onuchi.
At all times, our ancestors wore bast shoes woven not only from bast, but also from birch bark and even from leather straps. They were thick and thin, dark and light, simple and woven with patterns, there were also smart ones - from a tinted multi-colored bast.
The bast shoes were attached to the leg with the help of long ties - leather "twists" or rope "hoops". The strings crossed several times on the shins, grabbing the onuchi.
“How to weave a bast shoe,” our ancestors said about something very simple and uncomplicated.
The bast shoes had a very short service life. When going on a long journey, they took with them more than one pair of spare bast shoes. "On the road to go - weave five sandals" - said the proverb.
Leather shoes were a predominantly urban luxury. One of the main types of footwear of the Slavs of the VI-IX centuries. there were undoubtedly shoes. In the common Slavic period, they were called chereviks.
Most often, shoes were still worn on onuchi, which men are on top of their pants, and women - right on their bare feet.
The Slavs most likely called the male headdress a hat. For a long time, this very word came across to scientists exclusively in princely letters-wills, where they talked about this sign of dignity. Only after 1951, when birch bark letters were found by archaeologists, and science received an unprecedented opportunity to look into the everyday life of ordinary people, it became clear that not only the princely regalia, but also a man's headdress in general was called a "hat". But the prince's cap was sometimes called "hood".
The best known to researchers are hats of a special cut - hemispherical, made of bright fabric, with a band of precious fur. Stone and wooden idols, preserved from pagan times, are dressed in similar hats, we see such hats on the images of Slavic princes that have come down to us. It is not for nothing that the expression “Monomakh's hat” is used in the Russian language.
There are also preserved frescoes on the stairs of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and a 12th century bracelet: they depict musicians in pointed caps. Archaeologists have found blanks for a similar cap: two triangular pieces of leather, which the master did not intend to sew together.
Felted hats discovered during excavations, as well as light summer hats, woven from thin pine roots, belong to a somewhat later era.
It can be assumed that the ancient Slavs wore a wide variety of fur, leather, felted, wicker hats. And they did not forget to take them off not only at the sight of the prince, but also simply at a meeting with an older, respected person - for example, with their own parents.
A female headdress protects a woman from evil forces - the Slavs believed.
The hair was believed to contain magical life force; loose girlish braids can bewitch the future husband, while a woman with an uncovered head can cause trouble, damage to people, livestock, crops. During a thunderstorm, she can be killed by thunder, as it is believed that she becomes an easy prey and a repository of evil spirits, which are targeted by thunder arrows. The expression "goofed off" meant dishonoring her family.
Before marriage, the headdress (at least in summer) did not cover the crown, leaving the hair exposed. At the same time, the girl's hair was worn out, for show - this was not only not forbidden, but even welcomed by those around her. A kind braid was almost the main adornment of a girl in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia
Little girls wore simple cloth ribbons or thin metal ribbons on their foreheads. Such corollas were made of silver, less often of bronze, at the ends they arranged hooks or ears for a lace that was tied at the back of the head.
Growing up, together with the ponyova they received "beauty" - a maiden's crown. It was also called "wilted" - "bandage", from "willow" - "knit". This bandage was embroidered as elegantly as possible, sometimes, with wealth, even with gold.
Blacksmiths decorated the corollas with ornaments and gave them different shapes, including those with an extension on the forehead, like in Byzantine diadems. Archaeological finds have also confirmed the deep antiquity of the Slavic maiden corollas. A wreath on a girl's head is, first of all, a talisman against the evil eye, evil spirits. At the same time, the circle is also a symbol of marriage, it is not for nothing that when young people get married, they circle the table, for weddings - around the analogion. If a girl had a dream about losing a wreath, she expected trouble for herself. If a girl lost her innocence before the wedding, then she was deprived of the wreath at the wedding, as a sign of shame she could be put on half.
A wreath of artificial flowers and threads was often worn on the hat and the groom, protecting him from wedding lessons (to trample, timed - jinx, spoil). Flowers for the wedding wreath were strictly defined: rosemary, periwinkle, boxwood, viburnum, rue, laurel, grapevine. In addition to flowers, amulets were sometimes sewn or embedded in it: red woolen threads, onions, garlic, peppers, bread, oats, coins, sugar, raisins, a ring. By the way, sprinkling young people with grain and money at the meeting from the crown also carries, first of all, a talisman, and only then a lyrical meaning of a wish for fertility and wealth.
The headdress of a "manly" woman by all means covered her hair completely. This custom was associated with belief in magical power. The groom would put a veil on his chosen one over her head and thus became her husband and master. Indeed, one of the most ancient Slavic names for a married woman's headdress - "new" and "ubrus" - mean, in particular, "coverlet", "towel", "scarf". "Povoy" also means "that which entwines".
Another type of married headdress is kika. A distinctive feature of the kiki was … horns sticking up above the forehead. Horns are the protection of a mother and her unborn child from evil forces. They liken a woman to a cow, a creature sacred to the Slavs.
In the cold season, women of all ages covered their heads with a warm scarf.
Outerwear of the Slavs is a retinue, from the word "twist" - "dress", "wrap", as well as a caftan and a fur coat. The retinue was worn over the head. It was made of broadcloth, with narrow long sleeves, the knees were always closed, and was girded with a wide belt. Kaftans were of the most varied types and purposes: everyday, for riding, festive - sewn from expensive fabrics, intricately decorated.
In addition to cloth, dressed furs were a favorite and popular material for making warm clothes among the Slavs. There were a lot of furs: the fur-bearing animal was found in abundance in the forests. Russian furs enjoyed well-deserved fame both in Western Europe and in the East.
Subsequently, the long-brimmed jackets were called "sheepskin coats" or "fur coats", and those that were knee-length or shorter were called "sheepskin coats".
Everything that we now have - was received from our ancestors, they originated it, and we improved it. We should never forget our history. All arguments about the national idea are meaningless if they are not based on an understanding of the foundation of a given community.
