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This translation
went through the hands of a few translators before Dragoslava (a local SCAdian with an
interest in Russian and Ukrainian persona) found a translator who
was willing and able to translate the clothing terms - my understanding
is that the book is written fairly technically so she had to spend some
time looking up terms.
Better yet, the translator found it very interesting and expressed an interest
in doing a few more pages from the same book. Yay!
So pages 31 to 39 of
Istori´i`a ukraïns’koho kost´i`uma
Personal Author: Nikola´i`eva, T. O. (Tamara Oleksandrivna)
Title: Istori´i`a ukraïns’koho kost´i`uma / Tamara Nikola´i`eva.
Publication info: Kyïv : "Lybid’", 1996.
Physical descrip: 171 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.
Subject term: Costume--Ukraine--History.
Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-171).
ISBN: 5325004743
-My comments are in red with brackets and
have "NB:" or " sic:" in front of them
-Sofya la Rus's comments from the SIG email group are included in blue
- Katelijne van der Ast's comments on possible dyes are included in green
Kyivska Rus
-The clothes and material were locally made. Archeological findings shoe that
shoes (postoly) and boots were made from leather; woven from plant stems or
the bark of trees; and decorated.
-Information about the clothes come from ancient Kyiven Rus written sources (Sic
from Sue: Kyivan??... but it doesn't match the date for the historical time
period I can guess that she means the area and not the time period) (NB:
and in the book there are bibliographic numerical references ever so often).
The Kozhuch (a fur coat) is mentioned as well as an opancha (Woolen short
Overcoat), velvet and silken materials.
-Other sources of information include the frescoes of the churches which
depict the clothes of the nobility; musicians and hunters dressed in tight
pants and shirts tied with a wide belt (NB:
If anyone has pictures of the musician pictures from these scenes I would love
copies... I suspect these are the scenes in the Saint-Sophia Cathedral in
Kyiv) (Yes. Rabinovich mentions these. I've been looking for them, too. This is the
closest I've gotten so far.
http://www.icon-art.info/location.php?lng=en&loc_id=148)
-Jewelry indicates that there were different social levels in eastern
Slavic society. The original instructors in jewelry making were the Greeks,
however, Rusians became very skilled and produced many unparalleled pieces of
workmanship.
-Local artisans created many forms of decorations. We have artifacts from the
11th - 13th centuries. These include the following items: crown, headpieces,
beads, necklaces, canopy (zapona), buckle for the coat, rings, hoop, etc.
These decorations were formed in realistic shaped of heads of horses, birds,
dragons, or in geometric shapes. The symbol of the sun, a ploughed field or
sown field, hops, tree of life, the horns of the European bison, (NB:
I suspect these are the same symbols seen on the traditional easter eggs and
the period pottery) the sun god - Dazhboh, the goddess of spring,
Medusa, gryphons, were used as well. Later these elements were interrelated
with Christian symbols. (From what I've seen, the designs on easter eggs are much more stylized that the
decorations, although the underlying symbolism is the same. The medusa are on
the back of the round medalions call zmeevik (zmeya means snake in Russian).)
-A peasent man in Kyiven Rus wore a shirt down to his knees, tied with a
leather or woven belt, fairly tight pants (leggings). A steel, comb, small
knife would be attached to the belt. He wore a felt hat, leather shoes (postoly)
and a linen flap for wrapping up feet (onuchi). In cooler temperatures, he
wore a mantle or cloak made of homespun, coarse cloth. During the winter he
wore a sheepskin coat. Men of middle class wore similar clothing, however, it
may have been dyed with brighter more colourful hues.
-The clothing of the women was original and colourful. Both rich and poor
spent time on making/weaving the cloth, sewing and decorating. A peasant
woman, both married and unmarried wore; a long embroidered shirt, a skirt
composed of two pieces of woven cloth. An unmarried woman wore a wreath on her
head, a married women wore a headpiece of long cloth (kerchief). A married
women covered all of her hair, an unmarried might have her hair hanging loose
or braided. They wore leather postoly (slipper style shoes).
-Clothing of the nobility, upper class: was made using expensive local and
imported cloth (from western Europe and the East). The long (under)shirt and
was made of flax (Sic: This is typically
Ukrainian-English translation grammar). The clothing which was worn
over the undershirt was made of silk (from the East), or from strong downlike
clothe woven through with gold or silver threads. (NB:
This is a second reference I've seen to some sort of note worthy cloth made
specifically in the Ukraine... IIRC it's a plant fiber (flax/hemp/cotton) Actually, the quote above doesn't say that the "strong downlike cloth" is of
local manufacture, especially since it's listed with an imported silk. Anyway,
the following quote is strikingly similar:
"The over garment of princesses and boyarinas in 10-13th cent. was sewn of
eastern embroidered silk ("pavolok") or tightly woven vorsistoj (napped) fabric
with gold or silver threads, similar to velvet ("aksamita")... "(Pushkareva89, my
translation)
In Russian, "gustoj" means tight or dense. "Guski" are those fluffy down
earrings. Or perhaps "downlike" in your translation is the equivalent of
"napped" in mine. that
was spun fine enough that the traditional wedding shawl could be passed though
the ring... must go back and find that reference again... I took it to be a
purely 1800's thing - but maybe it's older. I remember reading about such a fabric in a fairy tale when I was a child.
Pushkareva mentions a cotton chiffon so light and sheer that it was called
"cloth of air". I'm pretty sure this was from a paper or a documentary - I recall a picture/film of them pulling through the ring.)
-The women wore a silk
overcoat. The overcoat of an upper class women would be (sic)
sewn from velvet. The collar and seams would be decorated with gold thread. (NB:
Interesting departure from the red thread). (Red thread is traditional for the next-to-the-skin shirt - symbolic of
protection. Red is the color of the sun in Russian poetic imagery, and the
chief old Russian god was the sun god, Perun. Once the undershirt has been
properly guarded, other colors can be used on the upper garments. Besides, red
wouldn't show up very well on dark velvets, and gold is much more "symbolic" of
showing off. ;-)
-Dyes were made from - the red dye from the eggs of grubs; reddish-brown from
the bark of wild apples; blue from cornflowers, blueberries; yellow from the
leaves of the birch tree; yellow-brown from onion peels, bark of oak tree or
pear tree. (NB: I'll have to ask if the
grubs are specifically named) More deja vu:
"Fabrics were dyed mainly with vegetable dyes, but also with animal dyes. Blue
dye was made from son-travy (pasque flower?), cornflower, and
blueberry/huckleberry [Vaccinium spp and Gaulussacia spp, all called
черник in Russian]. Yellow came from blackthorn (?) or droka [a steppe
plant in the bean family, see below], and leaves (or bark sheets?) of birch.
Golden-brown was provided by onion peels, oak and pear bark. Red brown dyes came
from buckwheat, St. John's wort, wild apple tree bark, alder and buckthorn.
(Pushkareva97 and 89) "
As for your "grubby" red:
"Adam Nahlik analyzed 14 fabrics from the Novgorod excavations for evidence of
dyes... His dye list includes: ... lak-dej... and kermes. See discussion below.
(Nahlik)
Kermes - a red dye from the "gnat" Coccus illicis (or Kermes ilicus) living on
oaks (Q. coccifera) and known from ancient times. Brought to Europe from Persia
by the Arabs in the Middle Ages. Such dye was known also to the Ukrainian and
Germans, obtained from a plant louse that lived on the plant Selavantus
perennis. The coloring compound is kermesic acid. (Nahlik)
An article about the ancient textiles found in the Altai Mountains associated
with the Pazyryk culture of 2,500 years ago discusses similar dyes in their
fabric analysis, including Kermes vermilio, a source of kermesic acid. See
lak-dej, below. (Polos'mak)
Further on-line research indicates that the dye known to the Ukrainians and
Germans is probably Polish cochineal, from Margarades polonicus or Porphyrophora
polonica or Coccus polonicus, that feeds on Scleranthus perennis.
Oldest recorded dye obtained from insects that feed on a certain kind of oak.
Called "scarlet" in the Bible. (Brown)
Lak-dej (a transliteration of "lac dye"?) - dye related to cochineal according
to Nahlik. The pigment is laccaic acid and is obtained by a complex chemical
operation. He says that there is some debate on the exact source of this dye.
Some say its from the scale insect Coccus laccae which drinks from the plant
Ficus indicus of Indian, Persian or Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) origin. Others derive
it from the plants Laurencee, Perseacee, and Gascaria madogascariensis Targ
Tozz. (Nahlik)
On-line research indicates that the lac insect is also called Laccifera lacca or
Kerria lacca, and that it feeds on over 160 types of host trees in its native
habitat, but especially Ficus spp, F. religiosa in particular.
An article about the ancient textiles found in the Altai Mountains associated
with the Pazyryk culture of 2,500 years ago discusses similar dyes in their
fabric analysis. They discuss a coccide called Porphyrophora, a source of
carminic acid for dying, and also Kermes vermilio, a source of kermesic acid,
both of which inhabit the eastern Mediterranean. (Polos'mak)
Whatever it's source, "lak-dej" appears in Novgorod fabrics dating to the 13th
century. (Nahlik).)
(There is a polish cochineal which is possibly these red dye making grubs.
The species is called porphyrophora polinica and there is evidence of it being used in dyeing and being gathered from the 6th century and on. it is called vermilicus (like kermes) or coccus or "cremexin menu" in latin texts. Most of Ukraine from the 14th to the 16th century is known for producing it (other places too if you want the whole entry let me know - it's in French though).
It is found on the roots of perennial knawel (Scleranthus perennis) but can be a parasite on many other plants.
It is by no means as good as the cochineal from America - recipes from 15th and 16th C texts Venician texts need 600-800% of it wrt to the quantity of fiber to be dyed (as compared to 7% for American cochineal). Armenian cochineal is just as bad.)
-In the winter the people wore fur clothing, the rich wore fox, beaver, sable,
ermine. Women of the middle class wore squirrel fur. Fur coats were worn with
the fur on the inside. Over time this was considered to be too thick and only
the poorer, the peasants wore their fur coats in this manner. The richer began
to decorate their fur coats (shuba) with velvet and gold thread. These coats
were passed through generations. A sleeveless overcoat was worn in bad weather
to protect them (sic: the decorated shuba).
- Footwear: Peasants made their footwear by weaving the stalks and bark (lychaky)
or from thick hide (postoly). The middle classes wore boots made from horse or
cowhide. In the 10th -13th century the boots had a medium heel and were not
only red, but also green, yellow, and brown. The toes were either rounded or
pointed. Boots were also decorated with multicoloured threads and pears (sic:
pearls). These boots were not for everyday wear. The designs were
circular - solar symbols, suture with dark threads were a symbol for the road,
green threads represented life. (NB:
Again the same symbols seen on the traditional easter eggs and the period
pottery)
-Ukrainian garments of the 14th -18th century are reflected in the
costumes of the Cossack era as worn by the peasantry and the Cossacks.
-The basic was the shirt made of thick, coarse homespun cloth. The man's shirt
was short, tunic style, with a triangular neck. The women's shirt was long,
tunic style, with the shoulder panels inserted. The man's trousers were skinny
made from white or dark cloth, or were wide (sharavary). The women's skirt was
a combination of two narrow rectangular pieces, or from one wide rectangular
piece (NB: like the one I wear).
In Central Dnieper area, women wore two narrow pieces, black or blue, on
weekdays. On special occasions/holidays they wore a multicoloured
"skirt" (plachta) clinched at the waist with a sash. In different
regions, the design of the skirt and sash would differ in colour and design. (NB:
Interesting... I wonder if it follows the same break down of the different egg
styles) (As you probably already know, the regions are usually defined by the Slavic
tribe that originally settled them - Viatichi vs. Polianians vs. Radimichi, etc.
I've read information about how these affected the "skirt" (plakhta/ponova),
beads, and temple rings.)
Women also wore woolen skirts (from Polissia) - a litnyk had a
red background with green, black, yellow, blue, white lines running down the
skirt; - an andarak was a red skirt with ornamentation along the circumference
of the skirt. Another skirt (from Lviv) - shorsh had multicoloured vertical
lines on a white background.
-Dymka was a skirt on which pictures were created by hand. Every region, even
every village had their own design, ornamentation and cut of the skirt. (NB:
this explains a lot) Ornamentation was very important and prominent. It
was done though weaving, stamping, embroidery, application (sic:
Applique).
-Headgear for women was important and a symbol of their status in the family.
A young unmarried women wore a wreath, ring around the head (obruch) or a
scarf around the head which did not fully cover the head. For special the
girls made wreaths of flowers. Married women wore scarves which covered the
whole head. These may have been a long rectangular scarf worn as a hood/cap
fashioned in various forms such as trapezoid, oval, saddle, sickle, etc.
Some of the pictures and copies of the pages are here.
Return to Ukrainian Historical Clothes Page
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