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Some general characteristics of costume in Ukraine
Certain components of Ukrainian folk dress are universal: shirts, skirts, and sleeveless jacket or vest.
Both men's and women's shirts were sewn from homespun and home-woven linen or hempen cloth, polotno. Folk-shirts were long-sleeved, and generally quite lengthy, falling to the ankles or mid-calf. In most regions of Ukraine, men's shirts are worn over the trousers. Both men's and women's shirts have their opening down the center front. The opening edges of the women's shirts are minimally decorated with embroidery, while the men's shirt are more heavily embroidered along both openings, forming a unified design when the shirt is closed.
Skirts are of a wrap-around style and consist of panels. Aprons are worn over the skirt.
Generally, female costumes show greater variety and more elaborate ornamentation than male costumes.
Unmarried women all over Ukraine wore their hair in one or two braids everyday. For work, young women covered their head with a kerchief. When not working, and on special occasions, maidens tied their hair back with a ribbon and inserted flowers into the ribbon on both sides of the head. Or they might cover their head with a wreath of fresh or artificial flowers with multicolored ribbons attached to the back.
During the marriage ceremony, a covering was placed on a woman's
head. From then on she always kept her head covered. A typical
headcovering was the ochipok of the Dnipro Region, a turban-like
wrap that covered the whole head. For special occasions, a married
woman would wear a namitka, a long cloth that was draped and tied
around the head to resemble a wimple.
A Ukrainian scholar, Tamara Nikolaieva, concludes in her
monograph on folk costumes that the Central Dnipro Region is one
of the most important ethnographic regions of Ukraine because
in that area a type of costume was formed that absorbed traits
particular to other regions of Ukraine. This area, including
the Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv provinces as well
as parts of Cherkasy and Kirovohrad provinces, is "the nucleus of the
formation of the Ukrainian people and nation." It is here that the
medieval Kyivan state and the later Kozak state developed.
The following three illustrations of typical Ukrainian costumes exemplify the Dnipro region.
1. Man in Typical Ukrainian Costume
Shirt with embroidered front and open sleeves; sharovary (pants) of blue matte woolen fabric; wide red sash, tied at the side; svyta (outerwear) of brown woolen cloth, trimmed in black cord; gray Persian lamb hat; dark red fine leather boots.
2. Maiden in Typical Ukrainian Costume. Embroidered shirt (design from Kyiv Region); woven plakhta (skirt) and apron; kersetka (vest) trimmed in black velvet; medium-height wreath with ribbons; necklace of genuine coral strands; red fine leather boots.
3. Matron from Kyiv Region.
Shirt, embroidered in satin stitch and cross stitch; woven
plakhta (skirt) and apron; red sash with pom poms; embroidered
ochipok (headcovering); coral necklace with dukachi (silver
or gold coins); iupka (coat) with kovtuntsi (scattered tufts
on the fabric); red fine leather boots.
Contrasting the quintessential Ukrainian dress of the Dnipro region is that of the Hutsul Region which occupies a remote part of the Carpathian Mountains. While adapted to the severe mountain climate and living conditions, Hutsul clothing is nevertheless very colorful and highly ornamented. Most of the year pants and jacket were made of sukno, a heavy, thickly woven woolen fabric, with a felt finish on the right side. The vest is made from sheepskin, with the fur to the inside. Unlike typical Ukrainian vests, the Hutsul vest is shorter, open in the front and not form-fitting.
4. Man from Hutsul Region. Shirt, embroidered in nyzynka (reverse-worked) stitch on the standing collar, down the front, and on the cuffs; pants of home-woven black sukno (heavy wool felt); wide leather belt; keptar (vest) of sheepskin; black felt krysania (hat) with narrow brim, trimmed with a few rows of multicolored cord; serdak (short cloak) of home-woven sukno, ornately trimmed; kapchuri (socks) of home-woven red sukno, trimmed with embroidery; pigskin postoly (footwear) with leather thongs; a topirets' (walking stick/hatchet) in hand.
5. Matron from Hutsul Region. Below-the-knee-length shirt, embroidered in nyzynka (reversed-work) stitch on the sleeves, standing collar, and cuffs; zapaska (two-panelled skirt, with the front panel shorter), woven in horizontal stripes; wide patterned sash; keptar (vest) of sheepskin, trimmed in Persian lamb, and ornamented with fine leather applique; wide (1.5 meter) kerchief, ornately tied around the head; necklace of Venetian and genuine coral beads; heavy woolen socks, trimmed at the top with a design; postoly (footwear) tied with leather thongs.
The above five illustrations are from Ukrainian Folk Costume, Copyright World Federation of Ukrainian Woman's Organizations, Toronto, 1992.
Sources for this report were Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Volume I, page 760, and Ukrainian Folk Costume (click for a review and purchasing information), World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, Toronto, 1992. Thanks also to Tania Diakiw O'Neill for her information and suggestions.
