Ukrainian national clothes: from history to modernity

In national clothes of every country reflected national self-consciousness, it’s esthetic ideal aspirations and values In this meaning Ukrainian national suit is many- sided phenomena. It’s combined features as like Slavonic soul, oriental love of bright colours western note of delicate elegancy.

Ukrainian embroidereies is reflection nation’ s soul

The contest Ukrainian lullabies , poems, and fairy tales piercing by national tonality where the theme of national clothes takes the main place. So the word “ embroidery” is known for everyone from childhood. For example , everybody takes of soul known from childhood: « For small Ivanko fairytale gave vyshyvanku (embroidered shirt)»; «Let’s put on embroidery friend»; « Early in the morning ,at dawn, embroider embroidered shirt etc.

The process of making every elrments of Ukrainians wasnt only hard work but also ritual of self- expression for needle workers. Some art critics consider that women embroidered for decoration own houses, clothes and households things. In reality this process is bit more difficult: during the work through the fingers happens clearince for energatic canals due to it woman renews and fills up with positive energy making by herself goods.

Using special signs for keeping rituals helps that ready clothes becomes carrier of potencial energetic which release for creating some circumstances For example sorceries of weddding shirts and began to act in moment of wedding ceremony and protect e couple till these shirt wont’ tear down so (they were preserved and were wore only on big holidays ). In basic on that is possible to make conclusions that elements of national suits aren’t only functional and nice goods but also but particular carrier our people’s spirituality.

During a lot of centuries girls and young women picked up in somebody’s house one from them and of work and nice song spent long winter evening. The needle workers sewed, spinned and embroidered that with spring coming to decorate house, enrich rainbow patterns dowry and at Easter will get dressed whole family in new, bright clothes. Those vechornytsi (evening meeting of youth where they did some work.) made routine daily work in small holiday, filling up difficult life with beauty.

Traditional Ukrainian clothes: characteristic features and kinds

Characteristic features:

• simplicity of fashion which combined beauty and;
• decoration with huge number of bright decorative elements;
• using only natural;
• harmonic complement clothes by original accessories.

There are many differences: for male suite are characteristic chaste ornaments with symbolize courage and bravery but Ukrainian female clothes were decorated with delicate ornaments with difficult interlacing lines . Clothes for kids were embroidered by more simple ornaments .

Main kinds Ukrainian national clorhes

Male:

• The shirt is made from sackcloth with embroidered collar or cut.
• Wide, linen or cloth shalovar ( traditional male trousers ) By the way some elements Ukrainian national suit differ from each in different regions. In the west and north of Ukraine men wore narrowed trousers which are similar for modern «pipes».
• Wide belt kushak with artful ornaments which clasped on hooks

Female:

• The shirt embroidered on neck, cuffs and on down. It was more longer than famale. It dependse on purpose were made from expensive snow white or cheap, coarse sackcloth. Yong girl got dressed them without outer clothing and bent into kushak
• Zhupan ( long waistcoa ) – traditional cloth for married women.

There are four variants of waist cloth (similar to modern skirt):

• festive variant from silk, brocade or wool;
• zapaska is kind of waist dress which consists of 2 part which are joined together by strings;
• derha – working clothes from coarse fabric which gathered on the back on wide folds;
• poneva– long moltrey skirt , on top of which wore embroidered apron.

National clothes in present time

When Ukraine was in Soviet union national clothes got disused and attribute of Ukrainian republic and its festive variant wore for meeting well respected guests from different Soviet republics or appearence on the stage ect. Getting independence of our country inspired new sense in Ukrainian ntional clothes.

Modern Ukrainian clothes could be divided on three categories:

1. Daily clothes which are fiiled market by domestic producers. They base on the smart Western tendencies to development of models. Thanks of it Ukrainian producers are competitive with well -known brands over the world. Trade networks are in all many populated area in our country. These are official, practical and domestic clothings and overclothes which are made from different fabrics and knitted fabrics knitted from threads with different composition.
2. Designate clothes are made for favours of exclusive clothes. It is choosen for participation in huge holidays or for appearance on the stage(bright dresses and suits they aren’t suitable for daily wearing. For this catagories could be included exclusive handmade clothes from Ukrainian masters . This is original clothes from high qualitative fabrics with elegant decoration: blouses, shirts, chemises, skirts, jacket and trousers.
3. Ethnical clothes is modern inspiration of national Ukrainian clothes. It’s possible to divide two sub categories; cotton or linen clothes with handmade and machine embroidery; goods from knitted fabric decorated with ethnic elements– embroideries, ribbons, braids, prints.

Nowadays male and female embroideries this is festive clothes for our Ukrainian inhabitants. They are available of buying as in expensive metropolitan boutiques as in markets of all Ukrainian cities Most of shirts is output by small consignments and decorated by machine embroidery. The producers always adapt for new tendencies of youth mode offering new, original fashions and colours for embroidered shirts.

For that reason modern Ukrainian suit it’s first of all «traditions adapted to modernity». There are some masters who embroider shirts in traditional way, on sale or order. These goods aren’t cheap but in their ornaments preserved sacral content due to it people use them as protections.

Knitted clothes with ethnic motives this is comfortable, daily clothes with patriotic elements . In most of case these are t-shirts and dresses decorated chest by Ukrainian ornaments and in collar and cuff by braid or embroidery. In spite of imitation of embroidery cold be decorated by state for example, image f flag, tryzub (national Ukainian coat arms of symbol), coat of arms Ukrainian citie , Cossack (ancient Ukrainian warrior) with oseledets (kind of men’s haircut) etc.