Vintage wedding costume of the peoples of the Urals

Wedding day is one of the most important days in a couple’s life. Festive wedding traditions have been preserved from the old times to our time. In the Urals, the wedding ceremony existed in its original form until the 50s. last century. One of the elements of this tradition is a wedding suit, reflecting the lifestyle, identity and customs of our ancestors. About the features of the old Ural folk costume - read on.

Ancient costume of the bride of the peoples of the Urals

Women's wedding suit was a complex with a sundress. The latter was an indispensable element of both everyday and festive women's attire. Sundress sewed at different times in different ways. Depending on the type of cut, 3 main types are distinguished:

• 
  Kosoklinny. It was not sewn from a single web. Wedges were inserted at the sides, and a fastener or seam was in front, between two paintings. The armholes were deep, so a shirt with wide sleeves was worn;
• a deaf tunic sundress was sewn in an unusual way. A large cloth was bent in half, a hole for the head was cut in place of the bend, and a cloth was thrown over the shoulders. Wedges were often inserted on the sides to make the outfit look like a dress and not like a church robe;
• direct sundress - traditional and most common. He appeared in the 19th century, and firmly entered the everyday life of young girls. A sundress was made from straight canvases without the use of wedges, decorated with ruffles and folds, had thin straight straps.

Reference! A variety of fabrics were used for sewing a sarafan: chintz, a chimney, a garusnik, etc.

A mandatory element of the costume was a body shirt . The most widespread and revered option at that time was a polik shirt. It was sewn from one or two fabrics (single-station or half-station), and the polycoms were located in the shoulder area. The shelves were plug-in parts on the sleeves. The collar on the shirt usually fit snugly around the neck, and the fabric around it was laid with folds or frills. Sleeves were cut wide over the entire length, cuffs were decorated with knitted lace.

Important! A feature of the Ural sarafan complex is that it was often commonplace. This means that the polikovy shirt could be darker than a sundress. In other places, such a combination was quite rare.

Suit of the groom and his features

Men's folk costume did not differ in a special variety, it consisted of a shirt and portoks . The shirt was elongated, similar to a tunic, sewn along the cut of the braid, and the cut was on the left side. The throat was decorated with a low stand, sheathed with ornament and fastened with buttons. Later a shirt appeared on the yoke - with a cutting bottom.

Elegant festive shirt differed from everyday in color. They sewed it from canvas, chintz or kumach and called:

• cherry - from red or cherry leaf;
• white rose - from white and pink threads.

In the 19th century men's shirts were decorated with then popular cross-stitch, which was called broker's patterns. The ornament depicted plant motifs and was embroidered not only on men's, but also on women's clothing.

The second element of the men's suit - ports - was made from linen or other natural fabric. Festive pants were decorated with patterns along the edge of the pockets. In the second half of the 19th century Harem pants gained popularity. They were sewn from plisse, similar to modern velvet fabric. To a greater extent, they existed in the Urals as holiday clothes.

What is a rite of passage for the young?

Ancient weddings were accompanied by numerous ceremonies. Some passed before the wedding, others after it. After the church blessing of the marriage, numerous relatives of the young people gathered for a magnificent feast, where the first rite was "wrapping up the young." Oddly enough, this action concerned the change of the hairstyle of the bride. This is symbolic: she was still married with a girl’s hairstyle, and already sat down at the family table with a new, female one.

The ceremony itself was held as follows: with a translucent shawl, the young bride was hidden from the guests and two braids were braided. Usually godparents did this on the part of the bride and groom - matchmakers. All actions were accompanied by cheerful chants, sentences. The groom at that time was also in the room, but he did not see his wife from under the shawl.

The culmination of the rite is the change of headgear from girl to woman. After this, the feast continued, at which the bride was already present as a full-fledged wife. The girl did not take off her headdress.

Hats, shoes and other interesting details

The headgear and hairstyle of the girl and the married woman were radically different:

• before the wedding, the girl walked with one scythe, and put a bandage from an embroidered strip of fabric with long ends-ties on her head. The tape did not completely hide the hair;
• after the wedding, two braids were braided to a woman. They were worn, laid around the head, and a headdress of silk or velvet was put on top. He had to completely hide the hairstyle.

Shoes on the Urals did not differ from other places. Men wore high leather boots in which ports or trousers were tucked in, and women wore either leather short boots or woven shoes.

Interesting! All clothes were embroidered with numerous ornaments of red, gold, white threads. Most loved plant motifs, which were considered a symbol of love and tranquility.