Costume of a young woman. Voronezh province, Biryuchensky district.

Russians

late 19th - early 20th century

In Russian families, clothing for members of different age groups and genders varied considerably. Babies were dressed in a single shirt, with decorated swaddling clothes (called "coverings") used as additional covering when carrying the child in public, and caps or bonnets placed on the head, "more for show." In the southern Russian provinces, girls until adulthood wore only a shirt with a belt (little girls sometimes ran without a belt), sometimes aprons, and a chest garment handed down from their elders. They wore worn scarves as headdresses. The clothing of girls of marriageable age was quite brightly colored, often made of purchased fabrics. In some places in the Biryuchensky district, girls wore striped skirts. The outfit was complemented with jewelry. A young man's costume included a decorated shirt, dyed trousers, a decorative belt, stockings, and bonnets. A felt hat served as headdress. The outfits of young and middle-aged women differed in the decoration on their shirts and ponevas, headdresses (young women had a stiff and bright soroka, while older women wore a scarf), and the amount of jewelry (which became less with age).

Costume, women's