TRADITIONS
CONVENIENT, BEAUTIFUL, RATIONAL What was the basis of the wardrobe of our distant ancestors? What colors were most often used for embroidery on clothes and in what technique was it done? What do designers need to remember today in order to create modern collections that at the same time carry a powerful ethnic message? We are talking about this with Maria Vinnikova, senior researcher at the Department of Ancient Belarusian Culture of the Center for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, candidate of art history. — Maria Nikolaevna, why do experts think that it is wrong to use the word “vyshyvanka” for embroidered national clothes, even though it is deeply seated in the lexicon of Belarusians? — In the Belarusian folk culture, traditional clothes have never been called vyshyvanka. This word is identical to such definitions as malyavanka, pysanka and is probably borrowed from the Ukrainian language. When it is used, it often means clothes with cross stitching. But this technique appeared in our country only in the middle of the 19th century. By that time, the embroidery on the national clothes, if
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БЕЛАРУСЬ. BELARUS 2021
any, was completely different. For example, in Kobrin district a local woman showed me old shirts that had been passed on her from her grandmother, and called them “pulled”, that is, embroidered with “pull”, i. e. back-stitching according to the number of threads of the cloth, which forms strips of geometric ornament. In my opinion, in relation to modernity, it is correct to talk about a costume with national color. Because there is a certain difference between traditional and national costume. Traditional is a rural costume that meets the requirements of life in a given territory: it was created and developed by indigenous people, it corresponds to our natural and geographical conditions. And “national” is a broader concept, it refers to the clothes of different social groups. Wealthy citizens ordered wardrobe items from abroad or had them made according to generally accepted European patterns, so their costume was more influenced by fashion. — How to determine which clothes correspond to the folk tradition and which don’t? — First of all, by the compositional design. For Belarusians embroidery served as a protective charm and was located in the places that opened access to the body: along the collar, cuffs, along the bottom of skirts. For women of childbearing age, the ornament on the sleeves of a shirt and on the apron was rich: it was believed to protect them from the evil eye. — What were the main elements of the Belarusian traditional costume?
— The main component of a women’s, men’s, children’s costume is a shirt, which was supposed to cover the neck, elbows and knees. It was straight, without darts, loose; it was fitted on by gathering around the collar, bottom of the sleeves and belting around the waist. The wardrobe of Belarusian peasant women also included skirts, aprons, headwear, weskits. In summer time women wore a simple linen skirt, in winter they wore a thick one (sometimes striped, checkered) made of woolen fabric, which was called poneva (homespun woollen skirt). In Malorita district, a burka (a felt cloak), an analogue of andarak, was widespread. It was rich in woven rhombus geometric ornament. In spring and autumn time, women put on a peasant’s russet overcoat (svitka) — a long, unbuttoned cloth garment, which was belted with a woven or braided sash. An apron was a mandatory piece of a woman’s costume. It was worn not only on weekdays, but also on holidays. And not because of the wish to protect for the skirt from staining, but first of all as a protective charm for the female womb. It was considered indecent to go out without an apron on. In the south of Belarus, in some regions, skirts were not worn at all, but two aprons were tied together — in the front and in the back. In Vetka district of Gomel region,
