The array of the Ukrainian traditional clothing is characterized by wide regional and ethnic diversity. Even adjacent villages displayed dissimilarity let alone Hutsul, Lemkiv or Rusyn styles; secondly, the multiformity is the effect of neighborhood other ethnoses and ethnic groups. Thus, the border territories of Polissia, Volyn, Lemkivschyna, Boikivschyna, Hutsulschyna, and Bukovyna manifest variations of the traditional dress formed under the Polish and Romanian influence as well as that of Southern Slavs, Hungarians, peoples of the Caucasus, especially of Circassians.
The traditional dress of Ukraine is full of ornamental designs, fantastic embroidery and remarkable exposition. Even today, the national dress of Ukraine is hand woven and fabulously decorated. The embroidery is an ancient practice which is applied to the traditional dress of Ukraine and it is varied from region to region in the country, embellished with the antiquated motifs and harmonic arrangements full of colors and exotic stitches.
The traditional dress for women in Ukraine contains the ethnic embroidery and usually, it was made of homemade linen which was produced by loom. In the cold winters, Kozhushankas were worn which were prepared with the sheepskin coat. The coats varied in color from region to region. The edges of Kozhushankas were trimmed with black sheepskin or other differently dyed material. The married women used to wear Ochipok, which was a traditional headdress that covered the entire head with a slit in the back and laces that pull it tightly around the head. Similarly, Namitka is a long, thin fabric wrapped around the head and tied in the back.
Ukrainian women paid great attention to their hair. Unmarried girls used to wear their hair loose. They wore ribbons, wreaths of fresh or artificial flowers, of leaves and wheatears. Sometimes they braided their hair in one or two braids. Nowadays, the folk dancers wear the flower wreath during their performances.
Married women always hid their hair. They wore different headdresses. The most popular was "ochipok", this headdress had a lot of different forms. It sits tightly on the head and has a lacing on the back. Ochipok was made of linen cloth, silk, gold-cloth etc. It could be round, oval, cylindrical, with wide top and so on.
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The traditional male clothes comprise a shirt, pants or sharovary (baggy trousers), sleeveless jacket (a sort of a bodice), waistband and boots. The white male shirt with the passage of ages has changed its appearance from the one knee-long and worn outside trousers to become a short one with embroidered collar and cuffs at the end of sleeves, and tucked into pants.
Concerning the pants, there were two types of them since times immemorial: the narrow trousers and sharovary. The former are sewn to a belt and buttoned, while the latter is girded with ochkur (a belt or lace). Each of the types of pants corresponds to a certain type of a shirt: narrow trousers are worn with a long shirt outside, while the tuck-in shirt is matched with sharovary. The indispensable item of the masculine attire was also the waistband made of silk, cotton or wool, multicolored and decorated with tassels.
Not only sharovary were girded, but upper garments – zhupan, svyta, and, sometimes, kozhukh too.
The men also wore kontusz, a long robe, usually reaching to below the knees, with a set of decorative buttons down the front. The elite and noble Ukrainian men also used a long garment, zhupan.
The basic footwear for men were black or red boots.
The traditional dress of Ukraine also reflects the impressive history and behaviorism of the Ukrainian nation. Ukrainians remember their traditions and continue to wear national costumes. The following pages show modern versions of traditional Ukrainian clothes.