Ancient wedding costume of the peoples of the Urals

The wedding day is one of the most important days in a couple's life. Festive wedding traditions have been preserved from ancient 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 costume, reflecting the way of life, identity and customs of our ancestors. Read on to learn about the features of the ancient Ural folk costume.

Ancient costume of the bride of the peoples of the Urals

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

• oblique. It was not made from whole cloth. Wedges were inserted on the sides, and the fastener or seam was located in front, between the two panels. The armholes were deep, so a shirt with wide sleeves was worn;
• The blind tunic-like sundress was sewn in an unusual way.A large sheet of fabric was folded in half, a hole was cut at the bend for the head, and the sheet 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 cassock;
• straight sundress - traditional and most common. It appeared in the 19th century and became firmly established among young girls. The sundress was made from straight fabrics without the use of wedges, decorated with ruffles and folds, and had thin straight straps.

Reference! A variety of fabrics were used for sewing sundresses: chintz, embossed cloth, chintz, etc.

An obligatory element of the costume was an undershirt. The most common and revered option at that time was the poly shirt. It was sewn from one or two fabrics (one-stitch or half-stitch), and the stripes were located in the shoulder area. Poliki were insert parts on the sleeves. The collar on the shirt usually fit tightly to the neck, and the fabric around it was folded or frilled. The sleeves were cut wide along the entire length, the cuffs were decorated with knitted lace.

Important! A special feature of the Ural word of mouth complex is that it was often common. This means that the poly shirt could be darker than the sundress. In other areas, such a combination was quite rare.

Groom's suit and its features

Men's folk costume did not differ in particular variety, consisted of a shirt and trousers. The shirt was elongated, similar to a tunic, and was sewn along the cut of a blouse, and the slit was on the left side. The throat was decorated with a low stand, trimmed with ornaments and fastened with buttons. Later, a shirt with a yoke appeared - with a cut-off lower part.

The elegant holiday shirt differed from the everyday one in color.It was sewn from canvas, calico or calico and was called:

• cherry - made of red or cherry fabric;
• belorozovka - made of white and pink threads.

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

The second element of a men's suit is ports - sewn from linen or other natural fabric. Festive pants were decorated with patterns along the edges of the pockets. In the second half of the 19th century. Bloomers became popular. They were made from velvet, similar to modern velvet fabric. To a greater extent, they were used in the Urals as festive clothing.

What is the ceremony of wrapping the young?

Ancient weddings were accompanied by numerous rituals. Some took place before the wedding, others after it. After the church blessing of the marriage, numerous relatives of the newlyweds gathered for a magnificent feast, where the first rite was the “wrapping of the young woman.” Surprisingly, This action concerned changing the bride's hairstyle. This is symbolic: she got married with a girl’s hairstyle, and already sat down at the family table with a new, female one.

The ceremony itself took place as follows: the young bride was hidden from the guests with a translucent shawl and two braids were braided. This was usually done by the godparents of the bride and groom - matchmakers. All actions were accompanied by cheerful chants and sayings. The groom was also in the room at that time, but did not see his wife from under the shawl.

The culmination of the ritual is the change of headdress from a girl's to a woman's. 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 headdress and hairstyle of the girl and the married woman were radically different:

• Before the wedding, the girl walked with one braid, and on her head she wore a ribbon-bandage made of an embroidered strip of fabric with long ties at the ends. The tape did not completely hide the hair;
• After the wedding, the woman had two braids braided. They were worn placed around the head, and a silk or velvet headdress was put on top. He had to completely hide his hair.

Shoes on the Ural soil were no different from other areas. Men wore high leather boots, into which they tucked ports or trousers, and women wore either short leather boots or wicker shoes.

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