National Clothes

Vyshyvanka (an embroided shirt) is a traditional embroidered piece of clothing. People also embroider blouses, dresses, skirts and aprons. Embroidery was started by women and is still considered to be a woman’s activity today. Almost every woman knows how to embroider in Ukraine.

Embroidery has a long history. It was used to decorate fabrics for home and churches. Embroidered fabrics mainly included towels, pillowcases, handkerchiefs, etc. An embroidered rushnyk is a symbolic piece of cloth that is used in many rituals, during a wedding for example.

The main piece of clothing that is embroidered is a shirt. Mostly sleeves, cuffs, the neck,  and the front are embroidered. There are many designs. Different areas in Ukraine have various ornamental patterns. Some of them are presented below.

[Show slideshow]

Natalie Kononenko in Costume

Here are two Object Movies of Natalie Kononenko.
She can be rotated to show the complete costume.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Here are two people in Edmonton wearing traditional clothing from different parts of Ukraine.

This is what a married woman from the Rivne Region would wear: a blouse with red and black embroidery, a red wool skirt, and a black decorated vest. The necklace is made of amber.	This outfit is from the Chernivtsi Region: a blouse, a thick dark skirt with a thick woven belt, and a heavy animal skin vest with coral jewelry.	In the Poltava Region the embroidery has a lot of flowers. She is also wearing a red checkered overskirt, an apron, and a long vest with coral necklaces.

————————————————-

This man is wearing clothes from the Chernivtsi Region. He has a linen shirt with brightly coloured embroidery around the neck and wrists. He is also wearing a heavy, animal-skin jacket, linen pants and a thick, woven belt	These are clothes from the Rivne Region. His shirt has red embroidery around the neck, down the front and around the wrists. He is wearing linen pants, a thick, woven belt and an overcoat.