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.

Natalie Kononenko in Costume

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

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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.

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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.