At the end of the 19th and early 20th century the women’s clothing set with a sarafan remained traditional outfit of the Russian North. The sarafan set consisted of a shirt, one or more skirts, and an apron. A belt, a scarf (or shawl), headwear and shoes were mandatory attributes of the outfit. An important part of the festive sarafan set was shoulder clothing: korotena (or dushegreya — a sleeveless jacket), epanechka (a mantle), shugai (a short jacket). In additions there were neck and chest ornaments which were made in various shapes and designs and jewelry — earrings, rings, bracelets.

At the beginning of the 20th century urban fashion was gaining momentum in the north. Under the influence of urban costume at the end of the 19th century a new set of peasant women’s clothing appeared. Its basis consisted of a skirt and a jacket, or a one-piece dress which was sewn from purchased factory fabric. A set of skirts and sweatshirts, which was made of the same material (silk, satin or cotton fabric), was affectionately called «a couple» in the North.

 

At the start of the 20th century this set spread to almost all regions of the Russian North. Sarafan usual to a peasant woman was preserved only in the remote corners of Mezen, Pinezhye, Pomorie and was common there until the middle of the 20th century. The collection of folk costume of State Museum Association «Art Culture of the Russian North» is one of the most extensive and unique sets of the museum.

In the collection there are highly artistic samples of folk embroidery, hand weaving, gold-embroidery art, pearls and beads sewing. These works of artistic culture are from 19th — second third of the 20th century.

The costume collection has about 2500 items. The main part of it is clothes made manually from linen and cotton homespun fabric. The collection also includes items made of expensive purchased fabrics of Russian and foreign factory production as well as the elegant outerwear made of fur. The museum has a rich collection of women’s festive headwear. Among them there are unique monuments of the mid-18th century, which were preserved to this day only in single copies.

Photo credits to: E. Legostaev, N. Vymorkov, N. Korshunova

Information prepared by the Museum Association arhmuseum.ru/collections/view/27