Clothes

Vyshyvanka (ukr. вишиванка(vyshyvanka)) – is the name of traditional Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian male and female clothing with embroidery. Usually it was made by hand on the workbench. Often pearls, gems or golden plaques were used to make vyshyvanka look more beautiful. Since earlier ages, themes on which the patterns were made were symbols of ancient cultures and depended on the region traditions. There are usually 3 types of themes: abstract pattern, plants and animals.

For example, the point of plant pattern is to add into the embroidery the beauty of nature. In Ukrainian embroidery are usually found such symbols as ‘grapes’, ‘hops’, ‘oak leaves’ and so on. Some of them reflect the thoughts of our past generations. For example, the pattern of an apple divided into 4 parts with embroideries of one color in opposite sides is a symbol of love. More recently there can be found a pattern from leaves and benches that represents a symbol that is called ‘the tree of life’.

The different types of embroidery patterns are usual for different regions of Ukraine. For example, in region of Poltava the patterns are usually embroiled with white threads but rarely with red or gray. Cuffs of shirts were decorated with white pattern that was leaded around with black or colored threads.

Wreath

A wreath is a ring-shaped decoration made of flowers, leaves, branches, sometimes also from materials that imitate natural ones.

In folk traditions - a ritual object, an element of ritual performers, a talisman. Also used in folk costumes of Ukraine and Poland. It is made from fresh greens and flowers, less often from evergreens, needles, dry branches and flowers, from straw, paper, or linen. Artificial flowers were also used at other times of the year. Like other types of greenery, the wreath is also used to decorate residential, household and other buildings, as ritual items.

In ancient Greece, winners of music and sports competitions were awarded with wreaths. The winners of the Pythian Games were awarded with a wreath from laurel leaves. Already in the 5th century BC, the wreath became a generally accepted to be a symbol of victory.

In the Roman Empire, wreaths were given as awards, for example, a ‘corona civica’ (a wreath from oak leaves) for saving a citizen of Rome from a life-threatening situation or a ‘corona muralis’ in the form of a crown with peaks for those who, during a siege or assault, were the first to step on the enemy city wall.

Later, they began to replace organic material with metal, and a crown developed from a wreath. As an element of the decoration of participants in rituals or domestic animals, residential and outerbuildings, the wreath often served as a talisman against evil spirits, the evil eye. Its ritual use is associated with the understanding of the wreath as a circle, which brings the wreath closer to other objects with a hole (ring, halo, hoop). A pagan tradition is known - on the day of Ivan Kupala, girls threw wreaths into the water and said: "a sinking wreath means death, a floating wreath means marriage.

Plakhta – the part of Ukrainian traditional women costume. It was done from colorful checkered wool widths. Its length is about 4 meters. The same as zapaska it was ancient part of traditional clothes. It was bottom of traditional costume since times of kozaks when clothes were magnificent. In the very beginning of its story it was made out of silk and embroidered with golden and silver threads. The time when girls received them were when their period started. The plakhta was a symbol of fertility and its task was to protect sacred parts of girls’ body and given strength to future woman.

The colors of plakhta could be very different. They could vary from black and blue to red and yellow. The pattern on plakhtas were placed in checkerboard order. The tracery and color depended on the region where the plakhtas were made. For example, in Chernigov were usually manufactured green plakhtas and in Poltava – yellow. In Dican’ka there were made plakhtas with star patterns.

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D1%8B%D1%88%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0

https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D1%88%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BA

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BA_(%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F)

https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%85%D1%82%D0%B0

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%85%D1%82%D0%B0