Clothing does much more than
protect the body. It can be used to mark a person's social
status, age, gender, marital status and so forth. In Ukraine,
the clothing of the young differed from the clothing of
the old. There was special holiday clothing and clothing
to mark the major events in a life such as weddings and
funerals. Clothing differed by gender. This not only means
that women wore skirts while men wore pants. It means that
the clothing of little girl was different from the clothing
worn by a girl old enough to marry. When a woman married,
her clothing, and especially her head gear, would change
again. Thus, little girls wore unbelted shifts, sorochki,
and could wear their hair loose. Young women wore single
braids. They had to wear a belt over their sorochki and
most often wore a skirt as well. At marriage, a woman's
hair was braided in two braids as part of the wedding ceremony.
From then on, the woman was supposed to wear two braids,
wear her hair up, and keep her head covered. Her clothing
became more modest and darker and darker as she aged. The
man, by contrast, wore the same hairdo and pretty much the
same clothing throughout his life, though his clothing,
too, became darker with age.
Clothing has magical power.
The act of embroidery is powerful and clothing protects
an individual, not just from the elements, but from the
evil eye. Clothing was embroidered and holiday and ceremonial
clothing richly so. Embroidery around all clothing edges
served a protective function and, since individuals in transition,
such as the couple getting married, are especially vulnerable,
their clothing was richly embroidered and they were decorated
with wreaths, flowers, pins, and other protective items.
