Alesya Kalmykova, Traditional Dress

• Main Authors: Terbish, Baasanjav, Churyumova, Elvira
• Other Authors: Churyumov, Anton
• Format: Moving Image (Video)
• Language: Russian
• Published: University of Cambridge 2018
• Subjects: Dress; costumes; symbolism; belts; hats; boots; earrings; wedding; Buttons; The Waist; Kamchatka
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.23854; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/276552

Alesya is engaged in the reconstruction of Kalmyk costumes based on the works by Irodion Zhitetskiy and Uryubdzhur Erdniev. She says that there is practically no research done on early costumes pertaining to the period when the Kalmyks arrived in the Volga region. Traditionally, children did not have special ‘children’s clothing’, but wore the shirts of their older relatives. Both children and grown-ups wore belts. A belt could be worn at three levels. If it was worn at the level of one’s waist, this symbolized that the wearer belonged to the world of the living. A belt worn below the waist meant that the wearer belonged to the underground world. If worn between the waist and the chest, this symbolized one’s belonging to the upper world. Children, men and single women wore their belts at the level of the waist. Married women did not wear belts at all. False shirt-fronts called manishka had golden embroidery and simple buttons. Underneath manishka both men and women wore white shirts and trousers. Men wore leather belts with metal ornaments. After 40 they gave it to their eldest son. On the right side of the belt men carried a tobacco pouch, a knife and a whip attached. Made both by Kalmyk and non-Kalmyk craftsmen, Kalmyk belts resembled Caucasian ones. Women also wore belts. On the left-hand side, they carried a pouch (for candies or coins) and a napkin hung on a hook. Older women carried tobacco pipes. During holidays girls decorated their hair with ornaments, coins or shell. Girls’ belts were also decorated with coins and shell. Girls’ hats were called kamchatka and dzhatag. Men’s hats were called khadzhilga and makhla. All Kalmyk hats had a red tassel, although sometimes it was represented by a red cross or a red button on top. Comfortable for riding but not so for walking, Kalmyk boots were made from red or black leather. With time, Kalmyk boots were replaced with Russian ones. Resembling costumes of the Oirats in China, Kalmyk dresses of married women differed from those worn by girls or single women. ...