The basis of the women's costume of the majority of the peoples of Dagestan is a complex of pants (narrow or wide), an undershirt, an upper dress (one-piece, tunic-shaped or detachable), a scarf (or other headdress), knitted stockings, dudes.
Darginki practically DIDN'T WEAR: a half-shoulder dress (a swing dress just below the knee, worn over a one-piece) and arkhaluk (a female version of a beshmet)
The Dargin costume is DIFFERENT: by an unusual white "kaz" veil, laid around the head and hanging low on the neck, shoulders and chest.
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Pants: narrow in step, standard cut (there are also wide ones, wide ones are sewn from two panels connected in the center with a gusset). Darginki wore pants made of beautiful fabric, 3-4 meters of fabric went on them, the pants were visible from under the dress by 20-30 cm. The bottom of the legs was processed with braid and beautiful embroidery.
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A shirt made of plain fabric was worn under the dress; on top - a one-piece dress, made of more expensive fabric. Taffeta, silk, brocade, woolen fabrics were used for elegant dresses. Casual could be made of cotton.
The dress was cut like a shirt: tunic-shaped (front and back from one cut thrown over the shoulders), with shoulder seams and a V-neck, or detachable at the waist (the bodice and skirt and back are cut separately). In general, the silhouette resembled a trapezoid.
An invariable element of the women's costume of the peoples of Dagestan was a sash: from 2 to 5 meters long, it wrapped around the waist or hips several times. The sash of the Dargin women was traditionally white, but it could be anything to match the trousers. The sash could be replaced with a leather or metal belt:
Here we look at the principle of laying a typical white bedspread - "KAZ", now these are common among Kubachins. Traditionally, the white bedspread was decorated with embroidery of red, green, black, brown silk threads - "cross". Such bedspreads are the hallmark of the Dargin women's costume:
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Another original element that has not been preserved in all national sets of women's costume is an apron. Its original meaning is to protect a woman from the evil eye, therefore (as with any magical object with a protective function) amulets were sewn on it: coins, metal pendants, jewelry. If all this was not available, the apron was decorated with embroidery. The most common magical ornament of Dagestan was considered to be a trident, or in other words - a hand with spread fingers pointing down: this hand was supposed to protect from diseases, troubles and the evil eye. Since the upper part of the dress (neck, shoulders) was hidden by a scarf, the entire ornamental load fell precisely on the apron.
To some extent, the female costume of other ethnic groups of Dagestan can be derived from the Dargin costume complex. However, kumyk, avarka, lezginka, karatinka, etc. more often had swing dresses, which is why the silhouette of the costume turned out to be completely different. In addition, it is impossible to make a completely clear division of ethnic groups depending on the silhouette of the dress: there are exceptions everywhere. A single rule that operates in all regions of Dagestan is the age division. Bright fabrics were used for dresses by young girls, married women wore calm tones, monochrome fabrics, and the elderly preferred black, blue and brown.
The publication used in the preparation of the material:
R. Gadzhikhanova "Dagestan costume"; Makhachkala, 2010
I met Razita Gadzhikhanova, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Design at the State Pedagogical University of Dagestan, in Pyatigorsk, at the Mashuk-2010 All-Caucasus Youth Camp. On the Day of the Republic of Dagestan, Razita Gadzhievna gave me a short tour of the exposition, in which craftsmen presented the best examples of their work in the technique of ceramics, weaving, and jewelry. Here, each of the numerous peoples of Dagestan demonstrated their unique national costume.
“72 nationalities live in Dagestan. And each nation has its own characteristic costume, which has developed historically. In the Middle Ages, each nation already had the characteristic features of the costume. The largest nationality is the Avars. Then Kumyks, Dargins, Laks, Lezgins, Tabasarans. And among all these peoples, the male national costume is similar to the attire of other peoples of the Caucasus - Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia. For men, this is a Circassian, before they put on a beshmet from below. Shirt, boots and definitely a hat. In the Caucasus, a hat is the honor and dignity of a man, and knocking down a hat, taking off a hat was considered a great insult. Here to give a papakha meant brotherhood.
The Kumyks lived on the plain and absorbed everything new, fashionable, modern faster than others. Their ancestors were considered the Mongol-Tatars, who settled down, and uniting with local tribes, left their traditions and culture. Kumyk women are characterized by a dress - the so-called cabal. It consists of two parts: the top dress has long wings-sleeves, the other dress is put on from below. Kumyk people are characterized by a headdress - tastar, woven from one thread. The technology of its weaving is very complicated - with one knitting needle. Now very few women own this technique. But in general, the female and male costumes of the Kumyks are similar to the costumes of the Ossetians, Balkars, and Chechens.
Kumyks. National costume: male - shirt, pants, beshmet (kaptal), cherkeska (chepken), fur coat (tone), cloak (yamuchu), papakha (papakh, burk), leather shoes; female - shirt dress, trousers (shalbar), various dresses (polsha, arsar, kabalai), scarves, chutku, leather boots, shoes, galoshes without a back. The costume, especially for women, was complemented by various decorations.
The next part of the exposition is represented by the village of Balkhar. This village is located in the Darginsky district of Dagestan. Its inhabitants have long been engaged in ceramics, which they have burnt and painted. They have places where clay is mined. The male costume is almost the same as that of the Kumyks. Today, the tradition of wearing national costumes is being revived, for example, at weddings. True, not the bride herself, but the bridesmaids are happy to put on a national dress. The women's costume is characterized by a hemp-shaped dress, wide trousers and shoes made of felt with a bent nose. In front - an embroidered pattern, horn-shaped symbols. There is a lot of metal on the dress. And although the Balkharians themselves did not engage in jewelry art, they traded and brought jewelry from the places of trade for their wives. Women have their heads covered in an original way: from below, a headdress called chokhto. There is a silver chain around the neck. Below is a white shawl, on top it is always orange: the Balkharians were fire worshipers and preferred yellow and orange. They have interesting double-sided rugs that are woven on horizontal looms. Ribbons for wearing jugs are noteworthy: they are tied around the neck and carried over the shoulder. And so that the kuvin did not cool his back, they put a special woven bag under it.
Balkhar village. The women's costume consists of a wide head cape that covers the chokhto, a kind of bag with an open base where the hair is hidden, and a wide dress reaching to the ankles. Men's traditional costume consists of a Circassian coat, hat, harem pants, shirt and leather boots - ichigov.
Laks. Jewelry on women - up to 20 kilograms of silver, falls from the neck to the chest and stomach. It was believed that in this way the metal guarded, protected the woman. Knitted socks: according to the patterns, you can determine from which village the girl is from, and also whether this is a girl or a married woman. The soles of the socks are lined with leather, which allows you not to get your feet dirty when walking. In the rain, they put on leather shoes, inside which they put dried grass. By the pattern on the socks, it was possible to determine from which tukhum (genus) each of them. And when the girls dressed and shod in such socks went for water, the guys, looking at their costumes, chose a bride from one kind or another.
Laks. Men's traditional clothing - a tunic shirt, beshmet, Circassian coat, trousers, women's - a tunic dress and trousers, has local variants. At the end of the 19th century, dresses appeared - swinging (buzma) and detachable at the waist. In winter they wore sheepskin coats. Footwear - leather and felt. Headwear - headwear with scarves, long bedspreads. In modern life, hats, sheepskin coats are occasionally found in men, traditional hats (Vikhli village), long trousers are found in women.
Nogais. From ancient times, felt was rolled and carpets were made from it. Braid was sewn along the contour of the drawing. Men, unlike other nations, did not wear a Circassian coat, but a quilted beshmet, on a thin layer of cotton wool or wool, so that it was warm in the steppe. The belt is narrow, leather, with metal rivets and mounts for weapons. The belt was worn by a boy at the age of 10. It had one metal rivet on it. After 10 years, a second rivet was put on the belt, in 30 - the third, etc. By rivets you can find out how old the owner is. Women's outfit echoes the Tatar, Asian. Characterized by a belt with a large buckle.
The Nogai national women's costume includes a shirt dress (ich koylek), various types of dresses (zybyn, kaptal, etc.), scarves, kerchiefs, and various types of jewelry. Men's national costume is worn only by the older generation - trousers of traditional cut, beshmet, belted with a narrow strap, leather stockings with galoshes. Young people prefer urban clothing.
Tabasarans. Tabasaran is a high-mountain region. Its inhabitants were famous for weaving pile carpets, which were made of wool. Everywhere in the Caucasus, families rejoiced at the birth of a boy. And in the village of Tabasaran, the birth of a girl was valued: these are one more hand for weaving carpets. Each family had a loom, and the girls weaved carpets from an early age. Lint-free carpets, threads are not cut on the inside: sumach is a weaving technique.
Tabasarans. The traditional men's costume of the general Dagestan type - undershirt, pants, beshmet, Circassian coat, cloak, sheepskin coats and hats; shoes - low leather - dirihi (postol type) with cloth or felt leggings, knitted woolen socks, soft leather boots, shoes without backs on wooden soles. The decoration of men's clothing was a belt with metal buckles, pendants, plates, weapons (dagger) and gazyrs. Traditional women's costume - a tunic dress, trousers, a headdress - a chukhta and scarves, a belt (all silver or gilded; made of dense material with a silver buckle in front); a breast decoration made of silver coins, a forehead decoration, a sewn-on decoration - an apron trimmed with coins; rings, earrings, bracelets. Silver clasps, sewn-on pendants, coins, and plates served as decorations. Footwear - leather boots and woolen socks jorabs with colored ornaments.
When our new president Ramazan Abdulatipov announced on TV his proposal that all high-ranking officials dress in Dagestan national clothes for the holiday of the Constitution Day of Dagestan, I really wanted not to miss this holiday from surprise and delight. It was very interesting to see what would come of it. At home, we had a lot of discussions about costumes, what they would be, what our president would wear. The idea is very good, but how will it be in practice? And what was our surprise when everyone came out in beautiful, bright Dagestan, traditional national costumes - in Circassians and hats, as we expected, led by our president!!! Everyone is so slim and fit, it's a pleasure to watch! Mashallah!
And you know, in fact, it’s not music or dancing that causes admiration! We admire the beautiful posture of those who are so graceful in these costumes! These clothes oblige to be slim and fit. But our grandparents wore these same clothes and they also looked slim and fit. And they couldn't look different! The way of life of our ancestors of the highlanders was such that they lived in harsh conditions, and their life was filled with difficulties and physical work. So they were slender and graceful! And as soon as I saw our leadership on TV on the day of the holiday, such joy appeared in my soul for our people, for our culture, for our religion, because it is inextricably linked with our culture with our religion.
The national clothes of the peoples of Dagestan are very beautiful. Nobody can argue with this. Although everyday clothes were sewn from simple, inexpensive fabrics and were not decorated with jewels, these clothes were beautiful and comfortable. Highlanders have always commanded respect for their clothes, and their temper!
Here, these clothes are worn by our Muslim women! Take a closer look, those who reproach our youth for adopting Arab fashion and wearing clothes that are unusual for Dagestan! Most of our Muslim women wear our traditional Dagestan outfits! For some reason, some people, speaking about our Dagestan fashion, only remember their parents, who lived in Soviet times and wore clothes from Soviet times. For some reason, they do not take into account their grandparents, who lived a little earlier than our parents! There were situations when, in a conversation on this topic, I had to remind them that our Dagestan peoples wore Muslim clothes. Only a small difference was between the clothes of different settlements. In some villages, women covered their heads over chokhto with large scarves, while in others they beautifully wrapped their heads with large scarves. No self-respecting woman has ever shown her hair to strangers. And the dresses of all the mountain women were long, free cut and with long sleeves. The differences were only in jewelry, in any patterns and ornaments.
Some of the older generation do not like the fact that young people dress according to Sharia norms of their own free will. They are looking for something to complain about. These quibbles were in vain. Our girls dress up in beautiful Dagestan national clothes! Yes, slightly different decorations, different patterns on scarves, dresses are made from more expensive fabrics! Why not? At all times, women wanted to look beautiful!
One thing is surprising, some of the older generation do not have any complaints about those who dress in the "mini" style, they have no nit-picking about their outfits. With reference to the heat, some people wear anything and everything.
May the Almighty open our hearts, show us the true to be true, and the false to be false! Amine!
In the modern world, people dress as they like, but before, each nation made up its own national costume, by which it could be recognized in foreign lands. The variety in the national costumes of the Dagestanis made it possible to determine where a person comes from up to the village by various features of his clothes. Even such a costume could tell about the age, wealth and position in society of its owner. For women, this difference in costumes was more noticeable than for men, who prefer to wear more modest clothes. Now national costumes can be seen on the stages of theaters or solemn events.
A bit of history
The modern national costume has undergone many changes over time. In the Middle Ages, an image was formed that changed, but in general its essence remained unchanged. Men wore a suit consisting of a white shirt, dark trousers, beshmet, a cloth Circassian coat with gazyrs, boots and a fur cap. The Circassian was girded with a narrow belt, on which a dagger or pistol was attached.
Women's suits had a looser fit. When living in a flat area, clothes made of silk were preferred. These were trousers, a shirt, a long dress with folding sleeves and a red morocco dude - shoes made from goat skin. The head was covered with a silk scarf.
In the mountain regions, women wore a wide dress, similar to a shirt, long to the calves and trousers, along the edges of which there was a beautiful golden pattern. Boots or dude were worn on the feet, and a headdress was worn on the head, which differed in different villages. All hair was removed under the chuhta, and a veil was thrown over it. A scarf with patterns was put on the bedspread, which was not tied, but was simply folded into a triangle.
Peculiarities
There are a lot of different nationalities in Dagestan, more than 70. All of them have their own distinctive costume, however, despite the characteristics of each, certain details unite them all. This is the use of various tunics, tunic shirts, shirt dresses, scarves, chukhta, beshmek, turbans in their clothes. All this is sewn from bright fabrics, decorated with patterns, embroidered with ornaments, embroidery.
Patterns could be embroidered both as a charm and for beauty, for example, nature, animals. Festive outfits were necessarily decorated with precious stones, gold, silver. All this shone very beautifully and shimmered in the sun. In addition to clothing, women adorned themselves with bracelets, rings, coins, belts, belts.
The colors, despite the apparent variety of colors, were dominated by white, red and black shades. White symbolized purity and was used at wedding events. The red tint symbolized wealth and prosperity, and the black gave a magical meaning, gave a connection with the ancestors.
A distinctive feature of the Dagestan costumes is their layering. For example, the headdress consisted of several scarves, and pants were also worn under the dress. Add to this a lot of jewelry, which were an indispensable component of the image.
Outfit Description
The men's costume consists of a light shirt, dark-colored pants and dense fabric, a cloth Circassian coat with gazyrs. The Circassian coat can be knee-length or ankle-length, the sleeves expand towards the bottom. A thin belt is put on top of it, on which a dagger or pistol can be attached.
A special detail is a headdress - a hat, which is considered a symbol of honor and dignity among the peoples of the Caucasus. The rich wore astrakhan hats, and ordinary people from sheepskin.
Women's costume varies much more among different nationalities. In southern Dagestan, rich and layered outfits were preferred. A straight silk dress was put on under the top swinging valchag dress. From above, the outfit was embroidered with precious stones and gold, a wide pattern. They preferred red, green, purple hues. The headdress was a silk scarf.
Modern models
In the modern world, young Dagestan women are trying to create an image in order to look more attractive. If older women wear shapeless hoodie dresses, then young girls try to emphasize the slender figure thanks to fitted dresses that are knee-length but with a slit. With the help of jewelry and shoes with heels decorate the outfit. The colors are more dominated by black shades, which favorably set off the appearance.
Women working in the fields and housework put on comfortable robes, complementing them with fur vests in cold weather, and in summer they wear loose dresses made of thin fabrics.
Modern Dagestanis wear pants, shirts, they differ little from the usual image of a modern person.
There are more than 70 nationalities in the Caucasus. Each of them has its own national dress, but there are common details between them. In our online store you will find both unique Dagestan national clothes and accessories, characteristic of one nationality, and their common elements.
What can you buy on our website?
- Burku.
- Dresses.
- Traditional men's suit.
- Traditional women's costume.
- Noki.
- Gazyri.
- bag.
- Belt.
- Harness.
- And much more
It can be as simple outfits and jewelry for every day, as well as richly decorated weekend outfits that shimmer in the sun.
Features of national clothes and accessories
Dagestan products are always richly decorated and painted. It looks great: bright fabrics, embroidery, decoration with precious stones. But besides this, the patterns on clothes and jewelry carry a certain message. The embodiment of natural patterns and fauna motifs on fabric is considered traditional. Be sure to maintain a strict geometric shape.
But for all the canonicity of the patterns, the masters still have a lot of room for maneuvers, during which the history of the people can be written out, as well as wishes for the owner - longevity, health, a large and friendly family, and amulets.
But the main features are not in this.
- All work is done entirely by hand.
Masters of the Caucasus are not just tailors and jewelers. They learned their art from childhood, adopting the experience of their fathers and grandfathers. They embody centuries-old traditions in graceful forms and silhouettes.
Practically no modern technology is used in the work. This allows more careful and accurate processing of fabric and metal. In addition, manual work is valued much more than serial production.
- Natural natural materials are used
You will not find a single synthetic fabric in the clothing catalog. If wool - only natural. The body in such clothes should be easy and pleasant - the main principle of the masters.
If we talk about accessories, the most common are silverware. They can be gold-plated, complemented by precious stones.
What Dagestan clothes and jewelry to choose?
If beauty is important to you in the first place, you can buy absolutely any Dagestan national clothes and accessories you like. These outfits look really luxurious: even the most modest will give you grace, energy and chic.
But real connoisseurs are never limited only by beauty: for them, the meaning inherent in this or that outfit and accessory plays an important role. For example, traditional colors mean the following:
- black - connection with ancestors;
- red and gold - prosperity and well-being;
- white - physical and spiritual purity.
If you decide to order Dagestan national clothes and accessories, remember their main property - layering. For many, this sounds intimidating, but in reality it is fascinating. And if you touch on practicality, in such clothes it will not be hot at all in the summer.
Such costumes always look exotic and attract attention. But today it is becoming the property of not only the peoples of the Caucasus, but also the inhabitants of the rest of Russia, and even more - the world. The beauty of dresses and jewelry is undeniable, and they are pleasant to the body. Despite the tight fit of the silhouette, you can move freely in clothes, and the movements themselves become smooth and sublime.
Our online store not only delivers directly from Dagestan masters, we work throughout Russia and abroad. Today, everyone can become the owner of unique national clothes and accessories of the peoples of the Caucasus.