Project “Батьківська Хата. Homestead.” - Overview of the Polissia Region.
This is the sixth post of our Батьківська Хата. Homestead project. You will find all of our earlier posts here. The goal of the project is to showcase the Ukrainian way of life in the late 19th - early 20th centuries from the main regions in Ukraine. The photographs for the project were taken at the Ukrainian National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Kyiv, Ukraine. All the clothing is authentic and was provided by some of the most prominent ethnographers in Ukraine. All of the people in the portraits are Ukrainians from Ukraine and Ukrainian diaspora from abroad.
In this post we will look at the architecture, clothing, and lifestyle of Ivano-Frankivsk Region.
All of the traditional clothes that appear in this blog post came from Natalka Sturgill Private Collection.
The traditional clothes featured in today’s post are from the Sokolivka village in the Kosiv District from the Ivano-Frankivsk Region circa late 19th – early 20th century. The house is from the Shepit village in the Kosiv District from the Ivano-Frankivsk Region.
Below is the detailed description of the outfit.
Embroidered Shirt (Вишита Сорочка)
The shirt was more of a loose dress that came down below the knee and had an embroidered top. Linen and hemp fabrics were traditionally used for these kind of shirts but with time the commercially-woven white cotton fabric was used as well. The shirts from this region had embroidery on the collar, sleeves, and cuffs.
Luskavky Necklace (Лускавки Намисто)
These type of glass necklaces are often called “luskavky” but they are also known as “naduvanzi” or “svitliachky”. The necklace was made from inexpensive but colorful blown glass beads. The glass was very thin, and the beads were hollow inside so they often shattered (“luskatus”) and the necklace was called “luskavky”. Luskavky necklaces appeared in Ukraine in the late 19th century and became very popular.
Zapaska Skirt and Apron (Запаска і Фартух)
Zapaska a tie-skirt made of two rectangular woven woolen panels of fabric and tied around the waist. The special occasion zapaska had gold or silver metal threads woven in around its perimeter, like the zapaska in the photo above.
Head wreath with ribbons (Віночок з Биндами)
Young girls and unmarried women wore head wreaths which left the crown of the head exposed unlike married women who had to cover up the entire head with a scarf. The head wreath was also adorned with ribbons. Sometimes, the young women also decorated the ribbons with embroidery or other decorative elements, like in the photo above.
Postoly Shoes (Постоли)
The Ivano-Frankivsk Region featured in this post is in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The region’s terrain demanded strong and warm footwear. The footwear was a combination of laced-up leather moccasins (“postoly”) worn over woolen socks (“kaptsi”) or woolen footcloth (“onucha”), which was wrapped around the foot.
The house pictured below is from the Shepit village in the Kosiv District of the Ivano-Frankivsk Region.
The house above was built in 1843 and is a classic Hutzul dwelling, a semi-detached house. The house is made of two parts and each half has a traditional “napivkurna pich” oven (pich is prounounced “peach”).
The napivkurna pich (like in the picture above) was designed so that the chimney carried the fumes to the attic, which allowed for the interior of the house to remain smoke free.
The log house was made from local spruce (смерека) wood. The floorplan is similar to most floorplans across Ukraine: living space, which also served as a bedroom, pantry, and mudroom.
Location: http://www.pyrohiv.com/
Models: Леся Воронюк
Clothes: Natalka Sturgill Private Collection
Photographer: Svitlana Zadorovska Photography
Project organizers: Olenka Bravo, Natalia Sturgill, Olena Khrystyuk, Olena Garcia, Viktoriya Lundblade, Svitlana Zadorovska, Ольга Шульженко
Reference: World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations (1992). Український Народний Одяг. Ukrainian Folk Costume. Toronto - Philladelphia
Retrieved from https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/2674/file.pdf
Reference: ЗАГАЛЬНА ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА ІНТЕР’ЄРУ НАРОДНОГО ЖИТЛА УКРАЇНЦІВ КАРПАТ КІНЦЯ ХІХ — ПЕРШОЇ ПОЛОВИНИ ХХ ст. (СПІЛЬНІ РИСИ, ЛОКАЛЬНА СПЕЦИФІКА, ДИНАМІКА РОЗВИТКУ)
Retrieved from https://nz.lviv.ua/archiv/2017-6/4.pdf
