The national costume of each people reflects its historical and cultural values. By studying the time intervals of the development of a nation, one can trace the changes that traditional clothing has undergone, as well as identify features that have remained unchanged for centuries. Description of the national costume of Azerbaijan is presented to your attention in the article.
The history of the costume of Azerbaijanis
The history of Azerbaijani national clothing is rooted in the distant past. During archaeological excavations, sewing accessories from the third millennium BC were discovered. Found seals, pottery, gold jewelry dating back to the 5th century BC can already give some idea of the material development of Azerbaijanis. In the VI century AD, sericulture was firmly established in Azerbaijan. This type of craft developed over many centuries, and the silk fabrics produced there were the best in the world. In addition to silk, craftsmen also used imported fabrics: brocade, chintz, velvet, and cloth. The culture of Azerbaijan provided that all kinds of ornaments were almost always present on the fabrics. All of them are inspired by the beauty of the nature of this region. Most often depicted:
- pomegranate, quince, rose, lily, iris and carnation flowers;
- solitary birds or in pairs - peacock, pigeon, partridge, nightingale;
- animals - a horse, a gazelle, a turtle.
Also embroidered on fabric:
- various geometric patterns - squares, rhombuses, circles;
- images of household items (for example, a jug);
- elements of pre-Islamic symbolism - schematic images of celestial bodies.
Embroidered even whole plot compositions. Most often, they depicted either scenes from the palace life, or illustrations to poems.
The fabric was used predominantly red. This color was a symbol of a happy life, so the bride wore a red dress for the wedding. And the word Azer (from the name of the nation) is translated from Arabic as a flame.
Changes in costumes were introduced as the culture of Azerbaijan, its people and the development of new types of crafts developed. Important historical events, such as wars, also played a large role. If we look at a men's suit in wartime and in modern times, we can see that the details necessary for carrying weapons have lost their functions in our time and become decorative.
Women's national costume
The traditional female Azerbaijani national costume is represented by several elements. It mainly consisted of a shirt, a caftan to the waist and a long multi-layered skirt. The most common types of women's outerwear were:
- Mouth of Keyney - a shirt with long sleeves made of silk varieties of ganovuz and fay. Sleeves could be straight cut or with a small frill. She fastened one button on her neck. The shirt was decorated with beautiful golden braid, in front along the lower edge they could hang a thread with real coins.
- Chepken is a kind of caftan that was worn over a shirt and tightly fitted the body. Features of a chepken: presence of a lining, false long sleeves ending in cuffs. Thanks to the unique detail - chapyg - chepken favorably emphasized the beauty of the female figure.
- Archaluk is almost the same as chepken, only with a hem below. The hem was pleated or pleated. Archalukes could be both tight-fitting figure, and a straight, free cut with cuts on the sides. Overhead sleeves ended with mittens. Archalukes were divided into festive and everyday. They differed in the choice of fabric and the number of ornaments.
- Lebbade is a quilted robe with an open collar, tied at the waist with braid. Lebbade's sleeves were short, and there were cuts at the hem from the waistband on the sides.
- Ashmek is a quilted caftan with open breasts and armpits, inside a ferret lined with fur.
- Kyurdu is a quilted vest made of velor with slits on the sides. Particularly popular was the Khorasan cairdu, which was sewn from yellow leather with embroidery made with gold threads.
- Bahari - velor quilted clothes with straight sleeves to the knees.
- Kyuleche - outerwear with a corrugated hem to the knees and sleeves on the elbow.
- Mists - floor-length silk or wool skirts, consisting of twelve pieces of fabric. Fogs could be corrugated or pleated. As decoration, pompons made of gold or silk threads were used. Often worn 5-6 skirts at a time.
- A woman could not go outside without a veil covering her from head to toe, and rubenda - a fabric that hides her face.
Accessories
In addition to bright clothes, the image of an Azerbaijani woman abounded with many details. On top of the archalukas, women wore a belt. Belts were gold and silver, and sometimes leather, decorated with coins or a shiny plaque. We used embroidery and trim with braid and edging, beads and coins, various chains, buttons, brooches and plaques. Azerbaijani craftswomen skillfully used all the materials, turning things into real works of art. And embroidery has become a separate, highly developed craft.
Jewelry
Azerbaijani women have always loved jewelry and used them to the maximum. They could not be worn during mourning days and in strict religious holidays. Old and old women hardly wore them, limited to a pair of rings. But the young girls recruited large collections of all kinds of chains, pendants, rings, earrings, as they began to decorate the little ones from the age of three. The set of jewelry was called imaret. Jewelers made products from precious metals and stones.
The combination of bright fabrics of clothes, all kinds of decoration elements and brilliant jewelry created a bright, rich, memorable image.
By some criteria in clothes, it was possible to determine the status of an Azerbaijani woman, her age. For example, the presence of a belt on top of a chepken or an archaluk indicates that the woman is married. Young unmarried girls did not wear belts.
Headdress
The headdress also showed whether a woman was married or not. Young girls wore little caps in the shape of a skullcap, while married women did not. Hats were put on several at the same time. First, they hid hair in a special bag, then put on a hat (unmarried), and kelagai - multi-colored scarves were tied on top. After the wedding, Azerbaijani women wore several scarves without a hat.
The quality of the fabric showed how wealthy the girl’s family was. Everyday clothes were usually made of linen, wool and chintz. But the outfits were silk, brocade, velvet.
Footwear
Azerbaijani women wore shoes without backs, which were also decorated with embroidery, or morocco boots. Under the shoes wore patterned stockings made of cotton or wool (sheep, camel) - jorabs. Festive jorabs decorated with ornaments were even inherited from generation to generation.
Men's national costume
The national costume of men in Azerbaijan is less bright, but very colorful. The headdress was considered the main attribute and symbol of masculinity. It could not be removed under any circumstances. The only reason that an Azerbaijanian was left with his head uncovered is the religious holiday of Namaz. If the cap was knocked down by force during a quarrel or fight, this could serve as the beginning of a conflict for both families, and cause hostility for many years.
Papakha
The manufacture of male hats was done by special craftsmen. There was a whole manufacturing technology for this headgear: first they sewed a form from the skin, then turned it on the other side and covered it with cotton for softness. A sheet of sugar paper was placed on top to keep in shape and sutured with a lining cloth. Having turned the hat over with the wool outside, it was sprayed with water and beaten with a stick for about 4-5 minutes. Then the product was put on the mold for 5-6 hours.
The most common headgear was sheep’s hats. They were made different in shape: conical or round. Papakh could judge the financial condition of a man. Wealthy Azerbaijanis had pointed peaks of shingles or beat dads of fur brought from Bukhara. For the holiday it was decided to wear a hat from karakul. Men of ordinary people wore cone-shaped hats, shepherd hats, and fur with long pile fur.
Hood
Another popular type of headgear was a head-piece - a cloth-based hood with fairly long tails. Small hats - Arachchins - were intended for home use. When leaving on the street, they put on a hat on Arakhchyn.
They used teskulah for sleep, because even at night it was impossible to remain without dressing. At various celebrations, Azerbaijanis wore hats from karakul.
What did the national men's suit consist of?
The national costume of Azerbaijan (male) consisted of several main parts:
- bottom shirt
- pants,
- top shirt
- trousers,
- archaluk;
- Cloth chukha (Circassian).
Azerbaijani men first wore a bottom shirt, underpants, then a top shirt, an archaluka on top, and then a chuha. On a chukha gas boxes were sewn - nests for storing cartridges. In the cold, they wore a long sheepskin coat on top.
The top shirt was white or blue. She was sewn from satin or satin. The fastener was in the form of a buttonhole or button. Archaluk was sewn single-breasted or double-breasted, with a stand-up collar. The single-breasted archaluk had a fastener on hooks, and the double-breasted one had buttons. He was stitched in shape. The hem of the archaluka was decorated with frills, the sleeves were straight, narrowed down. In cold weather, wool trousers were put on top of pants. They were quite wide for horseback riding.
An important addition to the national costume of Azerbaijan was the belt. Sewed and leather, and silver, and silk, and brocade belts. They were designed to carry weapons and other necessary small things. A belt was put on over the archaluk.
In general, the sight of an Azerbaijani warrior is breathtaking: a Circassian woman, emphasizing broad shoulders and a narrow waist and hips, slim legs in black boots - all this combines in a courageous and noble image.
Footwear
Azerbaijani men used leather shoes or boots as shoes. They were plain, without patterns and decorations. Later, shiny rubber galoshes became popular. As home shoes used morocco duffles on a flat sole.
Instead of an afterword
In modern life, it is rarely possible to meet people in national costumes, but this does not mean that they are forgotten. On the contrary, the fashion designers of the world use many of their elements in their collections. And this is justified: in the traditional costume of the Azerbaijani people beauty, harmony, aesthetics are interwoven. This is the embodiment of cultural values carried through time.