The Russian sundress, by its origin, is possibly associated with Indian culture. The part of the root of the word “sarafan” - “sarah” is very pronounced with the Indian word “sari”, which means “piece of fabric”. And the word “sarafan” in translation from Iranian means “fully dressed”, and from Persian - “honorable clothes”.
The forms of the classic Russian sundress came to us from ancient times, where people wore long clothes with freely falling lines, extended hem. It is interesting to note that women's suits were worn for a very long time without underwear, and it was the flared, multi-layered clothing with many lower skirts that was designed to keep warm during severe frosts.
Such a phenomenon as a sundress Russian folk women's costume included from ancient times until the reign of Peter I, when a significant part of the population was ordered to wear costumes of the European standard. Fashion trends of that time did not affect the clergy and the peasant estate, so many clothing designs, including a sundress, remained until the beginning of the 20th century.
The Russian sarafan was sewn mainly from linen fabrics of varying degrees of bleaching and decorated with national patterns, many of which showed what kind of woman the woman belonged to, or wore the character of amulets. Fabrics or threads were dyed in complementary colors using decoctions of bark, infusions of herbs, flowers using bread kvass and chemicals like alum or vitriol. Of the multi-colored threads weaved the so-called "motley" - checkered or striped canvases. Later, with the advent of weaving, elegant sundresses could be sewn of brocade, chintz, decorated with woven gold or silver braid, ribbons, silk embroidery.
Today, a Russian sarafan is worn mainly at festivities, performances of folk ensembles, although its shape is perfect for beach dresses, children's clothing or an unusual set of a short sarafan and trousers.
When it comes to how to sew a Russian folk sundress, there are a lot of options for patterns here. You can take a piece of plain fabric (preferably satin) obviously larger than the width of the chest (1.2 - 1.5 times), seize the elastic to the width of the chest, and sew narrow straps. Or sew a sundress based on a half-sun skirt with a “belt” at the chest level. Then the sundress is decorated with a vertical bar along the length of the front of the product, a horizontal bar at the chest level and the same trim on the bottom of the sarafan. In some cases, symmetrical patterns are embroidered on the sides of the vertical bar. The summer version of such a sundress can be sewn from light fabrics with a pattern without additional decorations. In some historical versions of such a sundress, all the folds gathered on the back panel, creating a kind of "train".
A Russian sundress of more refined forms is built on the basis of a flared dress pattern, with the creation of all the necessary tucks and looks like a product with a bodice. The top of the pattern is cut off at the level of the armpits, and the straps are additionally cut. Lightning is sewn into the sundress, in the side seam. Such a sundress fits well and looks like modern clothes. To emphasize that the sundress is a national costume, in this case, you can use the narrow embroidery on the hem of the dress. It is not forbidden to sew a sundress of such a silhouette with a fastener on buttons along the entire length of the front, because in the 14th century, in Russia, sundresses of precisely this “configuration”, called “swing”, were distributed.
In order to make the folk-style costume look harmonious, a blouse with wide sleeves and embroidery on the collar and on the sleeves is put on under the sundress. The image is complemented by long pearl beads, a kokoshnik. The modern version can be worn with a turtleneck, and a summer sundress - without additional items of clothing underneath.