Azerbaijani national costume

Every nation has its own history, which consists of many moments: culture, cuisine, language, costumes. The history of Azerbaijan is interesting, fascinating, sometimes sad and tragic. An important place in the history of this nation is reserved for clothing. The Azerbaijani national costume stands out for its extraordinary beauty, which is skillfully combined with the national peculiarities of the inhabitants of sunny Azerbaijan. Throughout the entire period of the existence of the suit, he underwent numerous changes.

Costumes of any people have unique features that are distinctive features. Azerbaijani costumes are no exception.

Materials were chosen different: imported and local. Silk was most often used. When creating casual wear, preference was given to flax, wool and chintz. Dresses of rich people consisted of velvet, cloth, tirme, fine silk.

Finishing has always been skillful and expressive. Even a simple suit in the skilled hands of a skilled worker took an expensive look. Gold, silver threads, beads, lace, lace, expensive coins were used for decoration.

Women's costume consisted of two parts and a large number of elements with complex and strange names. Let us try to understand them and present the image of an Azerbaijani woman who lived several centuries ago.

• The veil is a bag-shaped coverlet which was put on at an exit from the house.

• Rubend - an element that covered the face of a woman. At home, this element was not worn, but it was forbidden to leave the house without it.

• The lips of the geyims - this was the name of the outerwear, which included a shirt with wide sleeves, wide trousers that ended at the level of the ankle, a flared skirt.
• Chapken was put on top of his shirt, which, in turn, was fastened with a button on the neck. Sideways in chepken there were sleeves with sleeves. To create these clothes used velor, Tirme and other materials with a brilliant texture.

• Archalyg is a short sweater that fits the back and chest. The sleeves in such clothes were long. In the waist area, this sweater was tightened, and then it was lush and spread out in lush ruffles. This element of the national costume was considered the most common throughout the country.
• As the bottom of the suit was used hem, which could have a different width. To create a hem, pleated and corrugated materials were used.

• In addition to such standard elements, other clothes could be present as part of the national Azerbaijani costume. For example, a quilted robe with a lining (lebbade), outerwear made of quilted material (eshmek or kyurdu), tops to the waist with a hem of corrugated material.

Throughout the period of existence, the national Azerbaijani costume was present with differences in outfits according to the regional indicator.Women who lived in the territory of Gazakhi wore long shirts with side slits. The residents of Karabakh in the wardrobe were attended by long-sleeved Caps, who fitted the waist tightly.

Skirts are not lower than the knees and wide trousers were worn by women from Nakhchivan. But the residents of Shusha and Shamakhi wore long skirts. On wealthy women from Nakhchivan and Ganja, it was often possible to see long kulege with rich embroidery and various patterns.

• A silver with gold or gold belt was worn over the top of clothing (arkhaliga, chepken). Also, there was often a leather belt embroidered with coins or decorated with a badge. Wearing a belt was only allowed for married women. The girl at the wedding received her first belt as a gift.

• The headgear was of particular importance. Caps were created in various forms. Scarves could be worn on top. The hair was hidden in a special linen bag, which was called “chutga”. A hat in the shape of a cylinder was worn on the head, most often it was velvet. Over the hats tied a turban and scarves. Especially popular was kelagai, a silk scarf. There was a few way to tie it. In the cold season, a Kashmir shawl was added, for the creation of which only natural wool was used.

• There were Joraba stockings and shoes with a pointed toe, without a back, with a small heel. Such shoes were part of the summer wardrobe, and in the winter used charygi. Stockings were created with his own hand from wool or cotton. Along the entire length there was a large number of patterns and designs that were similar to those that were present on carpets.

• The girls began to wear jewelry from the age of 3, they were perceived for the most part as a guard against bad words and eyes. Until that moment, when the girl is going to become a married woman, a whole collection of jewelry managed to gather. Not all of them could be worn. For example, during a religious ceremony, for 40 days after the death or birth of a child. Rich and poor women wore about the same jewelry, the only difference was the presence of precious stones.

Men's Azerbaijani costume consisted of a shirt, pants, a beshmet, narrowed around the waist, and a sheepskin coat, which was used in cold weather. Circassian special attention was given, she put on top of his shirt, which, in turn, tucked into his pants. There were boots on his feet, and on his head was a fur hat, for which astrakhan or sheepskin was chosen.

Circassian buttoned all the buttons, and the sleeves were bent. In the chest area there were special pockets for tubes, gas bows or bullets. These pockets were called gazyrnitsami. Due to the large size of the pockets, the likelihood of serious damage during the slashing was reduced. Now these pockets are more decorative than practical.

Modern young people no longer wear national costumes. From the fashion they came out before the onset of the twentieth century. Now national costumes are used in theater productions and in museum expositions.

The national Azerbaijani costume is of great interest for European designers. In modern collections that appear on European podiums, elements from the national attire of the Azerbaijani people are increasingly found. Bloomers, long skirts and outerwear became the basis for many collections. Designers of Azerbaijan are just beginning to pick up this trend.