SHOWCASE 44. SECULAR DRESS IN THE 16TH - 17TH-CENTURY RUSSIA
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The exposition in this showcase presents the main types of secular dress and accessories of the 16th -17th centuries. Ceremonial items of everyday life at the Tsar's court illustrate general features characteristic of Russian national costume and in addition are connected with specific historical figures. The collection includes homespun coat (zipun), kaftan, fur coat, robe (ferezeja), state robe (platno), net cap (volosnik), boots and etc. which are extremely rare specimens of secular attire of Medieval Russia.
The style of most of the clothing of the pre-Petrine age (with the exception of courtiers' and officials' dress) was the same for all the segments of population. Garments of the nobles differed from that of common people mainly in the quality of the fabric, decorations and a number of items worn. Various social classes wore clothes made of linen, coarse coloured cotton and homespun wool. Precious textiles and ornamental embroidery were used for trimming the attire of Tsars and boyars.
The earliest item of clothing in the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums is Metropolitan Philip's fur coat—a unique specimen of 16th-century Russian popular dress. It is made of dark-brown homespun wool and sheepskin liner. The metropolitan wore this coat during his exile in the Otroch-Uspensky Monastery in Tver. Fur coats were very common in Russia and were worn by all the social groups. The peasants made them from sheepskin leather or hare fur, the boyars and clergy—with a sable, marten or white fox liner. A collar and cuffs were made of fur. With the fur coat, they wore tall straight hats made from the neck fur of a marten, sable or fox.
A rare item of clothing, of which only one has survived, is the armour dress (nalatnik) which was worn over ceremonial armour. It resembles a loose jacket with short sleeves. The specimen on display is made of red satin thickly covered with gold embroidery. It belonged to Tsar Mikhail Romanov.
The main type of male upper garment in mediaeval Russia was homespun coat (zipun), worn over a long shirt. Long narrow sleeves gathered at the wrist with hooks. A smallish round collar was attached on top. Zipun was encircled at waist several times by an oriental belt. Here one can see the domestic zipun of Peter the Great, made of green satin and quilted lengthwise with strips of wadding.
The largest group of garments on display is the group of a kaftan, a long-skirted coat which was worn over a zipun. The earliest specimen is a 16th-century oriental kaftan. It is made of pale blue Persian satin. The pattern, woven in silk and gold, shows a man fighting a dragon. Oriental kaftans differed little from those accepted in Russia and were often worn without any alterations. On display, you can see three figured kaftans belonging to Peter the Great, which were made at the end of the 17th century in the Kremlin workshop. They are similar in style, adorned with a silver-gilt lace and made of white watered and pinkish, dark red silk and pale blue wool.
On gala occasions, such as coronations and receptions for foreign ambassadors, Tsars wore a state robe (platno) - a long, unfastened garment, very flared at the bottom, with broad short sleeves. Platno was made of the most expensive imported fabrics, brocade, samite and brocade - silk cloth interwoven with silver.
Another type of ceremonial garment was ferezeja—a straight garment worn around the shoulders and fastened on the neck only by a tasselled cord or a stud. Its sleeves were very long, down to the ground, that’s why they were tied behind the back. Ferezeja of Tsar Alexey on the left in the showcase was made of white woollen fabric in the second half of the 17th century. Unfortunately, it gives only the idea of ferezeja's design and style, as none of such clothes has survived.
By means of the represented articles, one can also get acquainted with traditional headdress and other accessories of Medieval Russia, such as net caps (volosnik), headdresses (kokoshnik), buttons, mirrors etc.