Go-to-meeting shirt for a married man From : Archangel region, Kargopol district Time : late 1800's. Ethnicity : Russians. Age group of the wearer : 25-45 years. Social category of the wearer : a married man. Made by I.Zhoukova.

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A person ordered this model requested: "I want to have a Russian peasant's shirt. It should be fancy enough, to be appropriate to attend events of a Kedry club. At the same time, I want to wear it at the office sometimes, so it should be modest".

The only one model of a man's shirt meets such a requirements: a go-to-meeting shirt for a married man from Kargopol district (Northern Russia). This shirt is of an archaic chiton-like design. It is the most common for Slavic and Russian shirts. The cut is: a rectangular piece of cloth is folded half-by-half across a warp (along a woof). On the fold line they make an oval hole for a neck, and a long cut on a front part of a shirt. Shirts with a cut on the left (or sometimes on the right) side (so-called kosovorotka) appeared not earlier than the 16th century, and as a peasants' design only (more info >>>>>).

Casual shirts of a Kargopol district had a side cut. But, shirts for special occasions kept the ancient fashion: a middle cut with no collar. That was possible because a Northern part of Russia was economically and culturally isolated for centuries due to its geographic location and weather conditions. A lot of archaic customs, songs, and clothing specifics were preserved there.

As a tradition required, all edges of this shirt protected with a red "fire line". The protection is doubled by the embroidery that runs parallel to a red line. The design used here is a mix of a very formalized Sun Wheel and a symbol of The Mother Earth. So, the wearer gets a protection of two main powers of a Russian pagan pantheon.

The shirt is made of a creamish-white cloth that remains linen. A color emphasizes an archaic fashion and decoration. Also, it pinpoints that the wearer is a married man. A young bachelor should dress himself as bright and fancy as possible, to demonstrate a surplus of his vital energy. And a married man's costume should be made of a modest-colored but expensive fabrics of a high quality. Such a style reflected a high social status of a respectful and succesful businessman.

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Sources (in Russian)

1. G.S.Maslova "Traditional clothing of Russians, Ukrainians, ans Byelorussians at the end of the 19th century".
2. M.N.Shmeleva "Traditional Russian Clothes"
3. F.M.Parmon, "Traditional Russian Costume as a Source of Ideas"
4. "Men and Women (male and female roles and parts in traditional Russian culture)" (encyclopedia)
5. "Russian Costume of the 15th - 19th centuries" (a photoalbum)
6. M.M.Gromyko, " Everyday Behaviour of Russian Village in 1800's"