Footwear and Jewelry of Kyrgyz Women in the Late 19th - Early 20th Century.

Traditional Women's Footwear and Jewelry of the Kyrgyz

Traditional women's footwear of the Kyrgyz consisted of both handmade local products and purchased items. Leather colored (red, green) heeled boots known as bedene etuk were particularly popular. The boots of brides and wealthy women were vividly embroidered and adorned with buttons, tassels, coins, and silver plaques. When ordering wedding shoes, craftsmen were asked to insert bells zhylaazhin into the heels, which would jingle while walking. Older women wore soft turned-out boots ichigi and leather clogs with heels - kepich. Turkologist V.V. Radlov, who observed the lifestyle of the Kyrgyz in the 1860s, mentioned that "women know how to make excellent white felt shoes from goat down..." (Radlov, 1989, p. 349).

Jewelry - koozdonmo was an important component of women's attire, including everyday, wedding, and festive sets, as well as those worn on the occasion of guests' arrival and during migrations. Jewelry was not worn on mourning days. There were head, hair, neck, and hand ornaments.

The group of head ornaments mainly consisted of ear and temple jewelry. Ear earrings, which varied widely in type, could be divided by design into ring and hook types. The ring types included baldak syrga, zere baldak, kashgar syrga, made from silver wire in the shape of a ring, with a delicate filigree element soldered to the inner side along the lower edge. Among the hook earrings in the south, sandyka soyke stood out with a forged pyramidal pendant, the facets of which were decorated with simple embossed patterns; in the north, a stamped pendant with false granulation was inlaid with coral beads. In the early 20th century, the decoration soyke zhelburoch, which was traditionally worn at the temples, became part of the hook earrings. It was characterized by massive filigree pendants in a conical shape, connected by a chin chain. This ornament was worn by young unmarried women and newlyweds.

The group of hair ornaments was closely related to hair decorations, which were mandatory for everyday wear, influenced by persistent beliefs about the magic of hair. The variety of hair ornaments was determined by age factors and local traditions. For example, girls would attach a special ornament arkalyk to their braids at shoulder level, which was a rectangular metal silver-plated lace plate on a red cloth backing. The chach kap - a pouch for two braids, was widely used; it was first braided for a young woman during wedding ceremonies as a sign of her new marital status. The chach kap was richly decorated with shaped silver plates, mother-of-pearl buttons, and pearls.

Young women wove chach monchok into their braids - an ornament consisting of a bundle of tassels secured on a single cord; the tassels were made of black or colored silk threads with small colored beads at their ends. The chach popik (chach ushtuk) - the most popular type of hair ornament, had a base of black cord with silver threads and tassels at the end. More mature women wore suisal - braided black silk cords ending in one or two tassels. They were tied together in bunches, which were secured to the braids with a button.

A variation of this ornament was a horizontally positioned cord with tassels, the ends of which were also hung to the braids with a button.

The horizontal bar, covered with black velvet, formed the basis of the ornament eshme (angush): to the bar, located at shoulder level, cords with silver plaques were attached. Sometimes this ornament was hung at the end of the braid of the cap kep takyia.

A special type of hair ornament for young women was cholpu - a two- or three-tiered decoration consisting of round metal plaques connected with rectangular or triangular plates. Older women attached zeer - a chain of two, three, or more round metal plaques to their braids.

Among neck ornaments, the favorite ones were necklaces monchok and coral beads shuru. Girls also wore beads made of silver, mother-of-pearl, and pearls. Among the breast ornaments, the girls' decoration tor monchok or ala tamak stood out. It represented a net woven from coral beads, with silver shaped plaques and coins along its lower edge.

Young women wore boy tumar on their chests - a triangular metal case (of Kyrgyz craftsmanship), rectangular or cylindrical (of Bukhara production), where talismans and written sayings from the Quran were placed. A specific feature of the southern Kyrgyz costume was the fibula toonёch, which served as a clasp for the dress collar and simultaneously as a breast ornament.

The main types of hand ornaments were rings and bracelets. The former were not only favorites but also mandatory women's ornaments. The most common were rings jalpak shakek with embossed or engraved geometric patterns. Rings with shields of various shapes - quadrilateral, rhombus, round, heart-shaped, decorated with engraving, sometimes with blackening, were also popular.

Kyrgyz bracelets bilerik were usually paired, typically rigid and open; they were made using stamping, casting, or forging techniques. The most archaic were wire round-section bracelets sokmo bilerik with a laconic ornament in the form of strokes, rings, and semicircles. These bracelets could also be twisted.

Plate bracelets jalpak bilerik were decorated with linear stamping, engraving, and embossing.

They were often also decorated with castings with inlays of mother-of-pearl, coral, or colored enamel.

Women's Headwear of the Kyrgyz in the 19th - 20th Century.