The Material Basis and Traditional Methods of Clothing Production.
Traditional Kyrgyz clothing was made from products of natural husbandry. The processing of livestock raw materials and the production of clothing items based on them were one of the main directions of domestic crafts (Burkovsky, 1951).
Among the materials used since ancient times was felt, from which they sewed robes, headgear, shoes, stockings, and it was also used as a lining and padding material. The felt for clothing was rolled from sheep's wool of natural colors: white, gray, brown. The wool was carefully processed and compacted, bringing the thickness of the felt fabric to 0.4-0.6 cm. Making felt for clothing took significantly more time than making felt for covering yurts.
Hunting was an important support in providing material for clothing production. The Kyrgyz were known as skilled hunters, knowing many ways to obtain fur without damaging the pelts. Furs from wolf, fox, snow leopard, lynx, marten, sable, stoat, beaver, and wolverine were highly valued, considered expensive gifts. Prestigious clothing included fur coats made from fox and wolf paws, with the fur inside or outside, called paycha ichik, buchak ichik. Wide trousers kandagay, zhargak shyim were made from well-tanned skin of wild goats. They tucked in their outer clothing and tightly tied it with brightly embroidered ribbon - ychkyr.
A whole range of costume items was made from the skins of not only wild but also domestic animals - sheep, camels, horses, cows, yaks, goats. The skins were processed by women, who cleaned them by hand and dyed them with plant dyes. Rawhide (chylgy tery) was mainly used for making shoes. Camel skin was highly valued for its water resistance, thermal insulation, and durability. Well-tanned imported leather (kyon, kormech, bulgary) was purchased at markets. From it, they made boots. For chekmeney (men's outerwear), robes, and trousers of the wealthiest layers of the population, thin soft suede (kudera) from mountain goat skin was used. The skin of premature foals and purebred horses with short shiny fur (kunu) was valued - it was intended for special fur coats with the fur outside. For seasonal warm clothing - fur coats, hats - they used merlushki. The most popular material was sheepskin, which varied in wool quality, reflected in many of its names: koryov, tarmal korpe, chap, kuni, marsh, zhilbyrska.
Since ancient times, fabrics of domestic production (taar) with a width of 28-35 cm, made on a simple narrow loom ormek, widely known to the nomads of Central Asia, were common among the Kyrgyz.
Yarn was prepared from sheep and camel wool, goat down using a spindle iyik. The fabrics for clothing were not dyed, preserving natural colors: brown, white, gray. From sheep's yarn, they produced cloth terme taar, basma taar. The fabric came off the loom with a rare structure, but during prolonged felting, it was brought to the necessary density. It was warm, durable, but stiff cloth. Men's robes and trousers made from it were very popular, as the fabric was practical and provided good protection from moisture, wind, and intense heat. Taar was made in two grades: unfulled (sokmo) and fulled (basma) (Smishko, 1979. P. 214-216).
Even more durable was the fabric piadzi, woven from camel wool of natural color. It was characterized by high density and a distinctive "herringbone" texture. A robe made from piadzi fabric was considered a prestigious type of clothing, but it was mainly accessible to the wealthy. The fabric made from the wool of white camels was especially highly valued.
In the late 19th century, when cotton began to be cultivated in the southern regions, piadzi fabrics made from cotton yarn appeared. Dyed in ochre color with plant dyes, this fabric resembled piadzi made from wool. In the southwest, they wove thin fabric (slightly narrower than the usual width - 25-28 cm) from the wool of young lambs with the addition of goat down, which was mainly intended for foot wraps. In the same region, they wove women's and men's sashes about two meters long, in white and red colors, one end of which was decorated with stripes. From the best quality white sheep wool or goat down, they made fabric for men's turbans, about 150 cm long.
Along with domestically produced fabrics, imported fabrics - cotton, wool, silk - were widely available. The most in demand was cotton fabric, without (daba) (Valikhanova, 1985. P. 209, 210; Venyukov, 1868. P. 163), semi-silk alacha, adires, alek, ak arkak, pashai, beikasam, silk shayi, and others. These fabrics were exchanged for livestock.
Ethnocultural contacts determined the features of the costume in the second half of the 19th century (Kugilevsky, 1891. P. 350, 351). By the end of the 19th century, the Kyrgyz were acquiring not only fabrics but also ready-made items, primarily chapans made from brocade, suede, silk, and semi-silk, characterized by significant width and long sleeves. They purchased chapans of Uzbek and Tajik work, as well as fur coats covered with cloth, tubeteikas, waist shawls, and large women's headscarves coming from Kashgar, Hotan, Kuldja, Samarkand, and Bukhara. Men's and women's shoes, women's jewelry, especially hair and chest ornaments, were in demand among the Kyrgyz. They bought or exchanged favorite jewelry - corals, mother-of-pearl, pearls, carnelian.
With the development of the domestic market, the Kyrgyz themselves began to sell products of their labor, including felt kolpaks, chepkens from piadzi, which were in high demand, especially in the southern regions. Russian settlers in the Issyk-Kul basin produced knitted products from wool and down for sale - shawls, lace, stockings. Knitted patterned Tajik stockings (jorop) appeared in the markets of the southwestern regions.
In the second half of the 19th century, Central Asian artisanal fabrics, as well as European factory-made fabrics, began to be used more widely for sewing clothing. Close trade relations with the markets of Bukhara, Samarkand, Kokand, Margilan, Namangan, as well as Eastern Turkestan contributed to the emergence of new types of fabrics that gradually became familiar.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, Russian factory fabrics - calico, kumach, mitkal, cretonne, kolenkor, satin, plush, brocade, velvet - became widely available (Valikhanova, 1985. P. 210). Some types were known to the Kyrgyz even earlier.
In the 19th-20th centuries, folk masters decorated women's dresses, all types of women's headgear, waist clothing beldemchi, trousers, as well as shawls, belts, and others with embroidery. The technical techniques of folk embroidery art were diverse: all types of loop stitches, smooth stitches, counted stitches were used. The reverse stitch terskayik, used to embroider breastplates and cheek pieces of caps, is of great interest both historically and artistically.
Folk clothing varied by gender, age, and purpose - distinguishing festive, everyday, wedding, funeral, military, hunting, and seasonal clothing. Wealthy families had access to expensive furs, fabrics, shoes, silk, brocade, and suede robes, jewelry, and precious items, while the poor had products made from rawhide, sheepskin, and homemade fabrics. A whole range of archaic beliefs was associated with certain elements of clothing, decorations, and the manner of wearing costume items.
Formation and Development of the National Costume of the Kyrgyz