Women's Clothing and Jewelry
.In general, the traditional women's costume had a unified foundation across the entire territory inhabited by the people. Common elements of women's clothing in the 19th – 20th centuries included the undergarment koinёk and trousers yshтан, dambal, ylazym, outerwear: kemsеl, beshmant, chapay, ichik, a wrap-around skirt beldemchi; headwear : elechek, shokulё, topu, zholuk, and the maiden's tebetey; footwear - boots otuk, ichigi maasy, leather galoshes kepich, kolёsh.
The koinёk could also serve as outerwear. It had a tunic-like cut, with inserted side panels and sleeves sewn to the body at a right angle. The collar shape of the shirts can be divided into two types: tuura jaka koynёk with a horizontal slit from shoulder to shoulder, which was fastened on both sides with laces buchuluk or buttoned, and uzun jaka koynёk with a horizontal-vertical collar slit, fastened at the south with a round fibula toonёguch, toonёch. In the 19th century, the second type was widespread among all groups of Kyrgyz. A dress with a vertical collar and a laid-down collar was also commonly worn. Dresses were adorned with a breastplate or embroidery onur (in the north), or an embroidered or woven strip jaka (in the south) (Naumova, 1989, pp. 157-169). The breastplate worn over the bride's dress on the wedding day was kept throughout her life.
At the end of the 19th century, dresses with vertical collars and standing collars began to spread. The collar of the dress was fastened with a button or a clasp — solkёbay, from the Russian word “tselkovy ruble.” With the appearance of dresses with high collars, the embroidery onur began to disappear. The bottom of the dress was decorated with one or two ruffles - kosh etek, which were vividly embroidered.
Somewhat later, in the northern regions, women's dresses began to be cut with a waist seam. Straight panels were gathered and sewn to the bodice. Dresses buyurmё koynёk were adorned with ruffles at the bottom of the hem and sleeves, and with frills at the collar. In the early 20th century, the cut of dresses became more complex, with shoulder seams, cut armholes, and corresponding sleeve heads appearing. At the same time, in the south, girls and young women adopted dresses of a new style with a high yoke, gathered waist, and laid-down collar, which became widely popular among Tajiks and Uzbeks.
Dresses were predominantly made from cotton fabrics, primarily from artisanal matting, while wealthy families preferred satin, silk, and other types of expensive fabrics. Young people preferred red colors, while the elderly opted for white or dark shades.
Women's trousers dambal were made from colorful cotton fabrics. Their cut was uniform across the entire territory of Central Asia, with wide inserts sewn between the tapered long legs, facilitating sitting on the floor or riding a horse. The trousers were secured at the waist with a woven woolen belt ychkyr, threaded through a casing formed by the folded and sewn edge of the dambal. In the south, the bottom of the legs was gathered and trimmed with patterned tape, usually visible from under the dress.
The freely flowing wide women's dress in the south was belted with a woolen sash, one end of which was decorated with embroidery or fringe. This ancient method of belting is still found in the costumes of elderly women. Later, the sash was replaced with a belt scarf.
A distinctive element of the traditional women's costume of the Kyrgyz was the thigh garment beldemchi (Antipina, 1962, pp. 243, 244; Lobacheva, 1997, pp. 70-83), which a woman wore after the birth of her first child.
This garment was sewn from a belt bash beldemchi and a skirt etek. The belt was usually made of felt, wide (14-18 cm), covered with fabric, often black velvet. It was fastened on the side with ties or buttons. A skirt, quilted on a thin layer of wool (more often camel wool), and less frequently cotton, was sewn to it. The hem was trimmed with strips of otter, marten fur, or narrow tape. The beldemchi was worn over a dress or beshmanta. In the context of nomadic life, this type of clothing was very convenient - it did not restrict movement and protected the woman from the cold while riding, doing outdoor chores, or in a cold yurt. Two main local variants of beldemchi are distinguished, differing in cut, material, and artistic design. In the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan and in Pamir, this garment is sewn from vertical panels and small wedges of alternating colors, often red and black. The panels were sewn to the belt without gathers, so that the fronts did not meet. In this variant, the belt or a strip along the hem was embroidered, but not always. The second variant, characteristic of the northern regions, featured wide, slightly slanted panels of black pleated or velvet fabric, sewn to the belt with gathers and richly decorated with embroidery. In winter, women wore beldemchi made from sheepskin with the wool inside.
The main type of women's outerwear in the 19th – first half of the 20th century was the chapан coat with a tunic-like cut, quilted on cotton. Children, girls, and young women could wear chapан made from bright semi-silk fabrics, while older women were suited to dark shades.
Starting from the second half of the 19th century, narrow fitted clothing beshmант, zhelek, kemsеl, keltеche entered everyday wear, especially in the northern regions, changing the appearance of traditional costumes for both women and men.
The back of these types of clothing was cut in the shape of an "hourglass," with pronounced narrowing at the waist. The sides also had this narrowing. Sleeves with cut heads could be long or short, up to the elbow. A closed collar was complemented by a standing collar.
The beshmант was fastened with silver buttons and looped fasteners. It had side pockets with horizontal openings. Beshmант was made from expensive fabrics, primarily plush or velvet.
At the same time, sleeveless vests kemsеl (kemzir, kamzol) became widely popular, with age differences.
Older women sewed sleeveless vests from black velvet or plush, with a low standing collar and patch pockets; the sleeveless vests of young women were made from red or other bright-colored fabrics. Children's and girls' kemsеl were richly decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons. Women also wore sleeveless clothing keltеche (kurmё) over their dresses, while girls wore chyp-toma (a short sleeveless garment like a vest).
The winter women's costume was characterized by a fur coat ichik, usually made of fox fur, covered with velvet, cloth, or plush.
The edges of the ichik were trimmed with strips of more expensive fur.
The evolution of women's outerwear occurred under the influence of European models as well as the spread of new materials. This common process for the peoples of Central Asia unfolded at different paces in the region. From the beginning of the 20th century, clothing tukaba - a coat made of plush, characterized by a narrow back, sleeves sewn into cut armholes, patch pockets, hidden loops for flat buttons, and a collar appeared.
Traditional methods of making clothing for the Kyrgyz