Hutsul costume of Rakhiw region, Transcarpathia, Ukraine

Hello all, 

I have written about this costume piecemeal several times, and I decided that I would pull the information together into one place, especially as I have recently received a new book with more information about the embroidery of thie region. 

The Hutsul ethnogeographic area is divided politically into 4 regions, forming parts of the Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankiwsk, and Cherniwtsi Oblasts in Ukraine, and also a part of Maramureș County in Romania. The Rakhiw region coincides with that part of Hutsulshchyna which falls in Zakarpattia Oblast, and forms western Hutsulshchyna. It lies east of the Shopurka river valley, and includes the villages of Kobylets'ka Polyana, Rosishka, and all points east, but not the village of Dilove, which lies in the Maramuresh costume region. 

 

The basic garment for the women is the chemise, in the shoulder inset [ustawka] cut. There is embroidery on the collar, cuffs, front opening, and shoulder inset. The bottom hem is NOT embroidered, except perhaps with some white hemstitching. 

Even the simple chemises of  coarse linen or hemp meant for everyday wear had at least a narrow stripe of embroidery on the shoulder. 

Men's shirts were usually not sewn with the inset cut, but had sleeves that attached to the side of the body. Unusually, the upper sleeves had a stripe of embroidery similar to that of the women, but usually narrower. Besides that, the collar, cuffs and front opening were embroidered, but there was usually less embroidery on the chest than was common for Ukrainian men. 

The embroidery techniques used were quite varied, more so than one commonly assumes, There was, of course, nyzynka. 

Here are examples from the village of Kosivska Poljana.

The village of Kvasy

The village of Bohdan.

The village of Rosishka

The village of Yasinya

And Kobyletska Poljana

Note that the nyzynka usually has rows of braid stitch between the main motif and the edges. Here we see the addition of a row of colored eyelets stitched near the edge. This is not usually associated with Hutsul embroidery. The other example is of the second common stitch used in this region, cross stitch. Both the nyzynka and cross stitch designs are mostly very typically Hutsul. One distinction is that here blue is often a more dominant color than usual. 

More examples from Kvasy. The caption says that these are from women's shirts, but I think that they are more likely from the shoulders of men's shirts. Compare to the photo above. 

The village of Yasinya

Kobyletska Poljana. Here we see that an unusually ambitious embroideress has covered the sleeves with a spot design. There are always examples of some women who want to do more. 

Kosiwska Poljana

Some of these clearly show influences from outside of Hutsul tradition. 

The last two examples are from the village of Rosishka. Note again the rows of colored eyelets. The last example uses eyelets, braid stitch, counted satin stitch and verkhoplut [overcast stitch].

Counted satin stitch is also used, often somewhat imitating nyzynka designs. 

Examples from the village of Lazeshchyna, which have a distinctive style. 

These are from the village of Rosishka

Here is an example from Yasinya, using unusually pale colors.

Counted satin stitch is also sometimes placed in blocks or rows, resembling the technique called kachalochka in Podillia. 

Examples from Bohdan.

and Kosiwska Poljana

These are sometimes combined with yet more stitches, as in these examples 

from Kobyletska Poljana

and Kvasy

The lower body garment for women was originally the typical Hutsul double apron. In this region, there were subtle but visible stripes woven into these woolen panels. 

The men originally wore red woolen pants tucked into kapchuri, but by the 1930's, many men had switched to military jodphurs tucked into knitted woolen socks, or even modern pants. The shirts were originally worn outside the pants, but later, under the influence of moden fashion, men began to tuck them into the pants.  Both men and women originally wore moccasins called postoly, but would wear modern shoes or boots if they could afford them. 

Some more images from Yasinya

The kyptar, or sheepskin vest, was of two types. One, for everyday, was very plain, ornamented only with lambskin around the openings. 

More commonly the kyptar was highly ornamented, as it was in the other parts of Hutsulshchyna. The kyptar of this region is immediately recognizable. 

The cut is somewhat shorter than in other regions. There is always a 3 branched floral motif embroidered in the front bottom corners. There is an ornamented rectangle along the upper part of the front opening, with rows of braid stitch, rows of interlaced leather, patchwork of fleece and fur, tassels, etc. The side of this rectangle is ornamented with wide, stubby, tooth designs. The front pocket flap is decorated. The bottom edge is ornamented with various embroidered designs on the sides and back. The outside edge often has no, or a very narrow lambskin border.

These images show keptars from Yasinya,

Bohdan

And Kobyletska Poljana

The 3 branched floral motif in the bottom front corner is universal in this region. 

A woolen jacket, serdak, is worn by both men and women which does not vary substantially from that of other parts of Hutsulshchyna. 

Men often wear wide to very wide belts, called cheres, which are also worn by men throughout the Carpathians. 

Men wear felt or sheepskin hats, married women generally wear kerchiefs. Unmarried girls wore their hair uncovered, or used various fancy headdresses for special occasions. 

A few more images from this region.

In this image, the men are wearing Hutsul costume, but the women are wearing Maramorosh costume. This photo might then be from the villages of Dilove or Kruhlyj. 

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. I hope that you will take at least some of these embroidery ideas and use them in your life. 

Roman K

email: rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:

Vasyl and Tetiana Kosan', "My Vyshyvanka is Close to My Heart" Uzhhorod, 2023

S. Makovski, 'L'arte Populaire en Russie Subcarpathiquie', Prague, 1926

F. J. Spala, 'Podkarpatske Vysivky', Prague

K. I. Matejko, 'Ukrajinskyj Narodnyj Odjah', Kyjiw, 1977

V. H. Bilozub et al, "'Ukrainian Folk Art - Weaving and Embroidery', Kyjiw, 1960

V. H. Bilozub et al, 'Ukrainian Folk Art - Clothing', Kyjiw,  1961

O. I. Kubajevych et al, 'Derzhawnyj Muzej Etnohrafiji TA Khudozhn'oho AN URSR', Kyjiw 1976

Iryna Karpynets', 'Keptari Ukrajins'kykh Karpat', L'viw  2003

Iryna Svjontek, 'Hutsulski Vyshywky Karpat -V4',