Traditional male shirts

Ihor Perevertniuk

A shirt is one of the oldest types of clothing, including a male one. It served as underwear and partly outerwear. Shirts differed in cut, decoration, later and older types.

In general, fewer male shirts have survived than female ones. That is why we are talking based on the materials that are known to us from the period from the end of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century.

First of all, the shirts differed in the cut. Both Volyn and Polissia shirts were usually long: down to the knees, at the level of the knees, sometimes even below the knees.

The most common shirt type in Polissia was made of three widths with inserts on the shoulders. Volyn had the so-called “tunic-like” cut of shirts, which was more common in use. It means that one width was folded in half. In had accordingly a cut-out for the head. Sleeves and wedges were sewn onto the sides. Set-type shirts were cut with rectangular inserts on the shoulders.

Depending on the locality, the widths were narrower or wider. Accordingly, with traditionally narrower widths, the shirt was cut of three parts, three pilka (widths). With the wider widths, the upper part of a shirt was sewn of two cloth widths.

Both Polissia and Volyn, used mostly linen to make festive shirts, which were of greyish color. Everyday shirts were made of hemp, but these were coarser and not as refined as festive ones.

Mostly geometric ornaments of red colour were used to decorate old male shirts. Such shirts are knows to us, they are the oldest ones. Later, floral embroidery was used to decorate shirts.

The older shirts had a straight section in the middle of axillary (chest). The buckle on the shirts with one-piece neckwarmer was designed and cut on both the left side and the right side. It made no difference back then. The tradition of right or left appeared much later –– in the middle of the 20th century.

In addition to the purely functional role, the shirt also had a sacral function. The shirt was a must for a wedding ceremony. A bride embroidered a shirt for a bridegroom. The wedding shirts were used for burial, and were kept to death respectively. There is evidence that a newborn baby, often a boy, was wrapped in a father’s shirt. That means, it had not only functional, practical significance, but also sacred, ritual one.

Red was the most common colour in Polissia and Volyn used to decorate shirts with an addition of black and dark blue. In some areas, shirts were embroidered with the so-called bill’, i.e. bleached threads or cotton geometric patterns, created by using through seams.

We have an interesting version of a shirt from Western Polissia, originating from Ratniv district in Volyn region. It is sewn in three pilkas (widths) of home-woven fabric. The cloth is not too wide. Two pilkas are plain, and one is folded. It is decorated with the threading lace embroidery, with home-dyed threads. This embroidery imitates weaving. The collar is sewn, the cuffs are stringed with thread, as well as around the neck. Usually, such tucks (folds) were stringed on two or three threads so that they came out even and identical. A rectangular insert called ustavka was sewn between the widths of the upper part. This is a fairly old version of the male cut, used in Polissia for a long time. Sleeves are sewn onto the sides. Between the upper part and the sleeve, a square insert called lastovytsia was sewn. It was cut to the proper intended size. It could be larger or smaller, depending on the needs of a customer.

Shirt originated from Western Polissia –– Rivne region, Volodymyrets district, Svaryni village, dated late 19th century. It is also sewn of three home-woven linen widths. Male shirts of the 19th century in Volodymyrechchyna, Sarnenshchyna are distinguished by lace applied often onto the insert and on the top of the sleeves. There are also strips of ornament embroidered using verkhoplut technique. In Volodymyrechchyna and Sarnenshchyna this technique was sometimes called veliushovanyi. The ornaments are made of white threads. In addition, this shirt, and, in particular, shirts from Sarny and Volodymyrets districts, are interesting due to embroideries on the collars of the male shirts. The ornament is also embroidered using verkhoplut technique in red, blue, and white zapoloch (threads). Zapoloch is a cotton factory thread that was very common in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The collar was also stringed into several rows of threads and stitched twice on the top, and twice on the bottom. Straight tailor-cut is the oldest type for Ukrainian shirts. There is a geometric embroidery using nastyliuvannia technique. Buttons were not used very often at that time, so we can see loops on both sides of the collar, into which a rope or ribbon was inserted. The shirt could be fastened with shponka –– a metal decorative ornament that kept the sides of the collar from falling apart. The cuffs have loops made of threads with a loop-like seam, the button is also made of threads. Such was quite popular in Polissia and Volyn in the late 19th – early 20th centuries.

The male shirts from Sarny and Volodymyrets districts have often the large-sized lastka of about 17×17 or 18×18 cm. A large lastka added comfort for a person wearing such a shirt. As for the rest of the shirt seams, when the edge of the fabric was cut, the insert and upper part were stitched tightly. The sleeve was turned down separately, as well as insert, and these were assembled line-to-line. Shirt pilkas were sewn with a regular connecting seam, whenever they were not cut or trimmed.

Shirt from the Eastern Volyn –– Baranivka district of Zhytomyr region. Unfortunately, we have very few such shirts. This shirt is in a low condition, but it is a very distinct example for study and further reconstruction. This is the so-called strilkova shirt, a tunic-shaped shirt. A rectangular elongated insert was sewn onto the top of the folded width. On the underside, it doubled the fabric so that the shirt could last longer and not be worn out way too quickly, and it also performed a decorative function. This cut has been known in Western Europe since about the 18th century. Most likely, it was borrowed from there. A cut was made at the top, directly on the fabric, and a triangular wedge was wedged into it, which was also wedged into a rectangular insert located on the shoulder. On the other side, the sleeve itself was sewn onto this insert. The sleeve was quite wide. Even female shirts do not always have such a width. Folds or bryzhi were made, stringed in four rows of threads –– in two rows at the top, and in two rows at the bottom. They formed beautiful decorative folds. A square insert is also sewn under the sleeve –– lastovytsia of about 7×7 or 8×8 cm. It was comfortable, as it was loose under the sleeve. The shirt also combines floral ornaments, inspired by the printed publications, and the neckwarmer and collar are embroidered using a slightly older geometric ornament with diagonal satin stitching, shtapivka, and diagonal cross-stitching. The shirt is sewn of two widths of a rather wide cotton factory fabric (about 75-80 cm). At the end of the 19th century, wealthy peasants could afford to use factory cotton. It was used exclusively for sewing festive shirts, aprons, but for special occasions only.
This shirt comes from Eastern Volyn –– Novohrad-Volynskyi district in Zhytomyr region. This type of shirt was common in the 20th century and was used until the middle of the 20th century throughout most areas of Volyn region. This shirt is made of factory fabric, sewn of two widths. It has a one-piece neckwarmer with embroidery. It is a geometric embroidery. Shtapivka was the most commonly used embroidery technique, as well as the so-called “Bulgarian cross”. An interesting serration is made on the collar. Glass and pewter buttons of different colors were very popular at that time, and people used buttons they had on stock. It is very rare that the buttons used on the shirt were all the same. This shirt already has no square inserts or lastka. It is much shorter. Shirts in the 20th century have been significantly shortened, compared to the older ones. Due to the urban fashion, the untucked shirt was rarely worn untucked with a belt on. It was simply tucked into pants. The shirt is quite wide, so the presence of a lastka is not so necessary, as here the width is about 85 cm. This width was enough to avoid sewing a square insert under the sleeve. It was convenient as it was.

One of the old options for decorating festive male shirts is to decorate the bottom and hem of the shirt. Shirts were decorated usually for unmarried young men or those who had recently married. This option was considered the most festive one. And it was a common phenomenon in Polissia. The hem of the male shirts was both woven and embroidered. However, in some Volyn areas, according to available information, the bottom of male shirts was decorated, and not only with pinning or cross-stitching embroidery but also had lace hems.