Examining modern book illustrations and lacquer boxes we imagine the Novgorodians dressed in bejeweled, brightly-colored flowing garments and capes, with high, colored boots. These imaginary views have more than a grain of truth. No period clothing remains, so we must depend on contemporary descriptions, manuscript illumination and archaeology.(1)
Hundreds of samples of wool fibers have been excavated at Novgorod. Also found were a few flax and silk fibers. Fragments of woven cloth, including merino wool and twill weaves imported from Western Europe are included in the samples. Knitted fragments, felt, bear fur, and skin and leather were also recovered.(2) In most of Kievan Russia linen garments were worn under layer of wool, but perhaps linen was less used in Novgorod. Imported wool and silk would have been luxuries reserved for princes and wealthy landowners. Fur-lined winter clothing was worn universally for warmth, while the more valued pelts also made a rich display for the upper classes.
The basic male clothing consisted of a t-tunic and trousers. The tunic was constructed from a long width of cloth folded in half, with straight pieces of fabric sewn beneath each armhole. Tunics were typically knee length, though some period illuminations show ankle length garments for the upper classes. Sleeves were simple tubes, cut longer than the arms to protect hands in cold weather. Sleeves were pushed up under bracelets when not needed for warmth.
To provide a higher neckline, tunics were often slit at the neck with a button closure. A 13th century manuscript shows one garment with an asymmetrical closure typical of Mongol clothing. Bands, either of colored cloth or embroidery, often decorated sleeve ends, necklines and the bottom hems of tunics. An illumination shows one tunic with a contrasting shoulder yoke.(3) Knotwork, perhaps from Viking sources, was a common decorative motif in Novgorod and may have featured on tunics. Variations on the basic tunic are found in illuminated documents from Novgorod in the 1300s: these include short-sleeved, knee- length tunics, worn belted at the waist with a long sleeved garment underneath. Trim was placed at the neck and sleeve ends of the shorter tunic. One example appears to have buttons half way down the chest, while another buttons to the waist.(4)
A man belted his tunic at the waist, typically with a leather or cloth belt around a half-inch wide. Wearing an unbelted tunic was considered indecent. Pants consisted of two straight tubes of cloth joined with a small gusset. A drawstring supported the pants at the waist. Pants were typically worn tucked into boots.
Warmth was an important consideration in Novgorod. Typical coats fit over the head, by means of a deep slit down the front of the chest. The front slit was closed with 3 or 4 loops onto buttons, reinforced with horizontal fabric bars. Coats were knee length and sometimes lined with fur. Sleeved cloaks provided another important cold weather garment. Mittens were also known and used.(5)
Ceremonial costume for nobility derived from Byzantine garb. It consisted of a decorated, ankle-length tunic sewn with decorative strips around the neck, sleeves, and hem. It could be made from silk or gold fabric, and was often decorated with pearls and precious stones. Aside from ceremonial garb, wealthy Novgorodians displayed their wealth and status through the use of sumptuous materials, while their clothing was cut in patterns identical to those of the common folk. Silks, imported woolens, and brocades indicated the wearer's status. An especially powerful statement consisted of pearl embroidery on outer clothing. Marten furs, also used as a unit of currency, were reserved for the richest of garments.
Novgorodian men, as a rule, wore hats. Conical hats of cloth or felt trimmed with fur were typical. Princes and the upper classes wore low or high-crowned domed hats, also trimmed with a fur band.(6)
Men wore their hair moderately long, either combed back or falling straight across the forehead. Short hair was considered a sign of servitude. While fashions varied over time, men commonly wore full beards.
Christian religious garment design was borrowed wholesale from the Byzantine church. Ceremonial garments of the upper hierarchy consisted of ornately decorated ankle length robes, the designs of which have scarcely changed since the 13th century. Monks wore belted, ankle-length tunics and robes with pointed hoods.
The basic female garment was an ankle-length shirt, constructed in a similar manner to male clothing. A belt was essential, though it was often hidden by a fold of fabric. Women's shirts had neck slits with button closures, and like men's garb, featured decorative trims.
Married women wore the pan'ova. It consisted of a skirt made of three independent rectangles of cloth, supported by a waist belt. The pan' ova was worn over the basic shirt. It was open in front and often made from a checked or diamond pattern cloth. The zanaviski was worn by girls and maidens. Cut like a tabard, with a hole for the head and open sides, the zanaviski belted or pinned at the waist. A shorter shirt with wide, short sleeves was also sometimes worn as an over-garment. Specialized outer clothes did not exist-women's coats and cloaks were similar to men's.
Unmarried women wore their hair free, girded by a headband. The band could be made of leather, silk, or a precious metal. The bands were often wildly embellished, with ornaments and "towers" rising above them and bells, pendants, and chains of enamel disks hanging below. Maidens also wore their hair braided in a single large plait.
Married women gathered their hair atop their heads, beneath a cloth cap. The cap was covered with a large kerchief, often with embroidered ends. Upper-class women wore hats similar to men over the other layers.
Women's ceremonial costume was also similar to that of the Byzantine court. It consisted of an ankle-length tunic with narrow sleeves. Over this was worn a dalmatic, shorter than the tunic and girded with a gilded belt. The costume was usually completed with a cloak or mantle, buttoned in the front.
Surviving enamel work and paintings show that Novgorodians, like most Medieval Europeans, loved strong primary colors. Naturally, basic and lower class garments would have been undyed. Even in simple tunics, color was introduced in bands and embroidery. More expensive fabrics were dyed-mostly blue, green, and red. Red, especially, has always been a favored color in Russia. Fabrics were also block printed. A typical cloth might have been a blue or green field with diamond screens, rosettes, sun or stylized animal patterns printed in blue, black, red, yellow or white paint.
Archaeology has yielded actual examples of Novgorodian footwear. Country people and villagers wore simple shoes of woven willow fibers or bark.(7) Inhabitants of Novgorod wore exclusively leather shoes. The poor wore a slipper made from a rectangular piece of leather, turned up around the foot, and tied with thong.(8) Better footwear had a soft upper stitched to a light sole. The top was gathered with a thong, and sometimes decorated with pin pricks in a scroll pattern. The best footwear of the period were boots, firm-soled with no heel.(9) Historical descriptions exist for boots in red, yellow, and green among the nobles.(10) Other leather finds include belts, sheaths, and purses.(11)
Novgorodians owned a rich variety of jewelry including buttons, pins, rings, head rings, plain and rattle amulets, brooches, smooth and twisted bracelets, and buckles. Materials used to make jewelry included bone, amber, bronze, iron, copper, tin, lead, silver, jewels, pearls, gold, and coins.(12) Glass bangles and beads came in a variety of colors, including black, blue, green, turquoise, brown, violet, yellow, and gray and decorative spirals of varied colors.(13) Beads were used in necklaces and other ornaments. Enamel jewelry, noted for its fine and intricate design, was created by firing areas of pigment, separated by gold wires. Its manufacture ceased after the Mongol invasion.
(1)Tkach, pp. 19-20. Most other descriptions are based on the chapter
"Costumes of Ancient Rus'" pp. 15-28, reviewed with archaeological sources,
period illumination and the well-researched film Alexander Nevski. The only
primary source materials found on for clothing were archaeology and
manuscript illumination. Additional work is needed on this topic.
(2)Thompson, pp. 96-98.
(3)Library of Design, plate.
(4)Ibid.
(5)Thompson, p. 84.
(6)Wallace, p. 21-30.
(7)Vernadsky, Kievan Russia, p. 305.
(8)Thompson, p. 84.
(9)Ibid p. 80-84.
(10)Vernadsky, Kievan Russia, p. 305.
(11)Thompson, p. 84.
(12)Ibid, p. 80-84.
(13)Ibid, p. 92-93.