WEDDING AND FESTIVE HEAD-DRESS Wedding and festive head-dress worn in northern and central provinces in the 18th - 19th cc. boasted a variety of forms and reflected local peculiarities, and age and social distinctions. According to an ancient custom

WEDDING AND FESTIVE HEAD-DRESS
Wedding and festive head-dress worn in northern and central provinces in the 18th - 19th cc. boasted a variety of forms and reflected local peculiarities, and age and social distinctions.

According to an ancient custom common to all eastern Slav peoples a strict distinction was observed between the headdress and hair-style of maidens and married women. Maidens wore their hair loose or made into a single plait. A married woman wore two plaits and was not allowed to uncover her hair in public. Hence the form of the head-dress: one covering the entire head for married women, and one leaving me hair open for maidens.

One of the most common type of festive head-dress was the "kokoshnik", a kind of rigid cap worn with the "sarafan". 18th - early 19th century "kokoshniks" were masterfully decorated with pearls, meshwork of pearls and mother-of-pearl plaques, golden and silver needlework, coloured foil and decorative stones. The head-dress was treasured m the family and handed down, and was an mtegral element of a well-off bride's dowry. The "kokoshniks" boasted a variety of original forms, from those of a crescent or a peak topped with a "knob", to small flat hats covering the ears, all of them reflecting local customs and aesthetical ideas.

Holiday and wedding head-dress was worn with a shawl.
Exercise 1. Answer these questions:
1. What did wedding and festive head-dress reflect?
2. What distinction was observed between the head-dress of maidens and married women?
3. What can you say about the hair-style of maidens and married women?
4. What was the most common type of festive head-dress?
5. Was I he head-dress treasured in the family?
6. What can you say about original forms of "kokoshniks"?