The social status of the inhabitants of individual villages and towns in Upper Zemplín had a significant influence on the folk costume. In this mountainous terrain, there are several variants of men's and women's attire. In addition to food and housing, clothing is the most basic human requirement. While in the prehistoric period, clothing was primarily used to protect the body against cold and rain in nature, over time, by adding various decorative elements, it also fulfilled an aesthetic function. However, it is always a reflection of the environment, natural conditions, and the economic and social position of the one who wears it.
The folk costume worn in the village of Zámutov was not limited only to the aforementioned village. The same, or only with minor changes, was worn in the villages around Wranów nad Topla, Humenne and Stropków. Over the centuries, it has been constantly transformed at various stages of development.
The oldest folk costume for women and men was made in the north-eastern part of Upper Zemplín from hand-made fabrics. Linens for shirts, thicker twill cloth for trousers, and decorative fabrics for some garment accessories and bedding were made by women on looms. Ready čuhi and losing were bought at fairs. Red fabrics were used as duvet and pillow covers, white striped fabrics or white striped fabrics for bedspreads, groomsman table runners, pleats, and the like.
A significant group of the population of Upper Zemplín are Carpathian Ruthenians who live along the southern slopes of the Carpathians. The Lemkos live in the vicinity of the towns of Stropków and Medzilaborce. In the Uličská and Ublianská valleys live Pujďaci - Bojkovia, in which apart from a moving accent, the dialect is mainly characterized by an etymological change in the style of life, spiritual culture, housing, clothing and cuisine. Traditional Ruthenian culture is very peculiar. Its influence is mainly reflected in traditional pastoral culture. Although the region was poor, the preserved costumes are a testimony to the dexterity, skill, sense of beauty and harmony of the colors of its creators.
Women's outfit.
The oldest women's dress in Upper Zemplín was made of domestic materials. Among the garments that survived the period of their creation and go on to the next stage unchanged or with only minor changes, we include underwear and a small part of outerwear. The oldest item of clothing women wore in the second half of the 19th century was a rubáš (a kind of linen petticoat). Women dressed it naked, it was used to absorb sweat and it was easy to wash it. It is likely that rubáš was the predecessor of the petticoat, and because it was not dignified enough to wear on Sundays and public holidays, it had to be covered with a more decorative and nobler element of clothing - opleckom (a kind of puff).
A characteristic part of women's clothing in the last decades of the 19th century was a long shirt, in the Ruthenian region known as a soročka (bottom shirt). It was made of home-made linen or hemp linen. It reached below the knee and had long, wide sleeves that were wrinkled at the wrist and sewn into the hem. It also functioned as a petticoat and a narrow bottom skirt.
The first turning point in the development of women's clothing took place in the last decade of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the original long shirt - soročka (soroczka) developed into two newer pieces of women's clothing, a narrow bottom skirt - a trousers - a podolok (a kind of petticoat) and a short T-shirt or a blouse with short sleeves, oplecko - opľečko - (opliczko). The first to be worn by the representatives of the then young and middle generations. Oplecko (oplicza) is another trouser garment. Oplecka (oplicza) was decorated with cross-stitch with a floral motif, reached below the waist and slipped under the skirt (a kind of petticoat). Such blouses were worn on Sundays and on various occasions. The part of the women's wardrobe closest to the body, which covered the lower part of the body, was a narrow lower skirt - a skirt (a kind of petticoat). It tightly embraced the hips of women and girls and covered part of the body from the waist down, above the knees. Especially when dancing, it prevented the legs from being exposed. Its lower edge was trimmed with white factory cotton linen, which was most often cut with decorative margins. This part was preserved until the end of the fourth decade of the 20th century. In the latter period, almost all adolescent girls, even the poorest ones, bought panties - buďugovi pants in stores.
For petticoats, women and girls wore wide trousers, skirts - biloti, trousers. At the turn of the 20th century, in the vicinity of Wranów nad Topla and Humenne, one or two skirts were worn on ceremonial occasions, then five to six, and brides from ten to twelve. In this way, they formed the typical broad silhouette of a female Zemplin costume. The financial conditions of the wearer influenced the number of bottom skirts. Only one older lower skirt was worn with the workwear.
Women and girls wore a top skirt - kabat. It consisted of 3 to 4 halves of different kinds of colored linen and originally reached to the ankles. At Easter and weddings, girls wore white skirts and lajblikas. The length of the skirts was gradually shortened above the knees, then to the knees and above the knees. Women's clothing made of printed fabric in Upper Zemplín dates back to the last decades of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The workwear consisted of older, worn-out Christmas skirts, then "carton" (light, cheap cotton fabric with a pattern printed on) and printed. The front part of the skirts was covered with a one-piece, one-pole apron. They reached the bottom hem of the skirt. Worker's aprons were called šurce. Aprons called aprons were worn on ceremonial occasions. Along the entire width of the lower edge, the apron was decorated with sewn zippers, and later with lace, which also embellished the edges in this way. The lower part of the apron was also decorated with crinkled frills - frills. In the first half of the 20th century, aprons were no longer worn in some localities. Older women also wore them on trousers - petticoats, without an outer skirt.
Another item of clothing was a short, tight-fitting živôtik - a lajbik. It was not originally worn. Through the blouse, women and girls put on a large fringed cloth - a handkerchief over the shoulder, which they crossed over the chest and tied in a knot at the back. Later, at the end of the 19th century, živôtiky - lajbiki, an essential part of summer holiday clothing that were not normally worn at work, began to be worn. They were made of purchased thin woolen cloth decorated with small flowers, mostly of dark, black, blue and brown colors. Lajbiki were decorated with black šujtaš (string), crepes, ribbons, trimmings as well as narrow zippers and sequins of various colors.
Part of the women's winter festive outfit was a white sheepskin coat - gubaňka made of sheep's wool. It was a short female head with long sleeves, the only ornaments of which were the edges trimmed with red or blue cloth. When the women went to church, their hands were tucked in their sleeves, when they went to the fair, they only put the Gubaňki on their shoulders and put the groceries in their sleeves. The forms of the simplest and oldest type of outerwear were huňa and guba. In winter, women wore white huňe made of non-foiled household cloth or of a thicker, soft, man-made fabric, later factory-made. In the 1880s, huňki of navy blue fabric - England - became fashionable. Other types of huniek, called baršuňki, which were worn during the cold season, were also popular. Brides wore cloth huňki to weddings to the church even in the warm season. After World War I, women from wealthier families started buying short Kabátce - geroki Christmas coats.
The fur parts of women's outerwear are documented in the northeastern part of Upper Zemplín. The most common fur clothing was a sleeveless vest - kožušanka. It was short, below the waist and worn as workwear. Its decoration was modest, in line with its function. Sheepskin coats reaching the waist or slightly below were also popular. They were one of the main and inseparable parts of ceremonial bridal clothing. However, long sheepskin coats were also worn. Due to their cost, they were not available to everyone.
The main difference between unmarried women and married women was the headdress. Girls attended church and company with pigtails without covering their heads. They brushed their hair smoothly down the back of her neck, always parting in the middle. They woven into the braid one floral or one-color ribbon, matching the color of the skirt. If it was colder, they would put headscarves on their heads. At the end of the 1930s, on festive occasions, they wore their hair loose, fastened at the bottom with a hairpin - for herpini. They put tight combs - hrebinki - into the hair above their forehead. The change of the social status of the virgin to a married woman was reflected in the diversity of hairstyles and headgear. The crown of a married woman was a bonnet. Additionally, she always had to come to the community wearing a scarf tied at the top of a bonnet.
The traditional women's shoes were Kierpce - bočkori made of cowhide leather. His feet were wrapped in white linen sleeves. In summer, they mostly went to work barefoot. In the interwar period, in winter, women wore cloth valances and violets (half leather and half felt valances). In the mid-19th century, women wore thicker unlined leather boots for ceremonial occasions. These boots were very expensive. That is why they saved them and only carried them to church, weddings, baptisms, parties, etc. When the women went to church, they carried them tied in their hands or thrown over their shoulders. At the church, they washed their feet and put them on. Boots were the only women's footwear until roughly the beginning of the third decade of the 20th century. Later, they also wore shoes, especially in winter. In summer they wore low shoes.
In the northeastern part of Upper Zemplín in the Ublianská and Uličská valleys, different pieces of women's clothing were worn than in the vicinity of Humenngo and Vranov nad Topla. The women wore a tight petticoat - a spudnyk made of household linen. They wore a shirt called soročka, opliča, pľiča for the upper body. Živôtik - the lajbik was made of a modestly decorated "cardboard" fabric. Skirts - kabaty were made of domestic white repro fabric with flowers. Ancient aprons - scarves were made of domestic woolen fabric. Huňka - hunča for winter was made of white sheep's wool. The head was covered with a bonnet, and later with a scarf - chusťa. From more than the 30s of the last century, ordinary home-made footwear was a canvas heart-shaped - verbci. In the mid-nineteenth century, printed fabric spread in national costumes in Slovakia. The developed production of textiles and the linen trade allowed for the penetration of delicate linen as well as imported dresses and silk into national costumes.
In the post-war years, the folk dress for women began to disappear. The young generation has only switched to ready-made urban clothes. Young married women and young brides began to have their hair cut, so they replaced the caps with a permanent wave - trvalú. Middle-aged women were still used to covering their hair in a tight bob with a scarf. They also switched to streetwear with a passion for two-piece clothing, which was dominated by blouses, sweaters, pullovers and various pleated or ruffled skirts, in line with the fashion of the time. Older women remained faithful to the older pre-war and post-war forms of clothing until the early 1970s. During the collectivization of villages, they also replaced pleated and crinkled skirts with urban type skirts. They started wearing costumes, and younger women and girls also started wearing pants.
In addition to the individual items of clothing, there were a few small items in women's clothing that complemented it properly. They were necklaces - beads that were made of full glass balls. They were worn on every social occasion, outside of work. An important decorative accessory, especially for brides and brides, were embroidered handkerchiefs or handkerchiefs for the belt. They were white scarves on the edges slightly trimmed with gathered lace or sewn-on štikerajom. A colorful flower pattern is embroidered around the perimeter, and a pattern of rectangles and squares in the Ruthenian area. Older women also wore scarves in their hands, but without embroidery, and carried money in them. Neck scarves, the so-called women started wearing headscarves in the last decade of the 19th century. The oldest known scarves used for this purpose were safolkas and scarves in ancikrist countries. In colder weather, especially in winter, women covered their heads and the entire upper body with a large woolen shawl called a francija or winter scarf with fringes around the edges. They fastened it at the front, at the level of the chest, with a large metal clasp. During the dry winter, women wore the so-called boots on their boots. papuče ("slippers"). They were in the form of a kind of bag. This sleeve insulated the foot and prevented it from slipping. To protect their hands from winter, they wore mittens - rukavice with one finger. Girls decorated themselves with brooches - broški, which they put on bows tied on braids, but often also used them to fasten scarves.
Men's outfit.
Men's clothing in Upper Zemplín was much simpler compared to the development of women's clothing. As early as the end of the 19th century, women bought fabrics made in manufactories or factories. Until the end of the second decade of the 20th century, men wore festive costumes made of domestic fabrics. They only bought shoes and hats. The working clothes, however, remained essentially unchanged until the last stage of development, until the end of the 1940s. Festive attire in one decade (around 1930) disappeared altogether, and men began to wear urban garments.
The staple of the men's wardrobe was a typical long-sleeved and cuffed decorated shirt, decorated with rich multi-colored cross-stitch embroidery with a floral pattern. The color of the embroidery depended on the age of the owner. Work shirts were unadorned.
In the vicinity of Vranov nad Topla, Humenne, Snina and Stropkov, men wore white denim pants (made of denim) or pamutove (cotton) - nohavki for festive occasions in summer and winter. Originally they were unadorned. "Lacing", like machine quilting, appeared on this garment only at the end of the 19th century. Around the belt, they fastened their pants with a long leather belt wrapped around the belt two or three times, decorated with metal buttons - cveches. In the vicinity of the town of Medzilaborce, in the Uličská and Ubľanská valleys, men wore chološňe pants. They were made of thicker white or gray household cloth and were not decorated. They also sewed work trousers, which were stronger, from thicker household cloth. A well-known tailor of trousers in the village of Zámutov and its vicinity was Ján Košč - who until the end of the 1980s remembered the special pattern of the cut of the linen for trousers in his memory and knew how to make them. After World War I, pants became fashionable as part of Christmas clothing - tights. In the upper part they were loose, wide, and at the knees towards the outer seam, they suddenly narrowed so that they were close to the shin. High boots were worn with tights. When working in the fields and around the house, the men wore white denim trousers without ornaments. Under their pants they wore long underpants - gače made of household linen. Underpants also served as nightwear.
The men put on a lajbik on their shirts. It was made of cloth - flavšu, most often black, navy blue, dark brown or dark green in color, decorated with multi-colored buttons or "lacing". In north-eastern Ruthenian villages, Lajbiki had more modest decorations. On colder days, men wore kabátce - kitľe (short coats) with long sleeves with trousers and shirts. Their development was largely influenced by the uniforms of Hungarian soldiers from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 1930s, kabátka replaced city coats, the cut of which corresponded to urban fashion. Similar jackets, though not decorated, were worn during work. The oldest types of men's outerwear are short winter jackets made of homemade cloth and sheep's wool, which, thanks to their water resistance, provide good protection against rain and cold. Jackets - wide ones close to the body were often worn with pants - tights. The working outerwear was a denim jacket.
They wore flat-brimmed hats, especially in darker colors, which they adapted to the colors of the lajbików. In winter, during work and holidays, men wore black sheepskin sheep. The men did not go without a hat and without sheepskin in the winter. They only took off their hat at meals, in a church or an orthodox church, in offices, at receptions and when they greeted them.
Men wore huňu (a kind of woolen outer jacket) with long sleeves with cloth pants and chološni. In summer, it could only be thrown over the shoulders so that it would slide off one shoulder, or rest on only one shoulder, which would better reveal an embroidered shirt. Winter outerwear included čuha - (a kind of thick cloth jacket) also guba (a kind of outer garment with long sheep hair) - gubaňa. They were very valuable pieces of clothing worn at church and on ceremonial occasions. In the first half of the 20th century, especially in the villages around the towns of Stropków and Medzilaborce, čuhi richly embroidered with plant ornaments were worn. In addition to their practical significance, elements of fur clothing also played an important role in ceremonial, especially wedding attire. In the Upper Zemplín region, short sheepskin coats - sleeveless kožušanki were popular, which were part of work and festive clothing. The most expensive type of men's outerwear was sheepskin. Due to its cost, it was only available to the richer.
The basic footwear in the nineteenth century was Kierpce - bočkori. In winter, people wore valonki. In winter, for long journeys and to the woods, the gazdas and coachmen wore high heels made of thick gray cloth and leather, with a wooden sole. Later, men on weekdays wore full shoes - bokanče. Festive black leather boots became fashionable in the late 19th century.
By the end of the 1930s, traditional men's clothing was basically disappearing with elements known from the end of the 19th century. A significant role in this process was played by emigration to America, enabling faster penetration of urban clothing patterns, as well as ready-made clothes.
Men's clothing also included various clothing accessories. Spurs, which were nailed to leather boots, were an inseparable part of the men's outfit in Zemplín in general. During the dance and when the heels hit, the spurs made a wonderful rhythmic sound. An embroidered shawl - a kerchief that was put on and fastened in the right pocket of the trousers, hung over the trousers, was also a decorative addition to the costumes of bachelors in the lower part of Upper Zemplín. It did not occur in the Ruthenian areas. An additional outfit of bachelors from Stropków was a multicolored, woven scarf tied around the neck. Bachelors to church and during Christmas celebrations also wore a black scarf around their necks - hajduk, and their hats had feathers decorated in a rooster together with a small bouquet of artificial multicolored flowers with imitation of green stems. Married men no longer wore feathers, only a small bouquet, and elderly men wore a jay feather (pirko z maťaša) on their hat. Olovjanki were a special accessory of farmhand costumes. It was a lead ball mounted on a forty-centimeter wooden handle. They wore them behind sárou (hard leather upper) boots. They were often used in fights. They only wore mitts in very severe frosts. For men - smokers, an integral part was a pipe and a tobacco bag - a dohančak made of a pig's bladder. To work in the field, in the forest and to the city fair, the men took food in bags - tanisters. Even in the third decade of the 20th century, children in bags carried books and teaching aids to school.
Elements of the Upper Embassy costume (women and men): made of hand-made fabrics, made by women on looms; red fabrics were used as duvet covers and pillows, and white stripes or white with red stripes were used for bedspreads.
Women's outfit:
In the north-eastern part of Upper Zemplín, different items of clothing were worn than in the vicinity of Humenngo and Vranov nad Topla: a tight-fitting petticoat (spudnyk) made of household linen, a shirt (soročka, opliča, pľiča), živôtik - lajbik, skirts - kabaty, aprons (scarves) .
Male stand:
Traditional clothing gradually disappeared until the mid-twentieth century.
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