In Medvyn, on the edge of Gedzivka, our expedition team was hospitably welcomed by Nina Rozsokhina (née Skopenko), born in 1944, and Tetiana Vasylenko (née Plaksun), born in 1946. We were meeting in Nina’s yard, near the Intercession Church, which was rebuilt on the premises of a parish school in independent Ukraine. The old church was burned down in 1920 by the budyonovets, who were punishing Medvyn town residents for the anti-Bolshevik uprising and for their desire for a free Ukraine.
Ms Nina recalls the times when her mother used to gather hemp in Medvyn, spun it into thread and then wove shirts: “They sowed hemp in the best soil. It grew so tall and aromatic. We picked the plants, dried them, carried them to the pond, put them on the bottom and threw silt on them. When they were removed, the fibres had to be separated from the stem. Then they would take a bowl, put the hemp in it, and crush it. The hard stuff – the fescue – would fall off. What remained was the fibre, it was twisted into spindles. Then they would comb it. We used a chair with a hole where a comb with teeth as thin as a finger was inserted. My mother would sit on it and pull the hemp. Threads were spun from these combed fibres.”
And here’s what they say about the clothes worn by Medvyn women in the 1940s and 1950s (when Ms Nina and Ms Tetiana were children):
“For work, shirts were made of thicker cloth, and for holidays of thinner cloth. Cross-stitching was popular and cuffs were embroidered. The shirt was assembled with lace. They would pull out 3-4 threads, then use a needle to gather them into a row at the top and at the bottom. The process of washing: people would take a kind of tub for bucking from an old willow tree, without a bottom. Cherry twigs were placed on the bottom, then straw. They would throw the shirts in, take lye, and pour hot water on the lye. The shirts would be pressed, and the water would leak out for a long time. Then they would put those shirts on a yoke: when in winter, then carry them to the ice-hole or to the pond [when in summer], and there were planks and stakes around each pond.
The aprons were embroidered. They were white, made of percale, embroidered with satin stitch. There was lace on the bottom and flowers on the top. They no longer wore plakhta back then. The belts were red, decorated, made of thin wool, and tied on the side.
They wore a gerset, an embroidered vest.
They used to wear chushka on the head like a yarmulka, but it was hard, grey, and was tied with a seam at the back, and then stuck.
They wore thorn scarves: plain, black, with shiny silk tassels. It was all the vogue! They wore cashmere scarves, brownish with white edges. There was also a large shawl, about 2.5 by 2.5 metres, black with white stripes. It was not tied but thrown over the shoulders. It was worn on snowy days.
They used to wear necklaces: corals, dukachi. Corals were made of six coral beads. My aunt Olha had a carved necklace like this, and my aunt Maria had dukachi. They also used to wear polished necklaces with sharpened beads in dark red. This necklace would end with a flower-shaped textile garment gathered with red tassels.
The earrings were flattish, golden.
The boots were chrome (box calf), and all the shoes were black.
The svyta they wore was dark brown, with ruffles, and they were loose on the back. There were also white, greyish svyta. They were wide, extended to the bottom, with lace at the bottom, decorated with curves or satin. Men also wore chemerka, a cloth cloak with a removable hood (or bashlyk), which had long ‘ears’. The bashlyk was usually used in bad weather.”
The expedition was organized as part of the “Clothing and Tradition. Bohuslavshchyna” project by “Around Us. UA” NGO, where we record the testimonies of elderly people about the folk costumes that used to be traditional in our homeland, the ways they dressed, weaved, and collected folklore.
The project ‘Clothing and Traditions. Bohuslavshchyna’ is supported by the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Fund, which is funded by the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
