The main territory on which the Mari live is the interfluve of the Volga and its left tributary Vetluga. This Finno-Ugric people is scattered in all neighboring regions and republics, many of its representatives are in the Urals. The Mari costume is part of the group of national outfits of the Volga peoples.
Ethnic structure
Like every ethnic group, the Mari are divided into certain groups. This is usually associated with the place of residence. Three main divisions can be distinguished: meadow (the most numerous), mountain and eastern Mari. The former occupy the Volga-Vyatka interfluve, the latter live in the west of the Mari El Republic, the third are descendants of immigrants from the Volga region to the eastern regions of Bashkiria and the Urals. The Mari costume of each group has distinctive features. But the main details of the costume are the same for all Mari. Moreover, the male and female costumes of this people in ancient times differed from each other only in decorations.
Clothing suitable for any gender
The main components of the outfit are: a shirt and pants, a belt with pendants and a hat, bast bast shoes and canvas or wool onuchi. On holidays, leather shoes were worn. But the cut of the festive costume was completely repeated everyday. And only decorations made him smart. Most of the Mari men were engaged in latrine fishing, which facilitated contacts with neighbors, and therefore the men's Mari costume resembles a Russian national outfit. Later, factory items began to appear in men's attire. But until the 30s of the last century, specific national features manifested themselves both in tailoring and decoration, and in the way of wearing certain elements of clothing.
Dictated by living conditions
The costume of any people was shaped under the influence of several factors, such as socio-economic, historical and climatic conditions. A large role was played by the means of labor that were available. So, the tunic cut of the shirt was explained by the fact that the cloth woven on the home loom was simply bent on the shoulders, a cut was made for the head. Without cutting out armholes, cloths bent along were sewn along the sides, thus making sleeves. Initially, the fabric was woven to the length of the shirt itself and the sleeve. The Mari costume was divided into casual, festive and ceremonial clothes. Naturally, the bride's wedding dress was the most beautiful. He was abundantly decorated with embroidery, braid, gown, beads, mother-of-pearl shells, fur and everything that the craftswoman’s imagination prompted, but with strict observance of the standards. The color of the Mari clothes is mostly white. The Mari costume (photo attached) is comfortable and joyful.
Distinctive features
As noted above, the main elements of the national outfit are dictated by natural and climatic conditions. Therefore, in addition to the above kit parts, the demi-season caftan (man), fur coat (snake), winter shoes and a hat were included. These things had a different cut - straight back and cut-off at the waist. It should be noted that all subgroups had their own distinctive details - somewhere the back was trapezoidal, wedges were inserted, the shape of the collars was different. This was not just about outerwear. So, for example, the pectoral shirt (tuvir) in meadow, mountain and eastern Mari was distinguished by the location of the cut at the neck, the length of the shirt itself.
Men's suit
Since ancient times, the Tuvir (shirt) was included in the traditional Mari men's costume, the length of which fell below the knees, but by the end of the 19th century it reached only the middle of the thigh. Pants (yolash) also differed - in meadow and mountain ones they were sewn with a narrow step, in the east - with a wide step, which was provided either with a cut or gusset.
Everyday clothes were made of white home canvas (vyner), which was woven from hemp, less often from linen. For the manufacture of shoes used dressed animal skins, bast, wool. The Mari bast shoes, woven of seven bast, were characteristic, the headbands (ropes wrapped around the legs) were made of the same material.
Onuchi wore canvas in summer, in winter from cloth. In more severe climatic conditions wore boots. The hats for men were also mostly felted, of various shapes. Later, traditional Mari costume was harmoniously complemented by industrial-made boots and caps. It is worth adding that all the openings of the undershirt (neckline, end of the sleeves, hem) must be trimmed with ornament. He included spells from evil spirits. It was embroidery or braid.
Features of women's costume
Separate words, as always, deserve a women's outfit, distinguished by beauty and originality. The costumes of the Volga peoples, the Mari in particular, in addition to a specific cut, had other features characteristic of central Russia - the material from which the clothes were made (hemp and linen, bast, felted products). Use in decorations of river shells, closer to the north - river pearls. The body shirt characteristic of the entire Volga region in the Mari version in a female outfit is distinguished by the cut of sleeves and hem. The overall white color of the outfit, like in no other suit, is richly decorated with characteristic Mari embroidery (round), very dense and clearly outlined. In addition, information about the hostess was laid in her - her belonging to a certain ethnic group, social status. Sometimes the back of some part of the costume was also embroidered. And of course, each local group of Maris had differences in the patterns, shape and location of the embroidery.
Ornament - “letter from the past” and a talisman
The colors of wool or silk that embroidered the canvas were basically all shades of red and brown. The costumes of the Volga peoples, including the Mari, are a vivid and integral element of national culture. It carries the most valuable information about this people, since it goes back to prehistoric times, when the first drawings arose, gradually turning into an ornament that could tell what the natives were afraid of, what they were doing, what surrounded them.
The most important detail
What else, apart from the length and cut of the lower part of the shirt, are the outfits of men and women of Mari different? As noted above, the Mari men's suit was complemented by a felted hat. A female headdress deserves separate words, because it is the most important element of the outfit. It is divided into female and girl, therefore, in addition to social status and ethnicity, it also indicates the age of the hostess.
You can write a separate article about their diversity. In ancient times, Mari women used various shawls and bandages - archaeological finds indicate this. The girls had two types of dressings - on a woolen basis and on a leather one. They were very richly decorated with beads and coins.
Intricate and unique
Women wore a hemispherical takiya, which is included in many traditional costumes of the Volga peoples. The Mari women’s headdress in ancient times was supplemented with a scarf folded diagonally, worn on such and tied under a chin. Headdresses of married women are unusually diverse - frame, spiky, spade-like, toweled. And they are all divided into several subspecies. So, the magpie, known for its crosswords, belongs to the class of spade-shaped, and the oldest headdress of marinka shurka is very high (40 cm) and belongs to frame hats. The traditional costumes of the Volga peoples, including the Mari one, echo each other - hats on birchbark or leather frames were worn by Mordovian, Udmurd, Kazakh women. Initially, it was a Scythian headdress.
