Ksenia Kardonova, About Traditional Clothing

Duration: 5 mins 14 secs

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Description:	Ksenia relays the following story. In the past, girls wore beshmet, while older people wore gowns. My mother used to wear a dress called khuvtsn with wide sleeves similar to dancers’ costumes of today. Kalmyks also wore uch, a sheepskin coat. Such a coat was lined with fabric and inside it had lambskin fur. My mother had a squirrel coat that was lined with reps fabric. When my family was deported to Siberia, my mother put on this coat and wrapped my little sister in it. That is how they survived the journey in the winter. As for hats, Kalmyks wore kamchatka (a hat made from a fabric called ‘kamka’). I did not see this hat myself, but I heard about it from others. My mother had a round hat made from lambskin. There was also a hat called toortsg and a hat called kapelyukh makhla (kapelyukha or ushanka). Again, I saw neither of them myself. There were many kinds of hats among Kalmyks. In those times, there were not many fabrics available, and the basic clothes, including pants, were made from sheepskin. I heard that ordinary people after eating mutton would wipe their hands on these leather pants. Kalmyk women wore berz similar to a Russian sarafan. It was usually made from black satin. Women also wore kamzal, which resembled a jacket or a short coat. With long sleeves, berz was worn under kamzal. Rich Kalmyks wore clothes made from silk or satin, while poor people from sateen. I do not know much about boots. People told me they were made from Russian leather. My mother had boots with shoelaces. In 72 fables (a collection of folk stories) there is a story about a pair of boots that had a fight with each other because their owner wiped his hand only on one of them. Kalmyks often wiped their hands on their boots or pants, which shone because of the grease.

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Ksenia relays the following story. In the past, girls wore beshmet, while older people wore gowns. My mother used to wear a dress called khuvtsn with wide sleeves similar to dancers’ costumes of today. Kalmyks also wore uch, a sheepskin coat. Such a coat was lined with fabric and inside it had lambskin fur. My mother had a squirrel coat that was lined with reps fabric. When my family was deported to Siberia, my mother put on this coat and wrapped my little sister in it. That is how they survived the journey in the winter.
As for hats, Kalmyks wore kamchatka (a hat made from a fabric called ‘kamka’). I did not see this hat myself, but I heard about it from others. My mother had a round hat made from lambskin. There was also a hat called toortsg and a hat called kapelyukh makhla (kapelyukha or ushanka). Again, I saw neither of them myself. There were many kinds of hats among Kalmyks.
In those times, there were not many fabrics available, and the basic clothes, including pants, were made from sheepskin. I heard that ordinary people after eating mutton would wipe their hands on these leather pants.
Kalmyk women wore berz similar to a Russian sarafan. It was usually made from black satin. Women also wore kamzal, which resembled a jacket or a short coat. With long sleeves, berz was worn under kamzal. Rich Kalmyks wore clothes made from silk or satin, while poor people from sateen.
I do not know much about boots. People told me they were made from Russian leather. My mother had boots with shoelaces. In 72 fables (a collection of folk stories) there is a story about a pair of boots that had a fight with each other because their owner wiped his hand only on one of them. Kalmyks often wiped their hands on their boots or pants, which shone because of the grease.


Created:	2018-06-06 11:25
Collection:	Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (DRESS)
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	University of Cambridge
Language:	xal (Kalmyk; Oirat)

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