The history of the kokoshnik: From the headdress of Russian commoners to the tiaras of queens and queens

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Kokoshnik has become entrenched in the minds of modern people as the main accessory of the Russian folk costume. However, in the 18th-19th centuries, this headdress was mandatory in the wardrobe of women from the highest circles, including Russian empresses. And at the beginning of the 20th century, the kokoshnik migrated to Europe and America and appeared in the form of tiaras in the wardrobes of many foreign beauties and queens.

Kokoshnik is an integral part of the wardrobe of commoners and boyars in Ancient Russia

The history of the kokoshnik is mysterious and shrouded in mystery, therefore it is not known for certain when the kokoshniks first appeared in Russia. But starting from the tenth century, ancient Russian women wore headdresses similar to them. In the burials of Novgorodians of the 10th-12th centuries, something similar to a kokoshnik was found.

The very same definition "kokoshnik" was first mentioned in the writings of the 17th century and comes from the ancient Slavic "kokosh", meaning a chicken, a distinctive feature of which is a "comb".

Kokoshnitsa craftswomen, making kokoshniks, embroidered them with pearls, beads, gold threads, various ornaments, which are symbols of marital fidelity, fertility and a family amulet. The cost of some copies made for the royal families reached fabulous sums.

Women even from poor families had a festive headdress, which was carefully kept and passed from mother to daughter. Kokoshniks were worn only on special occasions, they were not worn in everyday life.

In ancient times, only married women had the right to wear a kokoshnik, often wearing a scarf or a cover made of thin fabric under the kokoshnik. Since, according to legend, the hair had to be hidden.

In Ancient Russia, maidens for marriage prayed for their marriage to the Mother of God on the Intercession, saying:.

Over time, in some provinces, women began to wear the kokoshnik only three days after the wedding. This was due to the fact that this headdress began to be replaced with ordinary scarves.

Since their inception, they were worn by women of all classes - from commoners to queens, but as a result of the reforms of Peter I, this headdress remained only with the representatives of the peasantry, merchants and bourgeoisie.

The triumphant return of the kokoshnik to the wardrobe of the empresses

Kokoshnik, forbidden for the upper strata of society under Peter I, was returned to the female court costume by Catherine II, who renewed the fashion "a la russ".

As a German, Catherine the Great valued and respected everything Russian, which became the main criterion of her state policy during the years of her reign. The basic rule - "to please the people" - was developed in her youth, when she was still a princess. Her primary goal was to study the Russian language and become imbued with the Orthodox faith and its rituals. Emphasizing thereby her connection with the new country, which became her second homeland, she learned all these lessons diligently and for the rest of her life.

This canvas by an unknown artist depicts Catherine in a Russian carnival dress: in a rich kokoshnik, a sundress and a shirt with puffy sleeves. The queen's image is complemented by jewelry with large diamonds, striking in their massiveness.

Catherine's granddaughter, Alexandra Pavlovna, living in the era of romanticism, was already dressing up in a Russian costume, not as a carnival one, but as something historically valuable. And on her head we see a "crown" embroidered with a pearl thread, which was popularized in the northern provinces of Russia.

The Patriotic War of 1812 with Napoleon's army raised a huge wave of Russian patriotism in society, and returned interest in everything that was originally Russian in fashion. And again, a kind of folk Russian kokoshniks returned to high society. In the same years, Russian sundresses with an Empire style waist in red and blue colors came into fashion. The royal persons also dressed in the same way at the court.

The wife of Emperor Nicholas I, Alexandra Feodorovna, is depicted in a kokoshnik, which has been transformed into a pompous structure with huge precious stones. In 1834, Nicholas I issued a decree on the introduction for the fair sex of new court dresses in the style of "a la boyars", supplemented by kokoshniks.

The wife of Emperor Alexander III is Maria Feodorovna, depicted in a dress trimmed with ermine fur and a diamond kokoshnik. By the way, the fashion for such kokoshniks-tiaras, with diverging rays, spread throughout the world just from Russia and had the name: "the Kokoshnik Tiara".

In the second half of the 19th century, the rise of the Russian style took place in Russia again, which aroused interest in antiquity and Russian costume. A significant event was the 1903 Costume Ball in the Winter Palace, when the invited ladies had to dress up in the fashion of the 17th century in the style of “Russian kokoshniks”.

This headpiece, combined with a low-cut court dress, remained in the wardrobe of high society ladies until the fall of autocracy in 1917.

Kokoshnik fashion accessory 1920-1930

At the beginning of the 20th century, a fashionable trend “a la russ” developed in Western Europe, which imitated everything Russian. This was due to the wave of Russian immigration immediately after the 1917 revolution.

The list of famous brides of the world who got married in the 1920s in headdresses very much reminiscent of Russian kokoshniks-tiaras is huge.

And it is noteworthy that the English Queen Mary, the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II, was married in a headdress that resembled a Russian kokoshnik-tiara.

In modern culture, the kokoshnik has been an attribute of Christmas costume of the Snow Maiden … Although times change, and morals change.