Traditional Tajik costume developed as a part of Central Asian costume, and had common style and design features with other countries in the region. Until the twentieth century, both men and women wore bulky pants and long tunic shirts with no opening down the center front. The only difference between shirts for males and females was in the neckline shape: men's shirts had horizontal necklines, while women's had vertical necklines, designed for breast-feeding. In some ethnic groups young women's tunic shirts had the horizontal neckline shape until they were married or had their first child. Tunics for men and women had the same cut. The body of the garment, front and back, was made of one rectangular piece folded at the shoulders with underarm panels. The sleeves usually had a rectangular shape as well, or were slightly narrowed to the wrists. This design did not require scissors to cut; often the fabric was torn by hand. The center and side panels were cut with the fabric grain going lengthwise, while the grain in the sleeves went across, creating interesting pattern with the stripes in the men's coat, called khalat. The coat had no fastener, but could be tied with a sash or big colorful handkerchief folded diagonally. Money, tobacco, and other personal effects were kept in the folds of the sash.
In common with all Central Asian men, Tajik men had a large variety of headwear. They wore fur hats, turbans, and stiff squared little black caps, called tubeteika, with a white stylized pepper or cucumber embroidered on them. Men wore their hair closely cropped.
As in many Asian countries, women wore pants under their tunics, which were made in white or other light colors; to wear only a tunic was considered sinful. Pants were very wide at the waist and hips, tight at the ankle, and had a decorative trim at the bottom. Pants were an important part of the costume—women kept them on, even while sleeping. It was common to make the pants of two fabrics: plain white cotton for the upper part, and a colorful patterned silk or fine calico for the legs, which could be seen from under the dress. This tradition was developed not only to save expensive fabric, but also because they believed in the magical power of the color white, which was supposed to provide a woman with fertility and happiness.
A Tajik woman was not allowed to put her arms into the sleeves of a coat or wear any tops with a center front opening. A well-known proverb of the time explained this rule: "God told men to wear coats, but not women." Although women had a special kind of coat, called a parandja, they could wear it only with the a high neckline. In the winter females wore a little padded shirt under the long tunic. In the cities during the nineteenth century, women were required to cover entire their body, including the face. They used a specially designed scarf or net made of horsehair. A big white square scarf made of high-quality cotton or silk was used to cover the head. The typical jewelry was silver earrings, rings, and necklaces of coral or coins. Women braided their hair into thirty or forty tiny long plaits: the number marked the degree of beauty.
When this region of Asia was joined to czarist Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, traditional costume began to respond to Western culture, trade, and fashion. These changes were new for a Muslim country, where traditions and stability in the costume had been strictly protected by religion and prejudices. Mass-produced, inexpensive fabrics from Russian mills began to predominate over domestic home-woven textiles, making clothing cheaper and more affordable for everybody. The greatest transformation in traditional costume, however, occurred after the October Revolution (1917). The transformation continued during the building of the Asian Soviet republics over the following decades.
Modifications in traditional costume started with reforming the basic tunic cut. A more flattering shoulder line and a round armhole and sleeve cap made the garment more comfortable. In the late 1920s women started to wear tubeteika, which usually were made of black velvet or wool, embroidered with silver and colored threads, and decorated with hanging silver coins. Later, Tajik women adopted Western style for outer-wear: the parandja was transformed into a fairly tight-fitting jacket. Some elements of the traditional costume—such as the tubeteika—are still widely used in Tajikistan. The men's coat is still tied with a sash, especially by old men or in the villages. Tajiks often wear contemporary fashion but made from textiles with traditional patterns and hues.
Further Reading
Fairservis, Walter Jr. (1971) Costumes of the East. New York: Devin-Adair.
Sukhareva, O. A. (1982) Istoriya Sredneasiatskogo Costuma (The History of Central Asian Costume). Trans. by Elena Karpova.
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