The Turkmen national costume is a unique and most expressive phenomenon of the material and spiritual culture of the people, which characterizes its customs, way and lifestyle. For thousands of years, the main type of clothing has been preserved, which has become one of the brightest distinguishing features of the original material culture, the ethical worldview of the people.
And, in addition, the aesthetic ideas of skilled craftswomen are embodied in it, this is also a very important moment of everyday ethics, way of life, dictated by the norms of strict morality and rules of behavior.
The uniqueness of the traditional costume - multicomponent and extremely decorative, saturated with magical symbols, the artistic image of which required technical perfection - is also in the fact that it has not lost its relevance today.
Under the influence of cultural, economic and social progress, the conditions for organizing life, the suit underwent transformations, not entirely, but gradually. So, some elements became obsolete, disappeared altogether, others changed, and still others appeared. However, elements that traditionally carry the features of ethnicity and that have developed in the process of historical development have survived to this day.
The witchcraft power of the Turkmen folk costume is so great that, once glancing into this treasury and realizing its connection with customs, rituals, with the most ancient sources of our culture, when the magical meaning of things, images turned into aesthetic, you can no longer tear yourself away from it. Reasons of a different nature - social, religious, tribal, ritual, etc. - served as an impetus for the concrete embodiment of certain shapes, lines, colors by the people.
The national costume of the Turkmen took shape over the centuries and developed continuously throughout the history of the people, reflecting the national specifics of its culture and way of life, the way of life in general. The evolution of the clothes of the Turkmen people from ancient times to the present day is a mirror reflecting its entire history. The clothes of each ethnic group of the Turkmen had a distinctiveness, which manifested itself not only in style and technique, but also in its types.
The traditional Turkmen costume is a rather complex. The basis of this complex was made up of components of various purposes: underwear, waist and upper, as well as every day, festive, and ceremonial.
Since women's clothing, to a greater extent than men's, retains the features of ethnic specificity, as well as ancient elements, it is the women's costume that is distinguished by its multicolor, unique originality of the ornament, which always conveys in various nuances the features of the creative individuality of the craftswoman.
For a long time, the Turkmens have produced by handicraft methods practically everything necessary for a family, economy, and everyday life. All products, especially types of clothing, are unique already because they were environmentally friendly, without any impurities. The assortment of fabrics was quite wide: cotton, silk, wool, they were of all kinds and varieties, and differed in the technique of dressing.
Having selected everything valuable and useful from the past, the national costume in a new high-quality design entered the clothes of modern Turkmen.
(To be continued)
Ajap Bayrieva, ethnographer, Ph.D
Photo by the author
