History of Ukrainian embroidery

According to an old Ukrainian tradition, embroidered shirts were made of white linen. They were embroidered with red-black or blue colorful patterns. They were worn on holidays and weekdays. But there are also embroidered shirts made of black fabric. Some do not like this color, they consider it a sadness symbol, others perceive it as a tribute to fashion, a new modern version of embroidery. However, such shirts existed in Ukrainian clothing before. They have their own symbolic meaning.

The traditional white fabric color symbolizes God the Father for the Slavs, this color contains life, strength, purity and energy. White embroidered shirt brings good health to its owner, improves his state of mind, brings good luck. Embroidered ornaments and patterns delight the eye with an abundance of red, which represents Fire and Love, masculinity and the riot of life. Black fabric color is a symbol of earth, wisdom, knowledge and wealth. The father passed the black shirt to his son in order to pass on to him his experience and accumulated knowledge, which the black embroidered shirt absorbed.
Basically, black embroidered shirts in the past were worn by elderly people, they were the bearers of many knowledge and great experience of generations. Black shirts were very fond of the Ukrainian rebels during the Second World War. The soldiers in the trenches could not keep their shirts clean, so black embroidered shirts were more practical for them. The black color of the shirt has much better camouflage properties. Thus, the black embroidered shirt saved the soldiers’ lives and supported them morally. There are songs dedicated to black embroidery.
Black embroidered shirts are more practical, they can be worn every day and on weekdays. Now they have gained great popularity, they are worn mostly by young people.

Where can you buy an embroidered shirt?
Welcome to EthnicandMedieval, a new built ethnic clothes online store! There is a large choice of ethnic Ukrainian clothing - men's embroidered shirt, women's embroidered blouses and dresses, a lot of ethnic accessories etc.