After another week of work, I’m finally approaching the finish of my second draft/rewrite of book 1 in my Slavic fantasy series. It’s been a lot of work adding a second point-of-view and reworking it, but I’m confident the work will pay off. For this Slavic Saturday, though, I wanted to talk about the clothing of the early Slavs as well as the people in my books. The topic is partly because my wife, Andrea had bought me a Slavic tunic for my birthday, and after shipping delays it finally showed up this week! You can see a picture of it below, and I’m also wearing it in the video at the end of this post.
(June 2021 Updated) Note: If you enjoy Slavic mythology, check out A Dagger in the Winds, the first book in my Slavic fantasy series called The Frostmarked Chronicles. You can also join my monthly newsletter for updates and free novellas (such as the prequel, The Rider in the Night) set in the world of the series.
I want to start off with the fact I am not an expert on clothing. I’ve done plenty of research relevant to my books and managed to get a grasp on as much as possible, but regional differences, technological changes, and a lack of historical records can make things difficult. That being said, I’ll do my best!
The classic attire for an early Slavic man would’ve been a tunic made of cloth, leather, or wool, depending on the person’s wealth, the time of year, and the region. The tunic often stretched down to the mid to lower thigh or knee, but unlike their Roman and Greek counterparts, Slavs usually wore trousers of similar material underneath the tunic. This makes sense, especially in the winter, since many Slavic nations incur seriously cold temperatures compared to the regions bordering the Meditteranean. Because of this cold as well, cloaks of wool or fur were also common among men when traveling.
Women, on the other hand, wore tunics of similar design but slightly longer. These could often just be considered a dress, but they were never long enough to touch the ground (at least among early Slavs) as not to interfere with their work. They rarely wore trousers underneath their dresses, but they would also wear cloaks of wool or fur in the winter to keep themselves warm.
Because these clothes were usually of a simple design, they could be baggy, so a fabric belt or rope would be tied around the waist. This was crucial for those working in the fields. Using scythes and other tools was part of their life, and having your clothes interfere with your work or be cut by those tools was a serious hassle. Wool and other fabrics took a long time to make. This made even smaller fixes more of a problem, and some field workers would also use straw or leather strapped to their calves to protect both their clothes and legs. Their feet were often left barefoot due to the crafstmanship required to create leather shoes, but simple sandles or leather boots were often worn as well.
Hairstyles varied as well, but among men, it was common to have shorter sides and a longer top. Poland became famous later for the halfshaven head or czupryna hairstyle of shaving the hair above the ears and leaving the top very long. Unlike the Vikings, who Slavs are often compared to, the Slavic men did not tend to grow their hair out very long, but they did grow their beards. Until the age of twelve, though, boys would grow their hair out. When they turned twelve, it was considered a right of passage to manhood, and their father would cut their hair for the first time as part of a ritual.
Women, like men, had phases in their hairstyles. Girls would wear their hair braided until they are married as a sign that they are preparing for marriage. Married women would wear a headscarf or other garment over their hair as a traditional sign that she is already married. Women wearing their hair down completely was uncommon and frowned upon in public, though the goddess Dziewanna (Devana) was commonly pictured doing just that as a sign of female freedom in the wilds.
Now, the more simple attire would be replaced during festivals. Some festivals have more specific small touches that I’ll talk about in other posts, but I’ll touch on the biggest ones here.
Topienie Marzanny (the Drowning of Marzanna) and Noc Kupały (Kupala Night) were two such festivals that would bring out the most elaborate attire. The traditional male outfit during these festivals would be similar to the one I’m wearing in the picture, while women would wear a variety of dresses. More importantly, women would also wear flower wreaths/crowns that vary widely by country but were incredibly beautiful (examples from Poland and Ukraine). These wreaths were important parts of not only many weddings and festivals but also mythology itself. They’ll get a whole post because of their cultural impact, but on Noc Kupały, which is the old Slavic equivalent of Valentine’s Day, girls would place their wreaths into the river. It was said that if a boy found her wreath downstream, then they were destined to be married (and often were).
In my books, all of this has been taken into account, as the first book begins on the morning of Topienie Marzanny.
Wacław, the first protagonist in the story, is the second-born son of the high chief and his concubine (secondary wife). Due to this mix of the higher class from his father and lower nature of his mother, he wears that classic festival tunic (and later a normal workman’s tunic) but not much more. His trousers are simple cloth and his boots leather, and his only bit of jewelry is a wooden symbol of Mokosz that is worn around his neck with twine.
Otylia, who is the second protagonist, is a szeptucha, a whispering channeler of the gods’ power. Her father is the highest priest in the tribe, but it is her worship of the two goddesses she serves, Dziewanna and Mokosz, that is her core. Wearing a simple ash-colored dress, her personality comes from the array of bone amulets she wears on her belt, necklace, and wrists. Even her braided hair is adorned with bone talismans, and all of this is meant to strengthen her connection to her goddesses.
Most of the other characters draw from the simplicity of the early Slavic garb, but this is a fantasy series, of course, so you can be sure to see that style and magic tend to come together. When it takes significant work to craft anything, knowing magic can surely speed up the process and allow for more elaborate designs.
There are also a variety of characters that will appear from other cultures, inspired by nomadic clans such as the Huns, Alans, Budinians, Scythians, and Sarmations, Germanic tribes, and later in the series we may see some Frankish, Iranian/Persian/Sassanid, and Roman influences. Every culture has its own unique touches, and it’s been fascinating to research both the Slavic ones as well as others.
That’s all for this week’s Slavic Saturday. Be sure to keep a lookout for more posts next week, and if you haven’t seen the full series of posts, be sure to check them out.
*As always just a quick disclaimer. Slavic mythology is broad and not written in many if any primary sources, so there’s a variety of interpretations. The interpretations I’m using here are from the sources I’ve found to be reliable and as well as some creative freedom for my book series.