Zhytomyr Oblast

Zhytomyr embroidery is built on geometry: the most common motif is a rosette of zigzags, eight-pointed stars and rhombuses, with few plant patterns. The oldest local technique is zanyzuvannia; satin stitch came later, and cross-stitch from the mid-19th century.

"When I die, they'll dress me in it and that's it, no one will ever see this shirt. But if I give it to you, you'll put it in a museum and show it to everyone," said an elderly woman from the Ovruch community, handing the collector Valentyna Halkina the shirt she had prepared for her own burial.

Rushnyky found on rubbish dumps

For more than 14 years Valentyna Halkina from the village of Velyka Fosnia has been collecting old embroidered rushnyky and women's and men's shirts - some of which she finds on rubbish dumps, where they were thrown away as junk. Such pieces show what the Zhytomyr vyshyvanka was like before scholarly articles began to be written about it.

In her own words, there is enough material on the antiquities of Ukrainian Polissia - there are studies of the Kyiv, Rivne and Volyn parts of Polissia, but practically nothing on the Zhytomyr part. And it is a real gap: less is known about Zhytomyr embroidery than about the neighbouring regions.

Zanyz, weaving and satin stitch: how they embroidered

One of the oldest local techniques is zanyzuvannia, in which the thread passes under the threads of the linen rather than over them, so the pattern looks woven rather than embroidered. Most other regions of Ukraine rarely use it, but here it defines the most archaic layer of the local tradition.

Later, satin stitch appeared in these lands, and from the middle of the 19th century cross-stitch. White-on-white embroidery was also practised here - the same approach that made the Poltava region famous, only in a more restrained Polissian version. Together these three techniques shape the local ornament as researchers have recorded it.

Zhytomyr embroidery ornament: the rosette and geometry

A local feature of the Zhytomyr vyshyvanka is the predominance of geometric ornaments, a restrained use of plant patterns and a clear, crisp design. The most common motif is a rosette with a rhythmic repetition of broken lines, eight-pointed stars and rhombuses.

The oldest plant motifs are periwinkle and bindweed. Hops and grapes appeared later, under the influence of the nationwide fashion for plant embroidery at the end of the 19th century, when local embroidery began to take in elements from other regions without losing its own geometric basis.

Rushnyk curtains for icons

A special feature of the northern districts - the Ovruch, Narodychi and Korosten areas, where old vyshyvankas still turn up in family chests - is the rushnyk curtain. These were woven from flax on a loom in the 19th and early 20th centuries and hung over the icons in the pokut, the holy corner of the house.

This is a separate functional type of household textile, typical of the north of the region, where traditional crafts survived better because villages were far from large towns. Here embroidery was part of everyday life, not only of festive dress.

A museum that is 160 years old

The Zhytomyr Regional Museum of Local History is one of the oldest in Ukraine: it was founded in October 1865 on the basis of a private collection at the Russian Public Library in Zhytomyr. It stands on Castle Hill, in the historic part of the city.

The exhibition "Traditional Weaving and Embroidery of the Zhytomyr Region, Late 19th - 20th Century" presents household objects that museum staff did not buy but brought back themselves from expeditions to villages across the region.

Colours in Zhytomyr vyshyvankas

In the colours of the Zhytomyr vyshyvanka, red is combined with black or blue - the pair is not fixed, and depending on the piece the second colour is one shade or the other. In the generator the region's palette includes all three shades, so Zhytomyr ornaments look different from day to day.

The Zhytomyr region within Polissia

Polissia covers several regions: the Rivne region keeps to the oldest monochrome ornament, simple and clear; the north of the Kyiv region to old geometry in red and black. Zhytomyr vyshyvankas are the densest in this group - here the sleeve was covered completely, without leaving the bands or inserts that the neighbours use.

This density is how a Zhytomyr shirt is told apart from its Polissian neighbours even at first glance, before looking at specific motifs or techniques.

Not only Ovruch: other centres

Valentyna Halkina's collection focuses on the Ovruch community, but the Zhytomyr vyshyvanka does not end there. The Malyn, Korosten and Narodychi communities have their own variations on the same Polissian basis - with the same zanyzuvannia and geometry, but with small local differences in the choice of colour or the density of the pattern, which are still less well studied than the central regions.

One district documented in detail and the next one hardly at all is typical of the whole of Polissia, and the Zhytomyr region is no exception.

What is known about the Polissian dress of the Zhytomyr region

Ethnologist I. Nesen (2017) concludes that the folk costume of the Zhytomyr region is still not fully studied. Halyna Stelmashchuk began to research it systematically with her dissertation "The Folk Costume of Ukrainian Polissia", and in 2000 Liudmyla Ponomar defended a work on the clothing of Western Polissia with mapping. According to her findings, the clothing of Volhynian, Rivne and Zhytomyr Polissia forms separate types, the oldest women's waist garment of Zhytomyr Polissia is the paired apron, and Zhytomyr skirts differ from Volhynian and Rivne ones in decoration and materials.

A special layer is the culture of the "okolychna" petty gentry in the north of the region: here, according to Nesen, "zakladni" fabrics were in use and formed an integral part of the local costume. The researcher names weaving from flax, wool and partly hemp as the main and one of the oldest women's occupations in the region, so the Zhytomyr vyshyvanka always stood next to the woven pattern.

Shirt, skirt, bodice: reconstructing the dress

Maryna Vasylenko from Zhytomyr spent several years researching women's dress of Polissia in the 18th and 19th centuries, working with the holdings of the Ivan Honchar Museum and the regional museum of local history in Zhytomyr. As she told Suspilne (2024), Polissian costumes are marked by a white, red and black palette, natural fabrics and many layers. The first layer is a knee-length undershirt, always with embroidered sleeves, and the pattern differed for a married woman and an unmarried girl.

Next came a full skirt, a short "horsyk" bodice with ornament typical of Zhytomyr Polissia, an apron and a pouch, and on the head a long veil, later a headscarf. Thanks to local amber, amber necklaces with a crescent pendant were often worn.

Frequently asked questions

What is zanyzuvannia?

An old technique in which the thread passes under the threads of the linen rather than over them, so the pattern looks woven rather than embroidered. It is the most archaic layer of the local tradition: satin stitch came later, and cross stitch only from the mid-19th century.

What were icon-curtain towels for?

They were hung over the icons in the pokut, the holy corner of the house. Such towels were woven from flax in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and they are typical of the north of the region: the Ovruch, Narodychi and Korosten areas.

Is it easy to find Zhytomyr embroiderers today?

Harder than one would like: there is far less research on the Zhytomyr Polissia than on the neighbouring regions. Much rests on private collectors like Valentyna Halkina from Velyka Fosnia, who has spent more than 14 years rescuing old shirts and towels, sometimes from the rubbish.

Did embroidery distinguish married and unmarried women?

Yes. According to researcher Maryna Vasylenko, the sleeves of the undershirt in Zhytomyr Polissia were always embroidered, and the pattern of a married woman differed from that of an unmarried girl. The source does not describe the specific patterns.

If you notice a mistake, please let us know.