The dress of Lemko men was suited to most occasions, whether work or special occasions. The basic dress was thick white cloth pants (or linen trousers for summer) and a shirt. On festive occasions, a man would wear finer blue pants of woolen cloth.65 The shirt was of hemp or flax, slit down the front, and buttoned in the back or in the western Lemko Region, at the shoulders. It had a narrow collar laced with string or fastened with a button, and was decorated with needlework.66 On his feet, a man wore either home-treated leather shoes (variously called postoly, kerpci or chodaky) which were laced to the leg, or boots (chboty or skirni) into which the pants would be tucked; the pants were held up with a black leather belt with rows of ornate buttons. Boots were usually only worn on holidays or to village dances.67
A man's outer garments were the vest (lejbyk or bruslyk), short jacket (hunka) and cloak (chuhanja or chuha). The vest was typically blue with two or three rows of metal buttons, decorated with richly-colored needlework or, in the western areas, embroidered at the tails and collar in flower, twig, bud, or leaf patterns.68 The jacket, of coarse wool, was dyed white or black. In colder weather he might have also donned a cloak of black or brown homespun cloth, ornamented with white stripes and shoulder fringes. The cloak had wide sleeves, used as pockets.69 Finally, the men wore short-rimmed black hats with the rims bent upward, Hungarian-style,70 or in winter, a round sheepskin cap with flaps covering the ears.
Lemko women had a much more elaborate style of dress with designs and color patterns which varied widely from village to village. Their undergarments were the blouse (oplicha or chachlyk) and underskirt (spidnyk or podolok). The blouse had pleated sleeves gathered up at the collar and cuffs, which were narrow with embroidery at the ends, It was cut waist short and sewn onto the skirt (in the west) or tucked into the skirt (in the east). The blouse was decorated with embroidery at the neck, chest and sleeves. In Jaslo county, the sleeves were broader and had multicolored needlework on the lower parts.72
Over the blouse was worn either a sleeveless blouse (lejbyk) or bodice (korset or korsetka). The lejbyk was of factory produced linen, usually black, blue, or navy blue, and richly decorated in red needlework and multicolored laces plus brass buttons.73 The bodice (more common in the central and western counties), of coarse cloth, silk, or velvet, and lined with homespun linen, was buttoned up the center. It was embroidered with colorful threads and laced with tiny shining plates and flower shaped beads.74 In colder weather, women would also put on a sheepskin jacket (kozhushanka, worn in the central Lemko Region) made of cherry-colored velvet and decorated with color bouquets and chest embroidery, or a short yellow sheepskin wool-lined jacket (in Sanok county). Winter outerwear was either the unlined wool coat (serdak) or the lined jacket (hunka).75
The outer skirt (kabat or fartuch) for winter was made of homespun wool. The summer skirt was made of dyed print cloth with ornamental patterns. These skirts were wide and pleated at the waist and, in central and western villages, trimmed at the bottom with several horizontal rows of colored stripes. By the early 20th century, factory-produced skirts came to replace homemade ones.76 The smaller apron (zapaska or fartushok) was of white fabric, pleated and decorated with lace and color bands.77
Girls and unmarried young women were distinguished from married women in several ways. Girls would keep their hair in a single braid, tied with brightly colored ribbons, and might wear a white linen kerchief (chustka) over their hair.78 Married women, however, kept their hair in a tightly twisted small bun, clasped with a hazel-nut ring. Their hair was covered with a bonnet (chepec) and then a large shawl (babushka) colored white (or blue for elderly women) and decorated with flower designs. Special polka-dotted shawls were always worn to church, a party, or to a neighboring village.79 In the eastern villages, the colored skirts worn by unmarried girls were red, blue or pink; married women wore green skirts and widows wore black.80 The green skirt (menta), lined at the hem with fox fur and adorned with blue colored bands, was also worn by the bride at her wedding as well as by the wedding party.81
Jewelry was an important adornment; it usually took the form of strings of beads (krajky), necklaces of real red coral (korali) or imitation (colored glass). In the eastern areas, young women and girls might also wear around their neck a broad strip (gerdan or hardan) of colorfully embroidered cloth and beads. Women's footwear was very similar to that of the males: leather shoes, or yellow or black boots for Sundays and holidays. 82
Refer to Appendix IV for examples of Lemko folk dress
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