Reaper
1871
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Location in museum
The Mikhailovsky Palace
Open the panorama of the hall in the virtual tour
Room 28 - Period Late 19th century
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Shirts had particular cuts and colors in every region. Depending on the purpose they were either modestly decorated with narrow strips of pattern on the hem and the shoulders, or covered with ornaments on the sleeves, hem, collar and breast as part of the festive costume. In ancient times these motifs were considered symbols of fertility and warded off bad luck.
Shirts were commonly cut with straight insets — straight shoulder parts, finely stitched at the collar, often accentuated with color — made from bright red calico. There are also shirts without insets, with thickly gathered ruffles at the collar. Shirts collars often have hundreds of tiny ruffles about a millimeter deep which not only give the cloth certain flexibility, but also allow for a wider hem, making the clothing more comfortable to move in.