Caucasian style among the Cossacks

After some of the Cossack people moved to the Caucasus, their traditions and even outlook started to change: local traditional dress and weapons were better suited for mountainous conditions and for horse riding. Cossacks adopted elements of traditional Caucasian costume: the chokha (a sort of military coat), jackboots, etc. This outfit, practical as it was, also served as a symbol of masculinity and boldness among the Caucasian people – and soon it gained the same symbolic meaning for the Cossacks. The great Russian writer Lev Tolstoy describes a typical Caucasian Cossack copying the look and behaviour of a Caucasian ‘dzhigit’ (a skilful and brave equestrian).

A special uniform was introduced for Caucasian garrison troops in 1831, and it embedded Caucasian elements in Cossack dress culture: from now on, the Cossacks’ uniform included the chokha, a burka (in place of greatcoat) and a shalwar kameez, and their standard-issue weapons were hand guns and Caucasian sabres and daggers.

Women’s clothes were also influenced by local traditions, as a lot of Cossacks married local women. The costume included long-sleeved dresses and Caucasian head coverings. The Caucasian influence also explains Cossack women’s love for decorative metal brooches, rings, earrings and bracelets and cosmetics.

 

Lada Ledeneva, exclusively to VK