Maya Karueva, Men's Costumes

Abstract

Maya says that traditionally men wore a manishka, a chest decoration made from floral embroidery. The embroidery was made from golden or silver thread. On top of it ordinary men wore a dark dress called beshmet. The aristocracy, by contrast, wore white beshmets. All men had a belt around their waist with various things attached to it, including a knife, a leather bag containing a tobacco pipe, a whip etc. The men’s hat, toortsg, was decorated with a red thread at the top. In the video Maya shows a coat called uch made from foal’s skin, covered with a fabric. It is warm, soft and comfortable. Devl is a Kalmyk winter coat made from sheep’s skin. It is long and has a wide collar to protect the neck from the cold. When the Kalmyks were sent to Siberia, her grandmother, Maya recalls, used to make Kalmyk devl for the local people.