History of Russian Costume

The Glory of Russian Costume exhibition which this publication accompanies was created on the basis of materials drawn from the collections of leading Russian museums: the Pavlovsk Museum; the Arsenal Museum, Leningrad; the State Museums of the Kremlin, Moscow; the State Historical Museum, Moscow; and the State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. At the time, the exhibition of Russian costume was shown abroad for the first time, but in Russia these items, along with an enormous number of others, are shown in their respective museums for visitors to enjoy. Costume, as part of the material culture of society, reflects the history of the people. In this way, this exhibition as presented to an American audience went far beyond the framework of a narrowly professional one, and is definitely of great interest to the widest circles of the population.

The publication is written by scientific workers T. S. Alyoshina, L. V. Efimova, V. A. Malm, and M. M. Postnokova-Leseva, from the State Historical Museum; scientific workers I. I. Vishnevskaya and E. P. Chernukha from the Kremlin museum; and scientific workers T. T. Korshunova and E. Yu. Moiseenko from the Hermitage. It acquaints the visitor with the traditional shapes of Russian clothing, as well as with the character of the later all-European type of costume in Russia. The collection includes more than 500 authentic examples of clothing dating from the eleventh to the beginning of the twentieth century. The art of Russian costume is arranged chronologically into three sections: Russian Costume from the Eleventh to the Seventeenth Century, Folk Costume from the Eighteenth to Early Twentieth Century, and Urban Costume from the Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Century.