Page:Costume, fanciful, historical, and theatrical (1906).djvu/173

CH. XII treat of the national costume without touching lightly upon those crises which determined the ultimate cut of a sleeve or the shape of a head-dress.

Long ago Byzantium imposed its religion and its fashions upon its great northern neighbour. Both were readily adopted by Russia, and a significant side-light is thrown upon the national character by the fact that when, in the thirteenth century, the Mongolian invasion reversed the political situation, the vanquished adopted the dress of their conquerors, but not their faith. This is strictly true of all but the sovereigns, whose costume remained more or less faithful to tradition, and never entirely departed from the Byzantium original.

Although Byzantium dictated the fashions of the classes, the masses were unaffected thereby, and the costumes of the serfs trace their source to Slav and Tartar, according to the district. The first things to impress the foreigner are the gorgeous nature of the fête dresses worn by the women, and the lavish use of gold trimming. This love of gold, as applied to decorative purposes, would appear inherent in the Russian character, revealing itself in the heavy gilding on the icons and the many glittering domes of Moscow and St. Petersburg. More suggestive of a fairy princess than of a peasant is the gala toilet of the female population of Tver. Contrived from thick silk shot with gold, the wide round skirt is pleated behind, the opening down the front and the hem bordered with gold, while the white chemisette vaunts puffed elbow-sleeves finished with frills, three rows of pearls encircling the collarless neck. In summer time the little sarafan, or, for want of a better term, jacket, is made without sleeves and resembles a