The kokoshnik is a tradition

Tradition

A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...

al Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n head-dress worn by women and girls to accompany the sarafan

Sarafan

A Sarafan is a traditional Russian long, shapeless jumper dress worn as Russian folk costume by women and girls.Chronicles first mention it under the year 1376, and since that time it was worn well until the 20th century. It is now worn as folk costume for performing Russian folk songs and folk...

. It is patterned to match the style of the sarafan and can be pointed or round. It is tied at the back of the head with long thick ribbons in a large bow. The forehead is sometimes decorated with pearls. The woman or the girl usually wears her hair in a plait

Plait

A plait may refer to:* Plait, also called a braid, intertwined strands of, for example, textile or hair* Plait, now called a pleat, a fold of fabric, used in clothing and upholstery* Plait , a fold in the columella of a gastropod mollusc...

. It resembles the French hood

French hood

A French hood is a type of woman's headgear popular in Western Europe in the sixteenth century.The French hood is characterized by a rounded shape, contrasted with the angular "English" or gable hood. It is worn over a coif, and has a black veil attached to the back. It was introduced to England...

 worn in Tudor

Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...

 England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

, but without the veil

Veil

A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...

. Until the time of Peter the Great, it was worn only by girls and unmarried women, without veil or headscarf, showing hair, including plait. Married women wore a version of the kokoshnik which was a tall hat which is decorated like kokoshnik, covering all the hair and they also wore with it veil underneath or headscarf over this type of kokoshnik. This distinction then survived in peasant communities until the Revolution.

The word kokoshnik first appears in the 16th century documents, and comes from the Old Slavic

Old Slavic

Old Slavic may refer to:*the Old Church Slavonic language*the Proto-Slavic language language...

 kokosh, which means a hen

Chicken

The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

or a cockerell

Cockerell

Cockerell is a surname, and may refer to:*Charles Robert Cockerell, British architect, son of Samuel Pepys Cockerell*Christabel Cockerell , British artist, wife of George Frampton...

. However, the earliest head dress pieces of the similar type (rigid and completely covering the head) have been found in the 10th-12th cc. burials in Veliky Novgorod

Veliky Novgorod

Veliky Novgorod is one of Russia's most historic cities and the administrative center of Novgorod Oblast. It is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. The city lies along the Volkhov River just below its outflow from Lake Ilmen...

.
Kokoshnik gave its name to the decorative corbel

Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...

 arch that was a distinctive element of traditional Russian architecture

Russian architecture

Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots were established in the Eastern Slavic state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of Kiev, Russian architectural history continued in the principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, the succeeding states of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire,...

 since 16th century (see kokoshnik in architecture

Kokoshnik (architecture)

Kokoshnik is a semicircular or keel-like exterior decorative element in the traditional Russian architecture, a type of corbel zakomara . Unlike zakomara that continues the curvature of the vault behind and carries a part of the vault's weight, kokoshnik is pure decoration and doesn't carry any...

).

During the revival of Russian national culture in the early 19th century, these diadem-shaped tiara

Tiara

A tiara is a form of crown. There are two possible types of crown that this word can refer to.Traditionally, the word "tiara" refers to a high crown, often with the shape of a cylinder narrowed at its top, made of fabric or leather, and richly ornamented. It was used by the kings and emperors of...

s became part of the official court dress for royalty and ladies-in-waiting. This time, the variety used traditionally by unmarried women was worn by both unmarried and married women, showing front part of hair, and it had a translucent veil falling down the back. It was worn by peasant girls and women on special occasions until the Russian Revolution.

After the Revolution kokoshnik was introduced into the Western fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

 by Russian émigré

Émigré

Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....

s. Even before, it was a wedding head dress of Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....

, the Queen consort of the United Kingdom.

Today kokoshniks, mainly as worn traditionally by unmarried girls and women, are worn chiefly by girls and women in Russian folk ensembles. Kokoshnik is also a part of traditional costume of Snegurochka

Snegurochka

Snegurochka , or The Snow Maiden, is a character in Russian fairy tales.In one story, she is the daughter of Spring and Frost, and yearns for the companionship of mortal humans. She grows to like a shepherd named Lel, but her heart is unable to know love...

, the niece and assistant of Ded Moroz

Ded Moroz

Ded Moroz is a fictional character who in some Slavic cultures plays a role similar to that of Santa Claus. The literal translation of the name would be Grandfather Frost, although the name is often translated as Father Frost....

 (the Russian Santa).

One of the costumes of Senator Padmé Amidala

Padmé Amidala

Padmé Amidala is a fictional character in the Star Wars science fiction franchise. She first appeared on film in the 1999 feature film, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, as the young queen of the planet Naboo. In subsequent prequel trilogy films, Padmé represents Naboo in the Galactic Senate...

 in the Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 saga, the Gold Travel Costume, was based on the Russian national costume with kokoshnik, known in the West from the photographs taken during 1903 Ball in the Winter Palace

1903 Ball in the Winter Palace

1903 Ball in the Winter Palace — the famous luxurious ball during the reign of the emperor Nicholas II of Russia in the Winter Palace, St.-Petersburg...

.

External links

Kokoshnik in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia is one of the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedias in Russian and in the world, issued by the Soviet state from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 .-Editions:There were three editions...