Folk clothes and accessories of Ukrainian babies and kids

In Ukraine, children traditionally wore embroidered shirts from a very young age. The patterns served as the protection from evil. Most of the time, children were dressed in a shirt and nothing more – only at the age of 3, 10, or even 15 (depends on a region of the country), they added skirts, trousers, belts, and other garments. We’d like to show you some of the embroidered pieces of clothing used by Ukrainian kids at the beginning of the 20th century.

Embroidered shirts of small and teenage kids – boy’s shirts from various areas of Western Ukraine. The first half of the 20th century

Boy’s embroidered shirt (young teenage boy) from Borshchiv district, Ternopil region of Ukraine (western part of the country). The first half of the 20th century

Boy’s embroidered shirt from Mizhhirya district, Transcarpathian region of Ukraine (western part of the country). The first half of the 20th century

Boy’s embroidered shirt from Vynohradiv district, Transcarpathian region of Ukraine (western part of the country). The first half of the 20th century

Embroidered teenager boy’s shirt with simple but elegant embroidery patterns

Colorful embroidery designs on little girls’ shirts. The shirts have floral patterns on the front, sleeves, and cuffs

Young girl’s embroidered shirt with floral patterns

Richly embroidered and very festive young girl’s shirt. It has floral embroidery on the neckline, shoulders, sleeves, cuffs, and hem

Young girl’s embroidered shirt with floral pattern. The sleeves are richly embroidered and the hem is adorned as well

Outfit of a little shepherd from Chyhyryn district, Cherkasy region of Ukraine (central part of the country). The first half of the 20th century

Kid’s leather boots. Tarashcha district, Kyiv region of Ukraine (central part of the country), 1940s. The boots are made with a help of small wooden nails.

Baby’s cradle with a canopy made from a men’s embroidered shirt. Sarny district, Rivne region of Ukraine (western part of the country). The beginning of the 20th century