Sadly, Russian troops in Ukraine are not only killing people and animals and destroying buildings, infrastructure objects, plants, and factories, they’re also destroying our historical sites and cultural objects, including folk museums, together with their collections. Ukrainians are very skilled in the craft of embroidery, so many local museums store vintage needlework samples and embroidered clothing, some of which are extremely rare and valuable. Some of the samples you’ll see in this post are probably already gone because they were stored in folk museums in those cities that suffer from heavy bombings.
Ukrainian folk museums and multiple private collections preserve thousands of needlework samples and embroidered pieces of clothes, both vintage and modern. Among the most culturally valuable and rarest examples of Ukrainian traditional embroidery are vintage male shirts and other items of clothes adorned with folk needlework. There are considerably fewer authentic men’s garments than women’s that survived the last 100 years, so each item counts. And it’s a disaster when such pieces are destroyed.
Here are the best and rarest needlework samples on vintage Ukrainian male clothing from different regions of the country.
Embroidered front of male shirt from Novhorod-Siverskyi district, Chernihiv region, northern Ukraine, the late 19th – early 20th century
Groom’s wedding embroidered shirt from Sokal district, Lviv region, western Ukraine, the beginning of the 20th century
Embroidered front of male shirt from Ratne district, Volyn’ region, western Ukraine, the early 20th century
Groom’s embroidered sheepskin vest from Kitsman district, Chernivtsi region, western Ukraine, the first half of the 20th century
Embroidered front and neckline of men’s shirt from Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Embroidered front of male shirt from Makariv district, Kyiv region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Sophisticated embroidered cuffs from Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Embroidered front of male shirt from Hadiach district, Poltava region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Wonderful embroidered cuff of men’s shirt from Sniatyn district, Ivano-Frankivsk region, western Ukraine, the first half of the 20th century
Elegant embroidered front of male shirt from Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Embroidered front of male shirt from Romny district, Sumy region, eastern Ukraine, the early 20th century
Embroidered front of male shirt from Yavoriv district, Lviv region, western Ukraine, the first half of the 20th century
Wonderful needlework on male woolen leg wrappings, western Ukraine, the first half of the 20th century
Embroidered front of male shirt from Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Embroidered front and collar of men’s shirt from Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Embroidered men’s shirt and unique hat from Sarny district, Rivne region, north-western Ukraine, the end of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century
Needlework on male shirt and cuff from Vinnytsia region, central Ukraine, the early 20th century
Multicolored embroidery on the front of male shirt from western Ukraine, the early 20th century
