VYSHYVANKA IS THE SPIRITUAL ARMOR OF UKRAINIANS

Sumy National Agrarian University congratulates Ukrainians on World Vyshyvanka’s Day.

 

Every year, on the third Thursday in May, we celebrate the World Vyshyvanka’s Day – one of the national symbols of Ukraine. This year it falls on the 19th of May. On this day, it is usually to wear national clothes, wherever you have to go – to work, to meet friends or elsewhere. The embroidered shirt (vyshyvanka) on the 19th of May will become a symbol of the indomitable Ukrainian spirit, a statement to the whole world that Ukrainians are free people.

Today we want to tell you 10 interesting facts about vyshyvanka that you did not know for sure.

  1. The technique of the cross became popular only in the XIX century.
  2. An interesting fact about vyshyvanka concerns the day of the 17th of December, when the holiday of Barbara is celebrated. It was from this day that the girls started the party, where they embroidered together.
  3. Vyshyvanka was not the everyday clothing of Ukrainians.The list of interesting facts would not be complete if we did not mention that Ukrainians never wore embroidered shirts on a daily basis.
  4. Threads for embroideries in the technique of “white on white” were prepared for three years.

Incredibly interesting is the fact that the preparation for the embroidery of the needlewoman of Poltava region, where the unique technique “white on white” comes from, began 3 years before the beginning of the pattern.

  1. The girls learned to embroider from the age of five. It is an interesting fact that at the age of 5 the young needlewoman was able to hold a needle with a thread and decorate clothes with the simplest seams.
  2. Vyshyvanka’s Day is celebrated in 60 countries. Interestingly, flash mobs in vyshyvankas and marches are popular not only in Ukraine, but also in 60 countries where the Ukrainian diaspora is present.
  3. The colour of the threads for embroidery was fixed with dough. Interesting fact: before the advent of artificial aniline dyes, embroiderers used only natural dyes in the form of decoctions, tinctures of herbs, bark, flowers, fruit juice.
  4. The Vogue magazine wrote about Ukrainian embroidery in 2015. At that time, an entire article was devoted to Ukrainian ornaments.
  5. Vyshyvankas were distributed by colour. Black vyshyvankas were worn exclusively by men, blue vyshyvankas were in the wardrobe of women who did not want or could not give birth, or little girls under 12 years.
  6. The vyshyvanka is depicted on a twenty-hryvnia note, precisely, Ivan Franko is in vyshyvanka.

 

So, join this wonderful tradition of honouring Ukrainian folk costumes by wearing your vyshyvanka!