Old Believers in North America

WORKS IN TEXTILES & COSTUME

Museum and Archival Collections

Museum of Russian Old Orthodox History and Culture, Our Lady of Tikhvin Center, St. Benedict, OR.

Pratt Museum, Homer, AK.

Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB.

Randall V. Mills Archives of Northwest Folklore, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

Written Works

Bird, Gail. Russian Punchneedle Embroidery. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1999. 56 pp.

Carrasco, Priscilla. Praise Old Believers. Portland, Oregon: Priscilla Carrasco in association with Burdock/Burn Art Resource, 2003. 334 p.

Johnson, Patricia White. “Dress and Acculturation among the Russian Old Believers in Oregon.” MA thesis, Oregon State University, 1983. 134 pp.

Jones, Suzi. Webfoots and Bunchgrassers: Folk Art of the Oregon Country. Salem, Oregon: Oregon Arts Commission, 1980.

Kojin, Agripina, and Olympiada Basargin. How to Make a Talichka (Romanized): (Talichka). [Anchor Point, Alaska]: Nikolaevsk School, 1984.

Kojin, Agripina, and Olympiada Basargin. How to Make a Sarafan (Romanized): (Sarafan). [Anchor Point, Alaska]: Nikolaevsk School, 1984.

Maginnis, Tara. "Old Believer Dresses." The Costumer's Manifesto.

Milgram, Miriam. Field Report File 1986/025. Randall V. Mills Folklore Archive, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

"Russian Settler's Dress" (sewing pattern #128). Asheville, N.C.: Folkwear (n.d.).

Todd-Hooker, Kathe. "The Embroidery of the Russian Old Believers." Piecework 9, no. 3 (May/June 2001): 46-48.

Clothing of Oregonian Old Believers

Russian Old Believers came to Oregon from different parts of the world in 1960s. Old Believers’ clothing from Xinjiang Region of China differs in a few details from Harbin style clothing of Old Believers from Manchuria. The clothing of Old Believers from Turkey is significantly different from Xinjiang clothing. There is a significant difference between the clothing of Old Believers from two Turkish areas where they used to reside. In Oregon Russian Old Believers from Turkey are called “Turchane = турчане” (Turkish Old Believers). In Turkey, there were two groups of Old Believers: “Kubantsy = кубанцы” Old Believers who came to Turkey directly from Kuban Region (Russia); “Dunaki = дунаки” comprised a group of Old Believers (Danube Old Believers) because their ancestors used to reside in Danube Delta before migrating to Turkey.

Women’s Clothing

In Oregon, “talechka = талечка” or “tal’ka = талька” (a special dress with yoke) is one of the most popular women’s wears. Talechka was introduced by Danube Old Believers from Turkey. The clothing of Kuban Old Believers from Turkey did not spark any interest among Oregonian Old Believers.

Talechka has undergone noticeable changes over time. Previously, when the Old Believers lived in Turkey, this outfit consisted of two parts: a sleeveless dress with a yoke and a shirt worn as an undergarment. The collar of the shirt closed tight around the neckline. The belt was loose and separate from the dress.

Talechka of present days is a long dress with a yoke and sleeves.

The back of the bodice is cut and the waistline has a stitched elastic band. Talechkas are made from a variety of synthetic fabrics.

East Slavic type shirts were popular among Oregonian Old Believers, including Turchane (Russian Old Believers from Turkey). Women’s shirts of Old Believers from Turkey had shoulder straps and underarm pads. The shirt had two parts: the upper part was usually made of expensive and fine fabric whereas the lower part was made of cheap and coarse fabric. The lower part of the shirt was called “stanushka = станушка” which serves as an underskirt.

Old Believers who came from China used to wear shirts and “sarafans” which looked like sundresses. The shirt was with shoulder straps, a frilled collar and sleeves stitched to the skirt made of “plain fabric.”

Xinjiang Old Believers’ shirts had very frilled and embroidered collars in contrast to slightly frilled collars of shirts worn by Harbin Old Believers. Xinjiang Old Believers shirts had frills in front whereas Harbin Old Believers shirts had frills in the back. These shirts were wide and overblown. In the 1980s, frills fashion began to recede.

In addition to shirts of this type, there were also whole-cut ones.

Another basic element of a traditional Old Believer women's costume was “sarafan” (a sundress).

Elderly Old Believers remembered that Old Believer women in China used to wear bark-cloth-dresses called “dubasy = дубасы.” This name is associated with the method of manufacturing the fabric by beating it off in the bark from larch or any other species of trees.

By cut, sarafan-sundresses were mainly squint and straight or round.

Round or straight sundresses were loose with narrow straps and frills on top. This is the most common and typical style of Russian Old Believers’ sundresses. On the underneath of the seamy side, a hem was sewn which was made of a cheaper fabric than the ones used on the top part.

But if the earlier outfit consisted of two parts: a sundress and a shirt worn under a sundress, then in the late 1980s the outfit was simplified: the upper part of the shirt began to be sewn directly to the sundress with sleeves. Such a sundress rather resembles an ordinary dress. Currently, women wear underskirts beneath sarafans or talichkas instead of shirts.

The length of women's clothing has changed. When the Old Believers came from China, they wore sundresses up the middle of the lower legs. Old Believer women from Turkey wore ankle length sarafan-sundresses. Now, sundresses and talichkas are maxi long. Young girls love when their ultra-long-dresses touch the floor a little.

Every married Old Believer woman in Oregon wears a headdress called “shashmura = шашмура.” This is a kind of a cap that has a cloth roller. The cloth roller is on the forehead of the cap to add volume and shape the headgear. Old Believer women tighten their shashmuras with laces called “gashnik.”

Shashmura also means a complete set of a headdress including a cap with a cloth roller and a scarf over it.

Old Believer women from Turkey learned how to wear shashmura from Old Believers from China. Old Believer women from Turkey had a similar headdress: a cap with a cloth roller, a kerchief over it, and a scarf tied under the chin. It was called “kichka.”

An obligatory attribute of a women’s outfit was an apron. During the holidays they put on a festive apron decorated with hand embroidery. Currently, aprons are not worn.

In the beginning of their arrival in Oregon, Old Believers used to embroider their outfit. Today hand embroidery has completely vanished.

Another obligatory element of the costume is the belt. Oregon's Old Believers used to weave belts by hand. Now they send orders for woven belts to their relatives in Brazil. The title belts used to have inscriptions.

Men's clothing

Currently, Oregonian Old Believers from Xinjiang, Harbin, and Turkey wear same types of shirts with a slit in the middle and tied with a belt.

One can often see Old Believer men wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers and a Russian style shirt with embroidered collar.

In China and Turkey, the elderly Old Believer men wore shirts with an oblique and straight cut on the left side, which were fastened with just one button.