Russian Costumes

The Russian dress is known as a sarafan, it is worn over a blouse and can be loose or fitted. The Russian headdress is a kokoshnik, although a headscarf is also common. Strings of beads are a traditional accessory and also a small scarf or piece of lace for use in many dances.

This set of costumes has a very long history: they came to us from the West Midlands Group who no longer use them and they had been given them by a defunct Russian dance group thirty years earlier. The originals were all adult sizes and those worn by the girls pictured left have been altered to fit.


The man's shirt is called a rubashka it has a front left opening and is gathered in at the waist with a sash.

The trousers should be loose and baggy to enable freedom of movement, and are tucked into boots.