In the vocabulary of modern fashionistas there are much more words than it was in ancient times. The explanation is simple. Today, the fashion industry covers all the territories of the earth and all peoples, new words are borrowed from different languages and almost without change very quickly come into use. For example, what was once called the common word "pants" is now referred to not only as trousers, shorts, jeans, harem pants, but also as sneakers, leggings, chinos, cordeoises, flares, cargo, jodhpurs, pipes, afghanis, etc.
The return of the caftan
The word "dress" has several meanings - this is a women's outfit, which is a skirt and a blouse that are combined into one whole, and in general the name of the clothes as such. Kaftan is in the broad sense the same as a dress, only its outdated, disused synonym. Not so long ago, caftans became fashionable as a subject of women's wardrobe in the form of a long dress, sometimes to the floor. So the word caftan again became modern.
What is caftan
In D.L. Mordovtsev's book, “Remarkable Historical Women in Russia,” published in 1911, the anachronism words “okhaben” and “zipun” stand side by side, duplicating each other. In the encyclopedias of outdated terms, they denote variations of Russian caftan. What does caftan mean now? This dress is without a collar, with long sleeves and not through, that is, not to the very bottom, with a front closure.
The sleeves of this garment are straight or expanding to the wrists. Often they end with an original volumetric design, which is vaguely reminiscent of old boyar caftans with very long sleeves with slots, which were previously used instead of mittens in the cold, as well as pockets. Now they have a different, exclusively decorative purpose. Kaftan is the subject of fashionistas' wardrobe. Dresses of this style can be seen on women in summer in resort places. Loose robes of a flying silhouette perfectly protect from the scorching sun and do not constrain movement. The old Polish caftan had sleeves, lush at the shoulder and gradually tapering from the elbow to the wrist. Ottoman was straight, with high cuts in the side seams. Russian kaftan-zipun - clothes of a tight-fitting silhouette, cut-off along the waistline and expanding with a bell to the bottom. Now this style is called "new bow." Language is a living and mobile system.
The lexical meaning of words is not immutable. Many words eventually die off completely or change their meaning. The words caftan, epancha, shushun either completely went out of use, or began to be used in another form. The tailor's term "pants" is now used only when describing items of men's wardrobe. There are no pants in the women's arsenal, but there are more than forty items of what has a step seam in the pattern and has historically come from pants. It looks like a funny thing, doesn't it? A short dress that is cut and trimmed resembling a caftan is a tunic. But an authentic Greek tunic has nothing to do with a modern long blouse.
What caftans are sold in stores
If you go into a fashion boutique of foreign branded clothing and ask if they can buy a caftan, then you will be offered a choice of long dresses for the beach, for home or for a festive celebration. What does caftan mean for young saleswomen of these stores? This is a long, spacious dress with various finishes along the edges of the neckline, hem and sleeves. Finishing is from contrasting slanting inlay or from colorful braid. The caftan dress usually has the upper part of the shelf and the back of the adjacent silhouette. There can be no draperies, shuttlecocks, ruffles, lush collars, for example, only a small stand-up collar.
Kaftans of famous contemporary fashion designers
Young fashion designers are more focused on caftans of the peoples of Africa, Asia and Arabia, for example, Muhra, Arthka, Matthew Williamson.
Our famous compatriot - couturier Vyacheslav Zaitsev, gave new life to a caftan-zipun in his luxurious collection in the Russian style. His caftan is a short female coat cut-off at the waist with an fitted bodice and an expanding trapeze lower part. Those ancient outfits that inspired him to create this collection were sewn from plain fabric. He made his masterpieces from materials with a luxurious padding, traditional for shawls of Pavlovsky Posad manufactories.
Couturiers of the highest echelons of the fashion industry often turn to museums of ancient applied art for inspiration. In the stunning luxury of the sparkle of stones and gold embroidery of the Dolce and Gabbana collection “Byzantium”, the caftan is a dress of a direct, very simple cut, reminiscent of the outer clothing of Russian tsars.
Kenzo gave him a safari style. Low shoulders, a wide belt, and khaki fabric are a very peculiar vision of an old Russian outfit. Roberto Cavalli presented the audience with incredibly feminine flying caftan dresses made of the finest chiffon with animalistic patterns.
How the outfit looks on different types of figures
The theme of caftan is inexhaustible. This name means very different dresses that fit perfectly on all types of figures. They are suitable for any age category. A long caftan with vertical edges along the sections of the side seams and in front will make the corpulent physique narrower and more elegant, and will add growth to a low person. A lean figure trimmed on the chest and a belt on the waist will give a seductive volume in those places where it is not enough. A woman in a caftan looks more slender, soft, sexy. But originally, this type of clothing belonged to men's wardrobe items.
Will men wear kaftans again
Kaftans at different times for quite some time were military uniforms . They were richly embroidered with gowns, decorated with plastrons fastened to metal buttons, trimmed with fur, complemented by removable collars. Now a modern men's caftan can be found only with very great difficulty. If you succeed, it will take a lot of courage to put it on and wear it. Fashion on this issue is still on the side of women, but it is fleeting and very variable. Who knows, maybe very soon men will wear caftans again. Fashion is changing, some preferences are replacing others. But the meaning of the word kaftan remains the same - it is a convenient and practical outerwear.