National clothes in Volyn Polissya passed a way of development of many centuries. The clothes borrowed some of their details both from the neighbouring Western Europe and from the East. But the clothes always had, first of all, functional purposes and they were connected tightly with material–manufacturing possibilities. Manufacture of clothes in Volyn in the XIX–th century remained traditional due to the reason, that half–natural agricultural economy provided the population with all materials, necessary for their manufacture, almost completely. Breeding of domestic animals, hunting in forests gave furs, leather and wool to the population. Growing of flax, hemp and grain crops provided with materials, which became fabrics for manufacture of clothes after treatment. Procurement of bark of certain kinds allowed to plait light and comfortable footwear, household objects. Therefore peasants made warm upper clothes of furs and leather, leather footwear and belts in their households themselves. They sewed upper and underwear, bed linen and many other things. The quality of products depended on the instruments and technological methods of manufacture. Decoration with different ornaments, patterns depended on beliefs, rites, traditions and local folklore. Besides protection of people against the influence of the nature, the clothes of Volynyans had ritual meaning too. Certain symbols, deposited onto clothes with embroidery, weaving and other methods, protected against evil spirits and eyes. The main symbols in decoration of clothes were the plants, which surrounded people.

Few people know, that it was white colour, but not black, which was the colour of grievance in Volyn Polissya yet in the beginning of the ХХ–th century. People understood, that God has called the soul of the person, who has deceased, and wore a white sleeve band and white clothes, i presume, as signs of sinlessness of the soul of the deceased person. We can talk for long about national clothes, but it is planned to carry all these things into life and to show three kinds of the clothes, which existed then, and to dress all the employees in folk Volyn clothes.

Guards and office workers in petit bourgeois (lower middle classes) clothes

Waiters, hotel workers in Volyn traditional clothing