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Produced between 1920 and 1940, the dolls on display accurately depict traditional ethnic dress as worn by Russian peasants. Traditional peasant dress would soon be replaced by factory-produced fabrics and clothing. These costumes represent basic elements of Russian peasant outfits: a long homespun linen coat and a shirt worn over linen pants for men, and a sarafan (a kind of jumper) and long shirt for women. The dolls wear traditional lapti shoes on their tiny feet. Traditional footwear, known as lapti, was made from the bast fiber of the linden tree, or from strips of birch bark. These materials were light, inexpensive and abundant in the densely forested regions of northern and central Russia. The birch tree was commonly glorified in song and verse both by folk singers and Russian literary notables. Lapti were worn over long narrow strips of cloth, up to six feet long, wrapped around the lower leg and held in place by straps. |
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