Bridal wreath avaAmong the traditional wedding headdresses around the world, there are many oddly-shaped, unique, or eye-catching pieces. Our modern veils, pillbox hats, and other wedding hair accessories can’t even be compared to some of that vintage folk headgear. And here are two examples of such bridal headpieces from Ukraine, the late 19th – early 20th century. Can you imagine wearing something like this for your wedding?

 

Both these wedding headdresses are stored in the National Museum of Hutsul and Pokuttya Folk Art in Kolomyia, Ukraine (Carpathian region).

They are authentic items that were once upon a time used by a real bride and a real groom. And they are somewhat typical headpieces for the area.

This is the bride’s headwear from 1930. It was the main piece but it was accompanied by several other items (like ribbons or a kerchief – because you won’t feel comfortable wearing this directly on your head).

 

Ukrainian bride’s headwear from 1930

 

This bridal wreath is made from feathers, foil, artificial flowers, and glass beads. The snow-white feathers are combined with colorful elements, creating a really festive look. Also, these foil pieces would sparkle in the sun, attracting attention to the bride.

And here is the groom’s headdress. It is no less unusual and impressive. It is a vintage piece from the late 1800s.

 

Ukrainian groom’s headdress

 

The shape of this headwear is similar to a flat top cap. It is made from straw and embellished with plenty of decorations: feathers, artificial flowers, tiny yarn pom-pons, glass beads, etc. Also, you can see two large bunches of feather grass on top. This plant resembles the pampas grass a little – fashionable trend of wedding seasons 2019 and 2020.

While a Carpathian or Hutsul bride would have a whole set of headpieces, the groom wears only one cap – for example, like this one.

Today, Ukrainian couples don’t usually use such headdresses, even for traditional weddings. They may wear a set of folk clothing (an embroidered shirt, an authentic skirt or trousers, a sheepskin vest, folk jewelry, etc) but no headgear this unique. The tradition to use similar pieces by the bride and groom is in the past. But they still amaze us when we visit folk museums and exhibitions.

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