The Dolgans' clothing is well adapted to the harsh climatic conditions in which they live and fishing activities. The dressing of hides with scrapers, the handles of which looked like works of art, and the sewing of clothes were considered the responsibility of women.
Dolgans wear designed national clothes. It is characterized by a slightly elongated back hem. This is explained by the Dolgans as follows: when they sit on cold ground, this elongated hem replaces them additional bedding. Clothes and shoes were sewn with vein threads. The clothes were decorated with many various ornaments, which represent a beautiful pattern from combinations of beautiful patterns, it conceals certain information that the craftswoman wanted to lay. Embroidery can be a story about the life of a tribe, a fairy tale, a song.
The simplest type of geometric ornament of the Dolgans - the striped ornament - was significantly developed by them. It is performed in various ways - with dye on rovduga, most often with white hair bundle along the edges of the pattern, sewing colored fabric onto the skin, sewing in pieces of colored or dark fur, sewing on colored beads. The number of bands is different - from one or two to several dozen. Dolgans, like other peoples of the North, love to diversify the colors and material of the stripes, as well as their width. In addition to the stripes in the Dolgan ornament, there is a group of motifs in the form of rectangles, squares and rhombuses - large, small, superimposed on one another or placed at an angle. Sometimes the squares are staggered. Along with such motifs, there are triangles, zigzags, two belts of triangles with a zigzag motif between them, chevrons. Zigzags are often supplemented with small elements - rectangles, short vertical lines, circles.
В отличие от других народностей Севера долганы имели однослойную верхнюю одежду. Обычно ее шили в период наступления полярного дня. Это тяжелый изнурительный труд, требующий времени и терпения, усердия и мастерства. Этому учатся с детства. Нужно виртуозно владеть скребком. Наиболее употребим долганский скребок (бака), который под тем же названием известен нганасанам и энцам. Другой скребок (кыхыан) известен у нганасан под название моротенса, у энцев – нагио и считается у них долганским.
There are 18–20 varieties of Dolgan clothes of different cut, but the general appearance is almost the same. Patterns, in today's concept, were not practiced, and the sizes were verified with the help of your fingers. First, the craftswomen selected the same skins with a short nap and proceeded to cut using a special knife. They cut out three curly details of the back, then shelves, sleeves, which form a straight line from the shoulder. Women's clothing is fitted, elongated at the back. The front hem converges end-to-end, buttoned or tied in suede stitches. The lower part of the hem is flared, wedges are sewn on the sides.
The Dolgan ornament palette is based on a combination of black, white, blue, red and green colors. Dolgan men's clothing also has several varieties, quite peculiar, sewn from long-haired deer skins, which are worn over a polar fox or fox coat, perfectly retain heat and are convenient for working in the tundra. Fur sakuis - wide, flared at the bottom, long to the heels, with a hood - are worn over clothing on frosty days during long trips. Sakui made of white dense fabric is worn over all clothing during a blizzard and winds. Festal dress were also sewn for men. Outerwear for men is fitted and flared at the bottom. It can be short, up to the knees, and long, gathered at the back. The main part of this garment is made of black cloth. The sewn-on border is narrow, red. It is embroidered, like women's, with beads or colored threads. The chest is decorated with a rosette pattern, which is embroidered interspersed with vertical stripe patterns. The belt, collar, cuffs are decorated with stripes with a "tumus" ornament. The hem and edges of the sides are bordered with fluffy "karga apyu" fur.
Hats were sewn for festive and everyday use. The hat has a hood-like shape and consists mainly of four parts: two lateral, longitudinal and front, insulated inside with the fur of a polar fox or a hare. The hat fits around the head, protecting the ears, the back of the head, and is tied in front with narrow suede stitches. The huge variety of hats is striking, each of which had its own purpose. A festive beaded men's hat was sewn of black cloth, non-popping fur on a fur lining. Such a hat was carefully embroidered by young craftswomen. There was a custom: if a girl puts on such a hat to her chosen one, then they are considered engaged. The hood was decorated with beads and appliqué, on the head along the face there was an embroidered strip. A bright red cloth insert was sewn into the back of the head, which was decorated with an ornament of colored beads in the form of four petal rosettes. On the sides of the strip, beaded figurines in the form of sharp corners with a point downward were located diagonally. The whole composition ended with a fur edge.
The women's hat made of fox paws consists of two side pieces and one longitudinal 10 cm wide, which drops to the back of the head, it is inlaid with skillfully selected narrow stripes of fox paws in dark brown and yellowish tones. The front and occipital parts are bordered with wolverine fur. Women's hats are usually worn over bright colored scarves with tassels. Shoes made from reindeer kamus are very diverse. It is divided into home - short and long, shoes for the street, for the holidays. Men's and women's high fur boots have vertical inserts embroidered with colored beads. The upper part of high fur boots is sewn of red cloth 12-13 cm wide, embroidered with beads with a rosette pattern, which alternates with vertical patterned stripes. Usually, these shoes are made from very dark or white kamuses. The peculiarity of children's shoes, the so-called "shoulder blade", is that the edge of its nose is rounded, like a shoulder blade. It is comfortable for children to walk in such jackets and easily put them on their feet. The soles of all types of shoes are made of tanned reindeer hide with fur inside. On autumn-spring days, dry grass insoles are inserted to absorb moisture. оленя. Особенностью детской обуви, так называемой «лопатки», является то, что край ее носовой части имеет округлую форму, как лопатка. В таких унтайках детям удобно ходить и легко надевать их на ноги. Подошвы на все виды обуви ставят из выделанной оленьей шкуры мехом внутрь. В осенне-весенние дни для впитывания влаги вкладываются стельки из сухой травы.
Even before the revolution, the Dolgans sewed clothes for themselves from fabrics. Men wore Russian-style shirts and trousers, women wore dresses, over which they wore closed aprons.
To decorate women's clothing made of cloth, Dolgan women used various decorative items: a ring with openwork chains with cut ornaments dropping from five to ten, which was worn over the dress; crafted from base silver, engraved bracelets, earrings on a long pendant with openwork carving. Most of the jewelry was imported from Yakutia in exchange for other goods. The Dolgans made their outerwear from purchased fabrics. The clothes were girded with a beaded belt. They had no underwear. Men and women all year round wore cloth caftans - sontap, in winter they also wore polar fox and hare coats, deer parkas with a hood and sokuy. Dolgan men's caftan and old men's and women's aprons are similar to Evenk parkas. Winter shoes made of reindeer kamus (similar to Evenk high fur boots) of 2 types: short, under the knees and above the knees. Summer shoes were sewn from rovduga. Festive clothing and footwear were richly decorated with beads, appliqués from colored strips of fabric, embroidered with reindeer hair over rovduga, dyed red with a decoction of alder bark or ocher and black with graphite. In the past, there were embroidery with tendon threads on the straps and belts of a reindeer team.
