The Jews added to their clothes some elements
which let them distinguish from other people and stress their national belonging. The Jews completed their local
clothes with some Jewish accessories.
Daily apparel of the Jews was not too rich, which
was connected with both religious principles and with everyday activities.
Men used to wear clothes in western European style and women used to wear
dresses patterned after the ones worn by middle- class or gentry or just as men they accepted western
European fashion.
The Jews used to wear black color in order to distinguish themselves
from other people. They thought that their
main aim of life is to reproduce.
Jewish also wore
sidelocks and beard.
Clothes of Jewish women did not differ much from clothes of typical middle- class woman. It consisted of a skirt, apron, blouse,
corset or dress and in case of a married woman – of a bonnet. The Jewish
women were distinguished only by a
bib or a special kind of a headgear- a kind of a decorative band worn
only by unmarried women.
After wedding women had their
hair cut and their heads were
covered.
They used different headgear. The most
popular and decorative one was a bonnet which
became a symbol of a married woman and according to Jewish
custom it covered the whole head. Bonnet was worn all the time- for a typical day it was very
modest and during holidays they put one more decorative one. Different bonnet was used at night
for sleeping.
An important element of Jewish women’s clothes was an apron
which was put on the skirt.
Poorer Jewish women put on
plain skirts and printed aprons.
Richer Jewish women wore aprons made of
silk or cambric.
In the 18th century the Jews were often dressed
in żupan (a very long dress with sleeves and a row of
small buttons, made of rich textiles), delia
(a kind of coat worn on żupan), kiereja ( a kind of loose coat with fur
underside) or szuba (a kind of huge overcoat with fur underside and
with a fur collar)
They were also willing to wear
typical Polish clothes because of their
length and foldings.
Jews usually wore black jerkins or
overalls and wide round black hats.
Jerkins and overalls were tied with belts.
In 19 th century they wore long trousers.
Legs had to be fully covered so people put on long socks or
stockings. The Jews wore leather boots, flat shoes and shoes called
gaiters.
During Sabbath and other holidays men
wore more decorative apparels such as long black, silk coats called
bekiesz, and as a headgear they had
small round velvet hat hemmed with fur.
Youngest men often wore a cap called
kaszkiet.
Hassidic Jews- married men who wore ‘shtreimels’
(hats made of genuine fur from a sable or a fox) on
Shabbat.
Orthodox Jews wore yarmulkah all the time- at home, on
the street, in synagogue, no
matter if other caps were also worn at
the same time.
yarmulkah
During the prayers in synagogue men put
'tałes’ on their heads, wchich was a
rectangular white scarf with symbolic black or
navy-blue stripes. Tałes was sewn from one kind of material- wool or silk.
It was also decorated with ‘atara’- a
decorative strip with silver embroidery.