Festive Costume of Ludi Gorchkhanova

The article examines the unique surviving traditional Ingush festive costume of Ludi Gorchkhanova, as well as items of girls' closet and women’s handicrafts of the early 20th century, which make up the Bekov family collection. Analyzing the items and reconstructing the biography of Ludi Lorsovna allow us to reconstruct the way of life of an Ingush girl, a needlewoman of the first half of the 20th century, and to supplement information about the development of women’s crafts, particularly gold embroidery, in the region. The text also describes the transition of Ludi’s national costume from the status of a girl’s closet item to a family heirloom passed down through the female line. This research utilizes the interview method, working with visual sources and directly with the family collection of material culture objects. The costume complex is considered from the position of the real forms of existence of the relic: the resumption of use of the outfit and the period of storage. The analysis of materials shows that half a century after the creation of the outfit it was once again publicly presented by Ludi’s granddaughter at the wedding of relatives, and another half century later the costume is exhibited in the public space by Ludi’s great-granddaughter, but already like a museum piece. Ludi’s granddaughters in the second half of the 20th century use chest decorations, silver belt and cap from the grandmother’s costume in their wedding dresses. For the generation of Ludi’s great-granddaughters at the beginning of the 21st century only the silver set remains relevant. The keeping of the heirloom is accompanied by the Vedzizhev-Bekov family tradition, which appeared in the 1930s, of being photographed in the traditional costume of Ludi Gorchkhanova, and which is being realized today in the fourth generation. The materials of this article are based on the field material collected in Ingushetia for 2022–2024

Biography · Closet · Diva · Handicraft · Middle Ages · Crafts, Textile, and Design · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Social and Behavioral Studies