Onuchi was once an indispensable attribute of peasant clothes in Russia and in Eastern Europe. Windings and footcloths-close relatives of the school-were used in the army.
Meaning of the word of anuchi
Onuchi are long and fairly broad bandsThe fabrics used for winding the legs, from the foot to the knee. Peasants in Russia wore them with bast shoes, boots and felt boots. In other countries they were worn with leather shoes. In the documents of the Frankish State of the time of Charlemagne this detail of clothing is mentioned. Windings can be seen on European miniatures of past centuries. But the greatest spread of the anuchi received in Russia and in many countries of Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, the Baltic countries.
Depending on the season, they used thedifferent types of tissue. Onuchi is an element of clothing designed to protect the lower legs. In the summer, windings were worn from canvas (linen or hemp) fabrics, and in the winter - linen fabrics at the bottom, and on top - by a second layer of cloth (woolen, linen weaving) fabric.
Bast shoes and arms (ties) were different foreveryday wear and holidays. For each day, ropes were usually used, and on the holidays they put on bast or birch bast shoes and used bast shoes. Festive attributes were painted white or red. Wedding onuchi is almost a work of art. They were made of bleached cloth, covered with colored embroidery. The bride herself had to make wedding presents for the groom. They were put on for a wedding, and then kept as a relic in a chest.
How the Onuchi Wore
Onuchi (photos of which can be seen below)mostly wore with bast shoes. This light and comfortable footwear, due to the cheapness and unpretentiousness of manufacture, was widely distributed. They made it from an improvised material that was almost always available - vines, birch bark, linden, ropes.
But since on a bare foot do not put on bast shoesvery convenient, and not practical, pre-wrapped feet onuchi. The men wrapped their lower legs around their legs, and the women - their bare legs. The length of the tape from the fabric could reach 5 meters (usually 1.5-2.5 m), width - about 10 cm. The leg was tightly wound from the fingers, gripping the shin and reaching the knee. The end of the tissue strip was turned and tucked under the winding. To the grinders did not unwind and did not fall off, they were fixed with a long cord (oboroy). We made knitted or crocheted fences from bast, rope. The end of the lace was looped on the back of the shoe and twisted or tied crosswise from the ankle to the knee. Sometimes used pivots - narrow leather ribbons, which were tied under the knee.
Varieties of anecdotes
The ubiquitous use of anachuses is explained by the cheapness of shoes in comparison with leather boots. Boots were predominantly shoes of urban residents. Although the grandsons used and with boots.
Onuchi - these are the same windings and footcloths.But the latter is more like an army attribute. During the First and Second World Wars, the rank and file, and some field commanders, wore leather boots with windings. Boots were used less often, mostly closer to winter. And in the cold, the soldiers switched to felt boots. Preference for windings was given not only because of the shortage and high cost of boots for soldiers, but also because they were considered more convenient and practical. And during the First World War, the windings were used by soldiers of all belligerents.
In the postwar period, boots with windings become regular field shoes for the armies of some countries. These included Poland, Hungary, France and even Japan.
With boots in the army used footcloths.This piece of clothing was known in ancient Rome. In the Russian Armed Forces, footcloth was a long-liver, whereas in the armies of other countries it was replaced by ordinary socks a long time ago. The transition of the Russian army from footcloths to socks occurred only in January 2013.
