GENERAL EMBROIDERY, COAT

A beautiful example of a heavily embroidery classic Turkmenistan coat (chirpy) for a young woman. Black silk outer fabric with red band of fabric on lower sleeve. Inside fabric roller printed Russian cotton with floral design. Traditional kesdi lacing stitch is embroidered through both layers of fabric. Deep embroidered band along front opening and around hem, in red white and yellow threads to make repeating pattern of small traditional motifs. Coat is entirely constructed by hand. It is a very typical Turkman Tekke Chyrpy made for a young woman. In their culture the darker coat was worn by a young woman who was not yet married. When she married, she would wear a yellow coat. A white chyrpy would be worn by older women - hence they are increasingly rare to find. The Chyrpy usually has vestigial sleeves. This means that the sleeves are not meant to be used. They are longer than a traditional sleeve and folded back to drape towards each other. A panel in the middle of the back attatches the sleeves together. The chirpy was often given as a gift in previous generations, being placed over the shoulders of the recipient.
More recently it is used for weddings, with the lady would placing it over her head.