Fig. 1. Modern vyshyvanka recently donated to the TRC. Kyiv, Ukraine, polyester, machine embroidered (TRC 2025.0149).If there is one thing I have learned about dress while volunteering at the TRC, it is how inextricably linked clothing is to identity. Dress is a physical marker of identity. It can embody the inexpressible—the sense of belonging to a specific culture, to a distinctive history, and to a specific country. All this carried in a piece of cloth.

Yet it still amazes me how emotive and political clothing can be. The link between identity and dress may become even stronger when that identity is perceived as under threat.

This was brought home to me yet again on a recent Instagram post. The post was from a very upset Ukrainian woman. She was reposting a photograph of a densely embroidered woman’s traditional skirt and blouse. In the original post, the ensemble had been identified as Russian.

Fig. 2. Sample of cloth with an embroidered design of a mirrored geometric motif in red, and with a narrow zig-zag border (TRC 2019.1677).The young woman wrote a passionate refutation in her post, stating the dress was not Russian, but Ukrainian. The current Russian war against Ukraine, she said, was a deliberate act of cultural extermination—as was mislabelling a Ukrainian dress as Russian.

Inside Ukraine the war has meant a renewed interest in traditional embroidery. Shops selling embroidery materials, like Lelitka, in the city of Lviv, have grown to meet the demand. Classes in Lviv’s embroidery school are full. Many people find embroidering a calming activity to do during drone attacks.

There are other reasons for the renewed interest in embroidery, as Lelitka founder Olha explained in the popular textile magazine Selvedge (issue 109, October 2022, “Life Goes On”, by Mariette van Beek and Gisela Dutting). Traditional embroidery motifs are historically believed to have talismanic qualities, such as protection, or bringing good luck or health.

Fig. 3. Ukrainian postage stamp, 2018, with the image of embroidered flowers (TRC 2019.0019c).Many women, and some men, are now hand embroidering vyshyvanka (traditional shirts or blouses; Fig. 1) and giving them to loved ones serving in the Ukrainian defence forces. Soldiers wear these vyshyvanka underneath their uniforms, for good luck. A belief has also sprung up that every stitch made while embroidering will result in the death of an enemy soldier.

These embroidered shirts have become a common sign of Ukrainian identity and patriotism. They are easily found in craft and clothing shops, machine embroidered and made of polyester, or, more expensively, hand embroidered on linen or hennep. There is even an annual Vyshyvanka Day (the third Thursday in May), when parades are held, and vyshyvanka are worn to work atop modern shirts or trousers.

Fig. 4. Ukrainian postage stamp with image of embroidered geometric shapes, 2018 (TRC 2019.0019b).While there are regional variations, motifs are usually floral (TRC 2019.0019c, Fig. 3) or geometric (crosses, diamonds and/or arrows—see examples such as TRC 2019.1677 (Fig. 2) and TRC 2019.0019b, Fig. 4), but birds are also popular. Stitches include cross stitch (TRC 2019.1678), satin stitch and open chain stitch (see TRC 2019.1725, Fig. 5, for a piece that includes both these stitches). Red and black are the predominate traditional thread colours, though new, often more colourful, patterns are emerging.

Olha of the Lelitka embroidery shop has designed a popular new motif: a cross stitch of the Bayrakter drone. This is a drone used by Ukrainian forces both for intelligence gathering and attacks against Russian forces.

I was not surprised to come across mention of vyshyvanka in a recent book by award-winning novelist, turned war crimes investigator, Victoria Amelina (1986-2023). Her collection of interviews with Ukrainian women, Looking At Women Looking At War: A War and Justice Diary, was published posthumously this year by William Collins, London.

Fig. 5. Embroidery sample from Ukraine, with satin stitch and open chain stitch (TRC 2019.1725).In it she spoke with activist Iryna Dovhan, who survived kidnapping and torture in Russian-occupied Donetsk. Iryna spoke about recently buying her husband a vyshyvanka.

“At first , he was surprised as it’s so hard now and I spent money on the vyshyvanka, instead of helping the army directly. But what if tomorrow it’s victory and everyone takes to the streets and you don’t have a vyshyvanka to put on during the nationwide celebration? He listened to me and agreed.”

By Shelley Anderson, 21 September 2025

• For more on how contemporary Ukrainian fashion incorporates traditional motifs, click here.
• For more on the renewed interest in traditional textiles in Ukraine, click here.