Caftan (redirected from kaftan)

Caftan 

a man’s and woman’s double-breasted outer garmentwith a deep wrapover. The caftan was widely used as an articleof clothing by various strata of the population in pre-PetrineRussia. It had long sleeves. The caftans of the rich were madeof velvet, brocade, and better quality cloth; they were trimmedwith expensive furs and had jeweled buttons and ornaments. Thecaftans of the poor were of simple cloth lined with inexpensivefurs and had copper and tin buttons. The caftan was worn by thecommon people in various localities of Russia until the early20th century and was sewn from simple cloth or homespunfabric. The latter included sermiaga (caftan of coarse, undyedcloth), zipun (outer peasant garment of homespun cloth), and tiazhelko (a simple zipun). A short caftan was known as a polu-kaftan.