Uzbek national headwear – skullcaps harmoniously complement and adorn national clothes. Skullcaps as a headwear in Uzbekistan were widespread in the Middle Ages.
In different regions of the country there are different types of skullcaps. Round skullcaps are sewn with threads of bright and contrasting colors in Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya. Skullcaps in Bukhara are mostly sewn with gold-embroidered threads. By origin, Fergana skullcaps are considered more ancient. They are distinguished by simplicity. Decorative items are not so important for them. Skullcaps from Chust, Margilan, Kokand and Andijan are also popular.
The funds of the State Museum of Applied Art and History of Handicraft of the Republic of Uzbekistan have all samples of skullcaps. These exhibits were shown at the exhibition organized in the museum, as well as scarves from the collection of the first-year student of Tashkent State High School of National Dance and Choreography Rukhsora Aytmirzayeva were presented.
According to the stories of grandmothers, an image of pepper is embroidered at the four corners of Fergana men’s skullcaps as a symbolic amulet of their health, and sixteen dome-shaped patterns symbolize the wish of the father of the family to have large, strong and cohesive family.
– Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya and Khorezm skullcaps differ from each other, – says Rukhsora Aytmirzayeva. – Each of them has its own method of decoration. Skullcaps of each region have national symbols. Uzbek skullcaps are of genuine interest among foreigners. When I see our skullcaps on the heads of representatives of other nations, I become overwhelmed with a feeling of pride in our craftswomen.