From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Muscovite church with five tiers of diminutive corbel arches, or kokoshniki.

Russian girls with kokoshnik and veil, photo, 1900s

Kokoshnik (Russian: кокошник) is a traditional Russian head-dress worn by women and girls to accompany the sarafan. It is patterned to match the style of the sarafan and can be pointed or round. It is tied at the back of the head with long thick ribbons in a large bow. The forehead is sometimes decorated with pearls. The woman or the girl usually wears her hair in a plait.

During the revival of Russian national culture in the late 19th century, these diadem-shaped tiaras became part of the official court dress for royalty and ladies-in-waiting. It was worn by peasant girls and women on special occasions until the Russian Revolution. Today kokoshniks are worn chiefly by girls and women in Russian folk ensembles.

The word kokoshnik gives its name to the corbel arch that was a distinctive element of traditional Russian architecture from the 14th century until the 1720s.