Would Jewish Ukranians historically have worn vyshyvankas and integrated Slavic embroidary into their lives?

Question

I am trying to learn about the culture of Jewish ancestors in eastern Europe and wonder what elements of Slavic culture would have been present or distinct from Jewish culture in the area. Specifically, would Jews in Ukraine have worn embroidered shirts, using Slavic symbolism of red and white and various symbols?

Ukrainian embroidery dates back to ancient times, noted in 500BC. Jews have been in Ukraine since at least the 11th century. That is a lot of time to overlap and share customs. On the other hand, mainstream Slavic culture has clashed with and committed genocide against Jews at various points of time, especially in the 16th century and later in the 19-20th centuries. Also, Slavic symbolism could be associated with pagan folk traditions, which are distinctly separate from Jewish folk traditions.

Given the longevity of Jews in Ukraine, would Jewish peoples there have worn vyshyvankas (embroidered shirts) and created or displayed other symbolic embroidery? Is there any record for or against that notion, of Ukrainian embroidery being part of the cultural heritage of historic Ukrainian Jews?

Here is an example of the type of embroidery:

Note that this question is not related to current war in Ukraine. Wishing peace be upon the people there. This is about Jewish history in that region.

Answer 1

Not at all. The picture below is pretty much what they would wear in 1800s. And prior to 1800s there wasn't much cultural mixing either. Historically, Jews in Ukraine and Russia lived in their own towns or city sections. In Russian Empire (that included Ukraine too) the government decreed which areas Jews could live in and in what kinds of settlements. Besides that, there was a substantial amount of violent antisemitism which limited cultural exchange. Jews of Eastern Europe became assimilated only in the 20th century, after the Bolshevik revolution, and by then the vyshivankas were rarely worn by anybody. Vyshivanka resurgence followed Ukraine's independence from Russia in 1990s.