Indications of sex and age stratification in the Chuvash women's garments

In the article the materials of decoration of the Chuvash women's shirt are summarized. The ethnographic materials about the methods of ornamentation of women's and girls' shirts, which had been widely practised among the Chuvashs and other people in the Volga-Ural region, are given. The authors come to a conclusion that the breast decoration of the women's shirt had both protective and evident socio-differential function. Besides, the breast decoration had been used to indicate the sex and age stratification.