Clothing
Nenets people today tend to wear a combination of modern and traditional clothing. In towns and villages most people wear modern style clothes, while those living out in the forest and tundra wear traditional reindeer skin clothes that are ideal for the Arctic conditions. Men wear a parka style hooded coat known as a ‘malitsa’ which is made with the fur facing inwards and has mittens attached to the sleeves. They also have another reindeer skin ankle length coat called a ‘sovik’ which is worn over the malitsa in very cold weather. The main item of women’s clothing is the ‘pany,’ a long loose fitting coat made from two layers of reindeer skin with the fur worn inside and out. The pany also has reindeer skin mittens attached to the sleeves. It is normally decorated with patterned strips of inlaid fur which are stitched into all the main seams of the coat and the collar is trimmed with Arctic fox fur. Nenets women also wear reindeer fur hooded hats trimmed with Arctic fox tails and a whole variety of metal, usually copper, ornaments hung on chains at the back. Women’s belts which are tied around the ‘pany’ are normally woven from coloured wool and have round buckles which in the past, could be up to 20 cm in diameter. Women also wear reindeer skin boots which are shorter than men’s with a different cut and decoration.