Seventeenth-century documents refer to garments made from velvet and various figured cloths of different colors. Normally, the purpose of the dress would dictate the manner in which the terlik was decorated. Only four examples of the terlik, including this one, have survived to this day.

They all are made of smooth crimson velvet with two-headed eagles embroidered on the front and back. The cut of the terlik was varied and was not typical of Old Russian dress. It is a knee length caftan consisting of a detachable tight-fitting bodice and a lower part in the form of a wide skirt, gathered in at the waist, with a central overlap. The collar is small and raised. The sleeves are in two parts: The upper arm is wide and gathered in at the elbow; from the elbow to the hand, the sleeve is narrow, with a small reversed cuff at the wrist. The fastening on the front of the bodice is concealed behind a broad figured flap, fastened with hooks on the left side and on the shoulder. A wide strip of uncut long-napped velvet, golden in color, runs around the hem of the skirt, imitating fur. The external lining of the lapels, the cuffs and the collar is finely decorated with interwoven thread in two colors. On the bodice of the terlik, two-headed eagles with three crowns are embroidered in shallow relief with gold and silk thread. On the breast of each eagle is a shield with St. George, the emblem of Moscow.

The garment has a certain theatricality. On more than one occasion, Nicholas II, the last Russian Czar, chose a terlik as his costume when attending masked balls at court.

Text taken from catalog description by Inna I. Vishnevskaya.