The article analyzes the symbolism of belt decorative elements and peculiarities of fashion typical for the tsegdeg sleeveless dress that had once been a compulsory garment of married women in the culture of Western Mongols (Oirats) and Kalmyks, as well as among some other Turco-Mongols. The semantics of tsegdeg is considered as a multilayer one. First of all, it manifests itself in the garment's cutout which semantically denoted a fertile woman. At the same time, the garment was supposed to act as a limiting symbol which is evident from its fashion, decorative parts (wide strips comprising both passementaries and zeg rainbow color tread embroideries), and the fact it was to be worn with a terlg underwear dress. The semantics of belt decorative elements of tsegdeg among the Oirats and Kalmyks, such as valves and loops called bel, is - in the author’s opinion - connected with childbearing as the main function of the woman. The bel loop or a part of the decorative element that acts as the former can be semantically compared to a hole, slit, or passage. The custom of tying kerchiefs (white or sole-colored ones) to bels indicates that here a kerchief symbolizes a ‘container’, ‘womb’ which is illustrated by registered beliefs of Western Buryats - kin people of Oirats and Kalmyks - that kerchiefs provide connection with ancestors and traditions. The paper also concludes the word stems from the term with the meaning of ‘limiting’ (from the Mong. *čege + affix -dg denoting a recurring action), and is related to the Kalmyk custom of putting a special bridle on a killed swan, while Turkic peoples of South Siberia in similar situations dress the bird in chegedeg - a sleeveless garment.