Thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the creation of fifteen nation-states including Ukraine and Estonia, while 1993 saw the end of communist rule in Czechoslovakia, becoming the Czech Republic and Slovakia. These nations are featured here in my second-to-last fashion plate post with costumes honoring easier days of traditional ethnic dress.
Leo Tolstoy could be argued as the conscience of Russian peasants by his fictional writing in the classic Anna Karenina.Tolstoy was in fact a nobleman and landowner yet he adorned himself in smocks and meager dress, fashioning humility as he wrote of earthly indulgences and subtle sermons on the wickedness of the human condition.
The dress of laborers is also honored in a 1936 Soviet Union publication on a revered textile workerinMiss USSR where a young woman’s 10-hour days and record-breaking statistics on factory looms are lauded as joyful. Her uniform is a black silk blouse and skirt and her profile is documented as “slim” and “little.”
Yet, as with the earliest civilizations there is a place for costume, for adornment that celebrates more than the work of our hands or size of our bodies, whether a farmer’s, a writer’s, or a weaver’s; we yearn for the occasion allowing ornamentation that arouses our senses and inflames our imaginations.
My first fashion plate is titled the USSR Plume Dress, perhaps interpreted by some as a peacock’s egoism; the second plate may be favored by fan-followers of Egon Schiele, while the last crowns brawn and might.
Here is a listing of sources from the UWM Special Collections and the UWM American Geographical Society Library that I have augmented with digital color and outline to emphasize particular details of my inspiration:
1, 8) Wood-engravings by Nikolas Piskariov as featured in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina; published in the USSR in 1933 and printed by the Limited Editions Club, respectively titled Anna’s Fall and Head-Piece to Part the Fifth.
2-4) My contemporary designs of the USSR Plume Dress, Estonian Edith Dress, and Czech Crown Dress based on maps from the collection of the UWM American Geographical Society Library that show iconic costumes, respectively titled Russian Empire 1757, published in Augsburg, GE by Augustae Vindel in 1757; Folklore Map of Czechoslovakia, published in Czechoslovakia by the Ministerstvo Informaci in 1948; Parishes of Estonia 2010, published by the AS Regio in 2010.
3) Black and white drawing of Czechoslovakian dress by Belle Northrup in A Short Description of Historic Fashionpublished by Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1925.
5) Photograph of Dusya Vinogradovo a 21-year old woman dubbed Miss USSR: The Story of a Girl Stakhanovite, the Soviet Union’s leader in weaving production and noted to be every young person’s friend as she was “free and happy”; published in New York by International Publishers in 1936.
6, 7) Illustrations by Noel L. Nisbet from the collection of Russian Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales, published in London by George G. Harrap & CO in 1916, respectively titled They Came to the Place Where He Had Left Her and His Wife Caressed and Wheedled Him.
Do you want me to swallow insults? To crawl? To kneel? To beg? Play both sides? Flatter? No, thank you. Live for other people’s opinions of me? No, thank you. I prefer a different life. My own. I answer to no one, and I am content, thank you.
The story spins around a romantic affair between a married woman and a military man (for whom the word “dashing” may have been invented) which ruins her life and scandalises the upper classes of Moscow and St. Petersburg in the mid-1800s.
Why doesn’t she just [whatever]?
Because she’s a woman. One theme of the novel is the jarringly different experience of society for men and women. There are actions and even behaviours which are simply not available to the female characters without catastrophic consequences but which the male characters take for granted. The mere act of existing inside the traditional roles expected by society can be soul-crushing for women.
I’m 500 pages in. What’s all this agricultural stuff with the peasant? Do I need to know how to run a Russian estate? Do I have to read it?
You don’t have to do anything, but if you’ve read Game of Thrones and you can’t handle long explorations of how most people live most of their lives wandering around a seemingly endless series of ritual chores, you should present yourself to the relevant authorities at first light.
What should I say to make people think I’ve read it?
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
What should I avoid saying when trying to convince people I’ve read it?
“She deserves everything she gets.”
Should I actually read it?
Yes. If you’ve ever had a problem with someone you loved, there is something in here for you.
When Leo Tolstoy said “Is anything - not even happiness but just not torment - possible?” And Charles Bukowski said “We don’t even ask happiness, just a little less pain.”
There is certain ineffable beauty in hand holding gestures.
Hand Touching Psychology In Films.
Films In Order - My Best Friends Wedding, Casino Royale, Normal People, Pride And Prejudice, Anna Karenina, Emma, Bridgerton, Atonement, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Call Me By Your Name
Know that I’ve not just let you hold my hand, my delicate heart rests in your hands. So, hold it tight and keep it safe because you’re already sending me to despair.
In the mood for Love. (Masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments.)
