Fashion is the display history of any nation. Today I would like to talk about the history of the Russian style, which has practically disappeared since the time of Peter the Great and its revival begins in small steps. For example, thanks to Ulyana Sergeenko, we remembered what Vologda and Yelets lace are, and thanks to the Valentino collection, what Russian hand embroidery, natural linen, brocade and beaded ornaments are – all this is undoubtedly the real Russian style.

Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, whose collection became the pearl of the Haute Couture week in Paris, claimed that it was Prince and Princess Yusupov, the most beautiful couple of Russian emigration, who served as their source of inspiration. And not only and not so much their aristocratic faces and precious costumes, but the fates – in general, the fates of people who lost everything and managed to start life anew, which sounds more than modern.

Russians in exile did not lose heart. They took on any job that would give them the means to survive the time before returning to their homeland. A new life for women was associated with fashion – they became fashion models and embroiderers, seamstresses and knitters, adding aristocratic chic to simple crafts. Last but not least, thanks to them, fashion has risen to a worthy rank of high arts. The men found jobs as taxi drivers, shop assistants, and newspaper distributors.

For me, the Russian style is associated with the most beautiful and most touching – with bright images of the family of the last Tsar Nicholas II – quivering young ladies in lace and velvet, silk blouses with high collars. They hide their hands in muffs and wrap themselves in indispensable furs.

Ulyana Sergeenko, dress decorated with Vologda lace.

Valentino. The style of a traditional Russian sundress.

Until the 17th century, it is practically unknown what the Russians wore, since portraiture did not really exist in Russia and Russian costumes were mostly captured by foreign travelers. In the Middle Ages, Russian clothing was associated with Turkic influence and resembled the clothing of the Turkic peoples.

And at first glance, primordially Russian concepts like “kokoshnik” or “sarafan” actually have a Turkic origin. Sarfan –  Loan. through Turkic. särara(i) from Persian. serārā “dress of honor”  . But Russian masters brought these types of clothing to great heights, often creating real works of art.

Lefebvre Robert. Portrait of Princess M.F. Baryatinsky with her daughter Olga, 1817.

Our confrontation with the Lithuanians and Poles also affected the clothes of our ancestors and its attributes. The main enemy of Russia at that time was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the struggle with the Lithuanians and Poles was reflected in a large number of items that were of precisely this origin and despite the fact that they were of Eastern European origin, they reflected fashion trends associated primarily with Germany. This was expressed in the predilection of Russians for imported fabrics.

500 years ago, very few fabrics were made in Russia and there was practically no weaving production of its own. Fabrics came from Italy and the Ottoman Empire. The fabrics were interwoven with gold thread, as well as brocade and taffeta, also velvet. Imported fabrics were used in festive costumes even by wealthy peasants. Imported fabrics with gold threads are what Russian women and men always dreamed of in those days. These fabrics were quite expensive, but people in Russia have always lived richer than in other countries. And they never skimped on clothes and jewelry. For example, the robes of Russian princesses – look at what expensive outfits they are wearing.

Ball in the Winter Palace, dedicated to the Romanov dynasty. The photo shows a traditional dress in the Russian style of the 16th-17th century. 1903 St. Petersburg, Russia.

Costumes for the ball were created according to the sketches of the artist Sergei Solomko and with the involvement of folk costume consultants. They cost a fortune. They were sewn by the most famous masters of that time: Nadezhda Lamanova and the beloved fashion designer of the Empress August Brizak. Furs, fabrics, jewelry – the customers did not save on anything. These suits were the hallmark of their wealth.

Zinaida Nikolevna Yusupova dressed as a noblewoman. Also at the ball in the Winter Palace.

Also a certain princess at a ball in the Winter Palace. I don’t know the name unfortunately

Have you noticed what expensive jewelry we see on the princesses?  Chanel announced that it was she who introduced pearl beads into fashion, but she would not have held real pearl beads in her hands if it were not for the Russian prince Dmitry Pavlovich, who gave her the first pair of real pearl beads. In Russia, beads were worn long before Chanel announced that she had invented a pearl thread, even peasants had pearls. Which, by the way, lived quite prosperously, but more on that later. Russian aristocrats wore diamonds from 5 to 35 carats, it was considered decent, but it’s already a shame to have a bigger size. Smaller ramzer diamonds were used for cutting glass.

Prince Dmitry Pavlovich with Coco Chanel.

In Russia, they have always loved fur and glitter. And if these things were not there, then the person was considered not rich. It is not surprising that even today Russian women try to dress more effectively than women in other countries. This is due only to the demographic situation. According to official statistics, 45% of men account for 55% of women. That is, Russia lacks 17 million men. Therefore, women do everything to attract the attention of men through their clothes and makeup.

But for example, in the 19th century, short clothes did not take root in Russia, and makeup, too. But the Europeans just wore short clothes. Foreigners amazed Russians with their sexuality. What was it expressed in? For example, wearing tights and men’s cologts. In Russia, a man should not show anything, and a woman could bare her chest and shoulders a little, but no more. If you are at court, you must shine with natural beauty. The noblewomen adorned themselves with jewels, fresh flowers and appreciated lace very much.

They loved French lace, also Vologda, Yelets and Mikhailov. Makeup was not used until the October Revolution. The exception is the era of Peter the Great, but more on that later. Only public women used make-up. By the way, St. Petersburg in 1914 was recognized as the most elegant capital in the world. It operated 200 fashion houses and another 100 in Moscow. After the October Revolution, for many years there were only two of them for each of the capitals.

Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanova of Russia in court dress.

Also Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanoff. Very delicate dress.

Grand Duchess Romanovs.

Of course, Europe had a huge influence on the Russian style. Or rather, even Peter the Great, who returned from Europe and issued, in my opinion, a terrible decree, which began to destroy the best examples of Russian culture.

On August 29, 1699, Peter I forbade nobles and townspeople to wear the old Russian costume, in January 1700 he ordered everyone to wear a dress in the manner of the Hungarian, in August – “all ranks to people”, except for the clergy and arable peasants, to wear Hungarian and German dresses, and trousers (culottes). Subsequent decrees were ordered to wear German dress on weekdays and French dress on holidays.

Portrait of Uncle Peter I – Lev Kirillovich Naryshkin in traditional Russian costume.

Peter I in a foreign outfit strikes home. Painting by N. Nevrev.

From January 1, 1701, women were also required to wear a European costume. Russian dress was forbidden to be produced and traded. Violators were threatened with fines, exile to hard labor with confiscation of property. Samples of models of European cut were exhibited on the streets, poor people received a reprieve to wear out old clothes, but from 1705 the entire urban population had to wear a new dress under the threat of a fine. Russian masters began to master the secrets of European tailors.

Accustomed to long and wide sundresses, to multi-layered outfits, now the girls had to put on a narrow European dress that opened their shoulders and chest. The corset could not be worn on its own – the lacing on the back of the girls was tightened by the maids, it was difficult to breathe and relax or bend the back in it. Out of habit, many ladies, being in a tight dress all day, fainted. In addition to the inconvenience, the corset was also unhealthy: in it, the body became vulnerable to stomach and lung diseases. However, overcoming torment, the noblewomen obeyed the trends of fashion – all the more, there was another way out with a strict decree.

Like a narrow corset, a very wide skirt was an integral part of the women’s dress, which looked especially contrasting against the background of an elegant top. In order for the skirts to keep their shape, frames were put on under them – fizhma. Such skirts, which came from Europe, were suitable for the warm French climate, but the Russian winter required warmer clothes, so in the cold season the skirts were quilted with batting.

Like everything foreign, European outfits have taken root in Russia with some amendments, mainly dictated by the harsh climate. In addition to the aforementioned batting-quilted skirts, scarves, scarves and capes became an integral part of the wardrobe at that time. Women forced to wear dresses made of thin fabric with bare shoulders, arms and neckline, used these accessories more for warmth than for beauty. Around the same time, and for the same reason, stockings came into use – in everyday life, girls wore cotton or woolen ones, and wore silk ones during ceremonial exits.

After the death of Peter I, part of the urban population returned to pre-Petrine clothes – until the end of the 19th century. in the costume of the merchants and bourgeoisie, elements of the traditional costume were preserved. Therefore, tailors specialized in either European or “Russian” dress.

And how did the peasants live and what can we say about their style?

As for the peasants, under Peter, changes in clothing practically did not affect them: they still wore traditional clothes. A shirt, a sundress, a padded jacket, a fur coat – the wardrobe of women from the people remained the same as several centuries ago. European fashion came to the village only at the end of the 18th century.

Contrary to popular belief. The peasants lived quite prosperously, although at that time they were serfs. And they passed on their elegant clothes from generation to generation. For example, a pearl kokoshnik. They loved a very red color: “Sew me a red sarfan, mother.” They loved the combination of red and gold, and this combination is a traditional combination of empires, for example, as it was in the Roman and Chinese empires. Unlike nobles, peasant women loved makeup. Used crushed brick for lipsticks and beets for blush. The peasants looked very well-groomed and neat. Since it was a very cold winter, a terrible time, frosts down to -30. Therefore, the clothes had to be of high quality, not full of holes and warm. And not at all the one that can characterize some class as “needless erratic.” Clothing helped the inhabitants of rural Russia not to freeze,

We can see this in photographs and paintings.

A young woman in a kokoshnik-collection and girls in bandages at a festival in the village of Nenoksa. Beginning of XX century. Photo by V.V. Suslova.

A young woman in a Kargopol kokoshnik. Second half of the 19th century. A collection of photographs of festive attire of peasants in the northern provinces of Russia from the collection of V.P. Shabelskaya.

Bride’s attire in a korune headdress. Second half of the 19th century. A collection of photographs of festive attire of the peasants of the Northern provinces of Russia from the collection of V.P. Shabelskaya.

Old men. Ryazan province. 1910

Bogorodsk peasants of the Tula province. Photo by A. Karelin, 1870s.

Ivan Petrovich Argunov. Portrait of an unknown peasant woman in Russian costume. 1784.

Konstantin Makovsky Peasant lunch in the field.

Ivanov Sergey Vasilievich A family.

     The October Socialist Revolution, which abolished the classes of the nobility and the bourgeoisie and approved the new social composition of society, inevitably influenced the formation of the fashion of the Soviet country, in which there was no longer room for luxurious toilets. Clothes became cheap and very simple.But this is a completely different topic and I don’t want to attribute it to the Russian style. This is a terrible time. The most difficult economic conditions, devastation, civil war that followed the revolution and the most brutal policy of war communism. People were simply dying of hunger, they were not able to get basic hygiene products and household items, what kind of fashion could we talk about. There were clothes that personified a harsh and ruthless time. It’s a pity that it all happened, everything collapsed, one of the reasons is the banal envy of Europeans in relation to wealth in Russia, the photos are excellent evidence, as it was, for example, in the village then and now.

Thank you for your attention!