The image of a girl in the USSR — what is it like? We start with the 20s and 30s
Who are the best girls in the USSR? A catchphrase thanks to the nostalgia of the early 2000s. Talking about certain Soviet standards and criteria of beauty does not work. The era is too vast and multifaceted to make such generalizations. Collections of photographs are widely shared on the Internet, with users admiring how authentic and different Soviet girls are from others. Yes, the less money people have and the less developed the beauty industry, the less similar their faces are. How did they live, how did they take care of themselves and what did they do?
Contents of the article:
Revolutionaries and builders of communism of the 20s
Society became patriarchal much later. Immediately after the revolution, good girls could join the army and fight the enemies of the people there according to their preferences, and bad girls could again go wherever they wanted. The air of freedom drove them out of women”s homes and religious courses, and they began to appear everywhere. You can find images of red commissars and white warriors. It was a difficult time, and some beauty recipes have not been preserved.
All we have are petty bourgeois memes about women being less busy and more beautiful. But we are not talking about the first years of Soviet power, but about the period of decline of tsarist power. I had to do many things, from plundering loot to organizing my life with no means at all. Everyone wears it, and a fashion has emerged for women”s men”s suits.
The 20s gave the fashion industry a stunning look with short bob haircuts. With the beginning of the NEP, more interesting clothes began to appear. The girls sewed, ordered and sewed again from leftover fabric. Where did this idea come from? The magazines were not distributed, and all the money of the young Soviet state was directed to more important needs than fashionable women”s leaflets. Mostly dresses with dropped bodices and flowing skirts, as well as short square dresses with rounded ends, were shown in Hollywood films. Thus, girls from all countries began relationships faster than the proletarians had time to unite.
However, there is one small problem: the girls” legs. Shoes. During the revolution, good shoemakers became scarce, and Soviet factories producing huge sandals and poorly made boots had not yet begun to function. Thus, shoes were sought after and worn together on grandmothers” chests, and excellent craftsmanship was worth its weight in gold.
Beauty salons? They simply didn”t exist. Soviet girls made their own squares with tailor”s scissors. They then rounded the edges with tongs. Eyebrows are drawn in with charcoal and makeup is kept to a minimum. By the way, eyelashes were also painted with mascara made from a burnt candle and charcoal.
What about figure and fitness? There is still hunger, and full-fledged sportswear and revealing fashion have not yet begun. The girls in the photographs of that time look completely different. If now everyone wants to be “athletic,” then ten years ago everyone just wanted to be thin, and in Soviet photographs of the 20s, by modern standards, even athletes were, to put it mildly, not very fit. What we consider good fitness today is largely the result of strength training. And athletics was very popular during this period.
Cute working women from the 30s
How did people live in the Soviet Union in the 1930s? Job. The girls were no exception. They may have been oppressed in Imperial Russia, but the majority did only domestic work, if you do not take into account the elite of society. Peasant women and factory workers plowed. In fact, little has changed for ordinary girls.
- Key studies appeared in schools and on Lovefax. In other words, these were special educational institutions where working youth studied, and not what you might think.
- The need to spend eight hours at work or at work remains.
- Open access to management and engineering professions
However, there were also breakthroughs in fashion. In the thirties in the Soviet Union, factory workers received a shortened form of cosmetic lunch. Yes, these are the same robes made of coarse fabric that reach mid-thigh. It was believed that they were comfortable to work in, but in photographs they are quite noticeable in the pin-up style.
The girl”s hair was tucked under a scarf. And they made it short enough so that you don”t have to spend too much time taking care of them. Squares that did not reach the chin were the standard for Soviet hairstyles of the time. Apparently, hair dyes appeared because there were so many blondes in photographs.
However, here you can only see Soviet film makeup. To disguise their status, it was customary to whiten the face, paint thin “deadly” lips, and emphasize the eyes with mascara and eyeliner. By the way, the legendary Leningrad ink appeared, which depicts an entire generation of Soviet women. The same thing, in a box that had to be given away, and only then applied to the eyelashes, and possibly to the eyebrows. Then there was Basma and Iranian (actually, Tajik) henna. These colors brought us internationalization.
What figures were in fashion? Again, we don”t see extreme thinness. Soviet girls of those years were like a selection of norsthenics and hypersthenics.
By the way, swimsuits actively appear in photographs of the 30s. And this is not only similar to the modern sport of “Mono-to-Go”, but also separate. Swimsuits of the 30s were made of thick fabric without cups.
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Girls of the 40s
The era began with pseudo-wise suits, but with below-the-knee skirts and an A-line silhouette. And then there are war photographs of many girls in their own uniforms. In the Soviet Union, many girls went to war from the day they were introduced. You can find many photographs of pilots, tank crews, military doctors and radio operators in uniform. Women”s curves exist, and there are straight skirt options. However, there were also garifa trousers, like those worn by men.
This period preserved stories of women with stockings painted on their legs, hair twisted into paper and cardboard, and eyebrows drawn on with candles. Shoes became a problem again. However, women”s Chirza boots were very rare. In the memoirs of those years, one ordinary village boot in galoshes received such a high rating that it can be read.
Soviet film images of those years show strict dresses, curled hair, minimal makeup and rough, simple shoes. Large shoulder bags are in fashion, like those worn by hygienists and the military. They carried food, documents and everything necessary. In photographs of the 40s, you will no longer see workers of the 30s, sports shorts and other frivolities of frivolous robbery. The country survived, and survived “badly.”
Post-war beauty of the 50s
The country blossomed, and the girls were transformed because of it. In the 50s, everyone worked hard, built and prodded. But there were also ways out for all this. The culture of recreation was revived in the Soviet Union. Sanatoriums were restored, to which workers, peasant women, teachers and engineers were guaranteed to flock.
Relaxation means light linen sundresses and a variety of swimsuits for every taste. Yes, in the 50s of the last century, Soviet beach fashion was officially introduced. This is not an all-encompassing horror with grandma”s cups on her chest, not just his. In photographs of those years, girls are dressed in accounting clothes, wear corseted models in swimsuits that emphasize their breasts, and do not even neglect hats. Linen tote bag shown.
What are the numbers? Healthy fullness prevails, and cheekbones and prominent ribs are no longer visible. On the contrary, many girls look fuller even by modern standards. Volume hips, detailed shoulders and a slim waist. Of course, all this happens not thanks to fitness, but thanks to work. In those days, they did everything by hand, from washing and cleaning to carrying food from the market and their own gardens.
Makeup will be revived only in the 60s, but for now on screens and photographs you can see many completely natural faces with slightly tinted lips and eyes. By the way, why do most Soviet girls have brown or blond hair? Therefore, hair lighteners were not common in the fifties.
Athletes, Komsomol members and simply beauties of the 60s
Why did women in the USSR generally look older than they do now?
When drawing arrows, it is worth remembering who did it without modern liners. Makeup pencils were introduced in the 1960s, but not everyone had them. How were the arrows drawn? Soviet girls simply wrapped a cotton ball around a stick or match, which trained their strong arms and created a clear expression on their faces.
And in the 1960s, brands such as Nevskaya Cosmetics and Preresto appeared, which are believed to have originated in the USSR. Yes, the first Soviet creams and even the first fashion magazines appeared in the 60s. By the way, and you will be surprised, fashion glosses contained a minimum of pictures and a maximum of instructions on sewing clothes. Buying fashionable items in the Soviet Union was difficult. Mass-produced items included robes, robe-like dresses, coarse linens, and drape coats that were meant to be worn for a decade.
For beauty, they began to go to dressmakers and hairdressers. It was then that the character of the masses reached the heads of Soviet citizens. The first perms, professional coloring and long haircuts appeared. Gradually, the bob went out of fashion, and stepped haircuts appeared — almost like men”s, but longer. They were decorated with curls. With my grandmother today you can see the same image.
Soviet 70s: blonde and a little love
It wasn”t until the 1970s that blonde hair began to grow more. The girls finally have access to bleach. What started here! Paints appeared, but the art of coloring was just beginning. Therefore, colors were taken as a standard, as in the famous film “Marfa Vasilievna”. What else do you need? There is no yellowness, the hair is dyed to the roots. An ordinary hairdresser”s visitor turned yellow as the sun after taking a few hydraperite tablets.
In pursuit of the blonde, other “bourgeois charms” appear — blue mascara, half-length winged hair, voluminous bangs, flared trousers. Soviet girls of the 1970s wearing their own bells is a fashion theme that even modern designers have not forgotten. Voluminous trousers were worn with jumpers for work, shirts for going out, and simply with a coat or bologna jacket.
By the way, the exaggerated term known today as “farewell to youth” also appeared in the 1970s. The first Soviet sneakers and felt boots were supposed to reduce the cost of shoe production. This gave Soviet girls a reason to look for shoes from Polish and East German “peasants” and merchants.
Soviet punk 80s
By the 80s, fashion was finally divided into official, television, street, first rock concerts, underground exhibitions and simply Alberta. The further from the capital, the more machine-knitted dresses, jackets with lurex, thick knitted skirts and opaque tights. And the closer you get to Moscow, the more often you find “varenki”, leather jackets, denim jackets and extreme mini “rubber bands”.
It was in the 1980s that small breasts, thinness, and everything considered modern came into fashion—manicures, false eyelashes, tweezers, and very refined eyebrows with tint. Then came the first bright “feathers.” Trendy curls, both artificial and chemically treated. And the extreme “barmaid” makeup with timeless pearlescent lipstick, matching manicure, and a blue tint on half the face. You think there was no blush? Of course there was. Unnatural shades of rosy cheeks are the hallmark of the era.
The 1980s also saw the emergence of unconventional women”s footwear. Sneakers and sneakers with thick wedges without heels, sandals, and slippers—how many mothers forbade their daughters to wear them! All this was complemented by short denim skirts or “stretchy”—that is, completely form-fitting knit dresses. Around the same time, fishnet tights were introduced. But not all respectable girls wore them. They dressed in safari dresses and culottes, and braided their hair.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, eclecticism was fashionable. Some spent their last money buying their first used, acid-colored jeans, others sewed a sarafan from their mother”s fabric, and the first fashionistas emerged who tailored their clothes according to Western magazines like Vogue, rather than “Cutting and Sewing.” The country changed, and with it, a new image of women.
But for many, the Soviet woman is the epitome of feminine naturalness, that state of mind when a person is preoccupied with something other than their own appearance and beauty, and therefore especially beautiful. Girls of the USSR
