'Ballerinas' from grandmother's slippers and jeans: how the 80 Olympics changed fashion in the USSR
'21.08.2020'
Source: Sputnik
In 1980, the XXII Olympic Games, held in Moscow, radically changed such a sphere of life of Soviet citizens as fashion, writes Sputnik.
After world competitions, sneakers and sneakers began to be used not only for sports, but also in everyday life, fashionistas took to the streets in T-shirts of foreign brands and jeans, which cost unthinkable money. We remember how the 80 Olympics influenced the image of the Soviet citizen.
Jeans cost more than the average monthly salary
After the 1980 Summer Olympics, imported clothing became popular in the USSR. Jeans, known in the Soviet Union before, have become even more popular. Their cost could exceed the average monthly salary of a Soviet citizen.
“After the Olympics, the jeans trade was very developed in the USSR. Jeans cost fabulous money and have become the most important wardrobe item for every fashionista. From hands they were sold for 120-200 rubles with a salary of 100 rubles on average, ”recalls fashion historian Alexander Vasiliev.
Also in the trend were T-shirts, T-shirts, especially with foreign inscriptions, for example, Puma, Adidas. It was very difficult to get the original, so they went for a trick.
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“Often these T-shirts were made at home. A stencil was cut out of cardboard - the logo of a foreign sports brand, and applied to a white Soviet-made T-shirt, ”Vasiliev notes.
Sportswear isn't just for charging
In the summer of 1980, Moscow was flooded with fans, athletes, representatives of delegations dressed in sportswear and sneakers. In addition, in honor of the Olympics, a lot of advertising materials were issued: photographs, postcards, films, where they also showed foreign and our athletes in beautiful modern equipment.
“This prompted people that sports shoes can be worn not only in training, physical education, or to go to the country in them. It turns out that it can also be used as a fashion accessory. In this sense, the Games have changed the way many people look at sportswear, ”explains Ekaterina Kulinicheva, author of Sneakers: A Cultural Biography of Sports Shoes.
Sneakers were decorated with gouache
In 1980, sports footwear acquired special value among Soviet citizens, who painted their sneakers with colored paints and attached a new sole to the Adidas shoes.
“People bought white Chinese sneakers and painted them with gouache in fashionable colors: green, yellow, in different shades of pink. This is how they diversified their clothes in order to stand out, ”notes Vasiliev.
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Local fashionistas often turned to shoe shops in Moscow for a replacement sole, says Kulinicheva. Adidas sneakers were difficult to get, but spikes were more affordable - these are special track and field running shoes with spikes on the sole. People removed these spikes and fitted a more comfortable sole, either micropore or rubber. But it was considered special luck if someone from “insiders” worked at the experimental plant “Sport”, where Adidas sneakers were produced under license.
“Friends in the factory were given old sneakers and in the same place they attached some new soles to the shoes. Therefore, sometimes there are hybrids of Adidas models that are not in the official line: the upper from one model, the sole from another. And how these sneakers appeared is not always clear. Either it was someone's experiment, or the Germans did not bring the necessary sole to the USSR and had to attach the one that was. Or someone has collected a couple of the leftovers for themselves, ”Kulinicheva comments.
In general, the 1980s were famous for the directions of "self-stitching", "self-sewing". These are terms from Soviet slang, which were used to refer to hand-made things.
Olympic Bear was on clothes and bags
The logo with the official mascot of the Games, Mishka, was especially popular during the Moscow Olympics. He was very much loved in the form of badges on sports shoulder bags made of leatherette.
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“Sports bags, sometimes with the logo of the 1980 Olympics, have become very popular. Until the 1990s, schoolchildren wore clothing for the sports section or items necessary for a music school. These bags turned out to be long-livers, ”concludes Aladzhalova.
Hoodie originally from the 1980s
What was then called the "Olympics", today has become one of the most fashionable and sought-after wardrobe items. Only now it is a hoodie with a zipper and white stripes - it comes from that very Moscow of the 1980s.
About “grandma's” ballet shoes and safari
The 80 Olympics became the forerunner of many modern trends in clothing and footwear. So, Moscow design students created "masterpieces" from grandmother's slippers.
At that time, ballet flats were in fashion - it was very scarce and fashionable. They bought them only for currency in "birches" (shops in the USSR that traded for currency and checks. - Ed.). Students bought grandmother's flat-soled slippers and painted them with varnish. At least one or two exits somewhere to the disco were enough.
