Knitted tops, small curlers, dyed shoes and other life hacks of Soviet fashionistas
'12.05.2022'
Source: Passion.ru
USSR fashion in the second half of the 20th century is the story of how people discovered trends. Everyone did it in their own way, sometimes strange and even funny. What sacrifices did Soviet fashionistas make to resemble models from foreign catalogs brought by sailors from long voyages?
Original shoes
To follow overseas trends, the girls connected fantasy, recalls Passion.ru. The industry of those years produced shoes, as a rule, in black and brown colors, and I wanted to make some bright detail. The needlewomen cut small circles from multi-colored foil and pasted them onto black shoes, fixing them with varnish. Later, white shoes came into fashion, and everyone rushed to the workshops to paint their shoes. Shoemakers diligently carried out orders of youth, but for a long time creative models did not serve - the paint quickly cracked and crumbled.
Yellow socks
By the end of the 70's, red shoes became a real hit, and from a wide variety of materials: from velveteen to leather. It was not necessary to paint - colored shoes already appeared on the clothing markets, however, there were some difficulties.
Yellow socks came into fashion, which was almost impossible to buy. Occasionally, 45 size men's socks remained on the shelves, and fashionistas had to wear them by bending twice. Shoes, of course, were removed only at home.
On the subject: How Soviet women did hair removal
Jeans and Flare Pants
Jeans wanted everything, but their value reached wages in two months. In conditions of scarcity, the sizes were far from always, and fashionistas bought what at least somehow could be worn. For this, there was a special life hack: the jeans were soaked in water, collected water in the bath, lay down and pulled on jeans in the water. Then it was necessary to walk in the wet until the fabric dries. This method allowed to stretch the product. If the belt tightened the belly, the pants were worn with long blouses.
Since the end of the 70's, low-rise flared trousers have gained popularity, and wide-striped models were considered the most fashionable. Young people made an oncoming fold on them and fastened a small light bulb to it, hiding the wire in the side seam and the battery in their pocket. In the dark, this invention glowed - this technique was used at discotheques.
Knitted tops
Foreign magazines and catalogs brought by sailors from voyages were the main source of inspiration. People looked for talented tailors, copied styles and composed fashionable images from any means at hand. For example, when striped knit tops became a real hit, everyone started asking grandmothers to tie something like that. And the finished products were decorated with bright applications in the form of palms, lips, flowers and hearts, carved from krimplen.
On the subject: Soviet wife: how it was
In addition to the image
The experiments of Soviet fashionistas in the beauty sphere deserve special attention. At the risk of sight, the girls mixed the silver paint with petroleum jelly and applied this dangerous mixture forever. During this period, beauty literally demanded sacrifice.
The idol of Soviet society was African-American Angela Davis, and many women sought to repeat her hairstyle. To do this, they invited friends and spent hours curling each other's hair on small curlers. The finishing touch of any look is fashionable manicure. Tiny paper circles were pasted onto red varnish, and topcoated with colorless varnish.
