Figure 1.--This page is from a Russian fashion magazine. It is undated, but we suapect it may be from a 1945 edition of Moda. Hopefully our Russian readers will evenually be able to identify it. The boy seems to be wearing a fairly standard set of casual shirt and shorts. Note the long sleeves paired with short pants. The girls clothing is interesting. There is a strong Ukranoan folk style influence. That was something we did not notice in the 1930s. Stalin set out in the 1930s to destroy Ukranian nationalism. As part of the Great Patriotic War against the NAZIs, the Government softened the Communist propaganda and made appeals to a range of patriotic themes. We are not sure, however, to what extent dresses like this were actually produced.

We have acquired some pages from Russian fashion magazines. They look to be from the 1940s. Unfortunately many are undated. They are the same type of publication we see in the 1930s and after the War in the late-40s and 50s. Of course Soviet society during the first half of the decade was dominated by Workd War II, especially the NAZI invasion (1941). Even after VE-Day, the Soviet Union would require many years to recover from the enormous damage. We are not yet to follow faschion developments with any precession as we have so few images and most are undated. Soviet fashion magazines look like Western mail-order catalogs only there was no way for Soviet consumers to either order garments or patterns. The Soviet fashion images we have found from the 1940s seem rather austere. We continue to see short pants outfits depicted for younger boys, but not the rather stylish fashions we noted in the late-1930s. . Bib-front styles seem popular. There were knicker outfits for somewhat older boys, The knickers are the knee-length garments associated with these pants rather than ankle-length ski pants we noted in the 1930s. The fashions are depicted with both socks, especially white socks, and long stockings. We note many outfits depicted with knee socks. Long stockings seem essentially seasonal. It is a little difficult to describe trends with any assurance as we have only a few pages and many are not dated.

Fashion Developments

Individual Years

1940

1941

1942

1945

We have the cover of the Moda magazine from 1945. The War influence is show with the boy's toy rifle and tank. The man an women could easily have been petit bourgeois from Western Europe, both are fashionably dressed. The mother, however, wears a rather basic, austere dress. The boy is depicted a little differently. He wears fairly standard button-on short pants and socks. His blouse, however is interesting. It is a long sleeve blouse with sleeves that were strongly bloused at thewrist cuff. That was a style that we did not see in the West. Nor do we see it in the Soviet photographic record.

1946

1947

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Created: 2:30 PM 10/28/2010
Last updated: 2:30 PM 10/28/2010