This post is going to dovetail off of my previous post on women's wartime clothing, and delve into the basics of men's fashion during the Great Patriotic War. The purpose, as with my last post, is to give a very basic overview of men's clothing during the wartime years for the living historian/reenactor to use when putting their impression together.
As I said in the women's post, when we start talking about what types of clothing was worn by men in the Soviet Union, the answer is, "it depends." Clothing worn in cities was somewhat different than the clothing worn in rural areas. To make matters more complicated, clothing worn in different areas of the Soviet Union, for example the European part of the USSR, (like Western Russian, Ukraine, and Byelorussia) is going to be different from clothing worn in the Asian Republics (such as Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan). Once you factor in a person's age, and what the clothing is being worn for, the matter becomes about as clear as mud.
Given such a wide range of options, I've confined this brief overview solely towards the "European USSR" since that is where the bulk of the Great Patriotic War was fought. As in my previous post, I have divided men's fashion into two broad, distinct, categories (urban vs rural), and I will briefly touch on working and cold weather clothing.
The Revolutionary Roots of Soviet Fashion
The clothing worn by the men, and women, who inhabited the USSR during the Second World War was directly influenced by the tumultuous years between the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, and the start of the Great Patriotic War.[1] In order to understand the clothing styles, trends, and tastes of the wartime years, one has to understand the events that impacted the garment industry during the opening decades of the USSR.
During the first part of the Twentieth Century, fashion was associated with one’s place in society. At this time, the vast majority of the Russian population resided in small villages, in the countryside, and relied on home made garments that were utilitarian, and closer to traditional peasant wear than what we think of when we think of Edwardian fashion. Moreover, for your average citizen, at this time, ready made garments from a department store, were a rarity and reserved for special occasions.[2]
Due to the cost, a well made suit of clothes, cut along contemporary lines, was more identified with the urban elite. This extreme dichotomy between rural, and urban, fashion was seen by many revolutionaries as further illustration of the haves, and have nots, in Russian society. During those early, violent years, of the USSR, how a person dressed was viewed by many Bolsheviks, as a prima facia case, as to what side an individual was on. As a result, the clothing of the peasant was embraced and served as a basis for clothing in the first decade of Soviet society.[3]
As a result of the massive re-ordering of Russian society, the fashion industry was left in a state of ruin. Things were made even worse when, in the late 1920s, the garment industry was collectivized and brought under state control. Almost in an instant, the fashion world was choked off, and even the elites in Soviet Society had a decreasing number of options from which to get clothing made[4]
One of the unintended consequences of this action was that, cheap, mass produced, clothing became extremely limited in supply. Clothing was rationed to the masses just like bread, or meat was. Clothing and shoes were expensive, and citizens purchased these items, not because they were fashionable, but to fill a need.[5]
With this development, the State decided there was a need to expand their fashion industry. Clothing conglomerates were established, and workshops were set up to design textiles and garments (so long as they met the need of being mass produced).[6]
By the mid-1930s, as the Soviet society became more urbanized (a result of massive industrialization brought about by the various Five Year plans), and the standard of living began to climb, fashion began to take on both a practical and political purpose. A popular slogan of the time was that life had become better, life had become more joyous, and a booming fashion industry was seen by the state as a way of showing both the citizenry, and the world, of just how effective socialism could be at improving life of the proletariat.[7]
In 1934, the Soviet Union opened its first fashion design house, and within a few years there were regional houses of design which were to satisfy local needs for new garment designs. Moreover, there was a burgeoning number of department stores, in major metropolitan areas, where the citizens could buy the new clothing that was being produced. On top of that, a revamping of the state control over garment production, also meant that small tailor’s, and seamstress, shops could also operate in conjunction with the major, state run, garment factories. By the late 1930s, a system was in place where state run design houses produced the designs, large conglomerate factories massed produced ready made garments, and department stores distributed them. Moreover, department stores, and small tailor/seamstress operations, could take on small runs of garments, as well as do custom work.[8]
In late 1930s, with war around the corner, the Soviet fashion industry had fulfilled both its pragmatic, and political role. It had made clothing, for the most part, readily available to the average citizen. From a political standpoint, it had shown that socialism had elevated the masses to a standard of dress which, a mere twenty years before, had been accessible to only a few elites in society.[9]
So, Why Does the Matter?
At this stage, I’m sure you’re asking “okay, so you’ve given me a long winded explanation of how Soviet fashion evolved up to the eve of the war, what does it matter? What practical application does this have to the living history world?” The reason is that explains several points that crop up when picking a garment for one’s impression.
As I mentioned above, prior to the 1930s, your average person, living in a small village in the hinterlands of Byelorussia, is still clothing themselves the way their grandparents did prior to the revolution. While attempts were made to bring modern clothing into the rural areas, the old ways and fashions still hung on until well after the war years, particularly with older people. Part of this was tradition, and part of it was practical. Patterns for making garments were already on hand, the garments were tough, utilitarian, and comfortable, and it’s what the people who produced them knew; all good reasons to stay with tried and true types of clothes.
The Russian fashion industry went from servicing a fairly small, urban elite, in 1917, to non-existent (with the Revolutionary embrace of traditional, peasant, clothing during the 1920s), to being a vehicle to quickly clothing a large population in easy to mass produce, ready made garments, to, finally, being a true fashion industry (like its other European contemporaries). As a result, when the fashion industry was reborn in the mid-1930s it had to look abroad for influences, as opposed to building on industry tradition and evolution. Moreover, it was under state control, so there was less impetus on changing clothing looks as rapidly as there would be if the various state fashion houses were competing on the traditional market. As a result, clothing designs tended to pull from its European neighbors, and fashion trends had a tendency to hold on longer in the USSR, than it would in Germany or France.
Lastly, after the Nazi invasion of June 22, 1941, the Soviet economy was put on a full war footing. This meant that the garment factories were switched to making uniforms, and skilled tradespeople left their pre-war occupation in the garment industry, for the front, or war industry[10]. As a result, citizens were forced to “make do and mend,” as their British allies would say, and mend, repair, or alter pre-war clothing to last for the duration. What little new clothing that was produced during the war, was made at home the way it had been during the times of the Tsar. The Soviet Union was so bereft of civilian clothing that, when the Red Army made it into the “lair of the Fascist beast” Red Army soldiers made a habit of sending garments, textiles, and shoes home as war booty. [11]
Threads for Urbanites
As with everything in life, there is the ideal, and the reality. The above 1938 sketch of fashionable, well cut, men’s suits was further proof of how well dressed a populace that a planned, socialist, economy could produce.
In the 1940s, the centerpiece of a European man’s wardrobe was the three piece suit. A man’s newest, and all matching, suit of clothes was generally kept for formal, important occasions. His second oldest suit was used for everyday wear, and individual pieces he had from previous suits, would be worn for labor and lounging around the house. However, garments wear at different rates; normally the pants wear out first, then the jacket, and then the vest. So, it was not uncommon, depending on how well off someone was, to see a man wearing a mismatched set of clothing. Because a man’s suit of clothes had to be worn for multiple occasions, the colors tended to be conservative, with dark blues, browns, blacks, and greys predominating (pin stripes were also very common).[12]
A survey of the above photos shows that this practice held on, to a certain degree, with urbanites in Soviet cities. Suits of clothing tended to very conservative in color, and worn along the lines above (though mix and match can still be seen). Key differences in the suit of Soviet citizen, when compared to the ones worn by their European counterparts, is that they tend to be less tailored than you would see in Germany, or the United Kingdom. One last feature, that is extremely common on Soviet suit jackets of the time, is the use of patch pockets.
Two of the most salient features of Soviet men’s fashion, is the headwear, and the types of shirts worn. A look of the photos shows that wearing a hat (another 1940s fashion norm) was in full swing with Soviet men. However, unlike in the west, where felt brimmed hats were extremely popular, Soviet men preferred to wear generously crowned, soft billed, caps (cabbie caps, and eight panel newsboy styles, predominate, but there are a few others).
With regards to shirts, you see your traditional button down, collared shirts being worn. However, you also see large numbers of half placket shirts, and civilian gymnasterkas (traditional Russian tunics) being worn tucked into the trousers. Lastly, neck ties seem to be worn depending on the individual’s role in society, and/or the occasion.
Back to Our Roots: Rural Clothing
As I wrote in my previous post on women’s clothing, there is a belief that the average guy living in a small rural village, or working on a kolkhoz, was dressed in a manner that was only a few years removed from the emancipation of the serfs. However, the reality is some what more murky.
As a general rule, you do not see rural men dressed in three piece suits, for the reasons I enumerated earlier. Clothing manufacture in rural areas was not all that different from pre-revolution times, and the garments that were popular in the rural areas were comfortable, and utilitarian, for agricultural labor.
The photos above show us that there were several garment types that pop up regularly in photographs of men living in the country. The most ubiquitous garment is the tunic, or gymnasterka. This is essentially an over shirt that goes back to the Tsarist times, and is worn over an undershirt with a belt. You see them with a half placket front, and a more contemporary collar, but you also see them with a short, stand up collar, with an off-set placket opening. Like the suits, they tend to be a range of more conservative colors (white, grey, tan, brown, greens). Unlike in urban areas, they tend to be worn outside the pants, in their traditional manner.
Trousers are either cut in a contemporary 1930s style (straight with wide legs), or “Gallet” style. Gallet trousers are jodhpur type pants very similar in cut to the Red Army issue trousers. Both styles have high rises, which means they are worn at an individual’s natural waist (around the belly button).
Coats are worn when appropriate and follow the conventions governing the suit coats of more urbane individuals. However, it is rare to see a rural man wearing a coat that matches the rest of his clothing.
As with city dwellers, the ubiquitous soft billed caps described above, are worn almost to a man (this is not to say that felt, brimmed hats, weren’t worn, they just are not nearly as popular).
Utility Cuts Across All Demographics
I won’t spend a lot of time on “working” attire because I intend to go into this at a later date. However, I do want to brush on working and cold weather gear.
As a general rule, a Soviet citizen’s wardrobe was not nearly as large as their Western European contemporaries. As such, the clothes they wore to work in the factory, were many times the only set they possessed. As such, photos of men engaged in factory work, coal mining, and other forms of industrialized labor show wide ranging use of coveralls, and boiler suits. The overgarment would keep the under clothing safe from damage while engaged in dirty, heavy work.
In the extreme cold weather that characterizes winter, in Russia, you see chic, heavy woolen, overcoats being worn in more urban settings. They tend to pop up from time to time in rural settings too, but they’re not normally being worn by individuals who are engaged in any kind of heavy, dirty labor.
For that sort of thing, the garment of choice is the telogreika. The telogreika is a quilted jacket (its outer shell is quilted over a wool kapok inner lining), and is an extremely utilitarian garment that helps keep out the subzero chills of a harsh winter. Often time, it is seen worn with matching, quilted, trousers. These pop up in photos of both urban, and rural citizens.
Civilian telogreika’s are very similar to the ones worn by the Red Army, and, in most cases, differ only in color, and buttons. Civilian telogreikas are seen with, and without, collars, and are normally made from tan, black, or blue cloth.
Conclusion
This is a very basic, very general, look at men’s wartime fashion in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. It is also a living document, subject to revision as new material, and facts arise. My hope is to go into more depth with these topics as time goes on, and I have a chance to get to it.
As with many things in the USSR during wartime, there are very few absolutes, and a lot of gray area. When putting together a civilian look for living history interpretation, ask yourself the following questions:
*Where am I from
*What time frame am I doing
*What is my role in society
*How old am I
Use as many original photos, that you can find, to guide you going forward as you decide what garments are right for your portrayal.
[1] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 38.
[2] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 38.
[3] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 38-40.
[4] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 50.
[5] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 51.
[6] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 51.
[7] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 51
[8] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 52-53.
[9] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 54.
[10] Jukka Gronow and Sergey Zhuravlev, Fashion Meets Socialism (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2018), 55.
[11] Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War (London: Faber and Faber, 2005), 279.
[12] Mike Brown, The 1940s Look: Recreating the Fashions, Hairstyles, and Make-Up of the Second World War (Kent: Sabrestorm Publishing, 2006) 3-4.
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