Orange Jackets and Pea Green Pants: The Fashion of Stilyagi in Soviet Postwar Culture

Abstract

The article aims to analyze the fashion of the Stilyaga in the context of postwar Soviet culture. The main sources used in the research are interviews with fashion-conscious young people, Soviet fashion magazines, books on fashion and conduct, manuals of etiquette and Soviet fiction. Stilyaga fashion is investigated as a site of conflict with traditional Soviet dress codes and morals. The stilyagi are interpreted as a distinctive subculture, encompassing fashion, taste in music, unique slang, body language and lifestyle habits. Female stilyagi are a special focus of analysis. The stilyaga image is interpreted in its historical development from the originators of the movement in the late 1940s to the Shtatniki of the 1960s. The article also explores stilyagi in the context of international oppositional fashion: the British Teds, Japanese Taiyozoku, and Australian Bodgies. Local variants of the stilyaga movement are described, including the musical counterculture of Baku. It is argued that stilyagi often experimented bravely in a “mix and match” manner, and in many aspects may be regarded as the forerunners of contemporary street-style fashion. This argument is supported by the analysis of the stilyaga as flaneur, including strategies of observing, identifying and categorizing others by appearance.