For a modern child, it may seem wild to put on a hat and a fur coat made of synthetic fur to the toes, belt it with a rope, and on top also tie an Orenburg scarf given by a generous grandmother. But this is exactly how children dressed in the USSR. And everything and almost without exception. There was no children's fashion and membrane overalls that give freedom of movement. We moved like clumsy bears, but we all had fun. I suggest you remember these ridiculous, but at the same time so cute children's images, cobbled together from what the parents had at hand.
Layering is the key to warmth
I was born in the mid-80s, and my brother in the 90s. And I must say that our winter outfits differed little from each other, despite the heterogeneity of the children. Some “neutral” colored clothing works well moved into my brother's wardrobe, and then dispersed among friends and relatives.
And all because our mothers had to live in an era of scarcity.Good clothes for a child were an unimaginable luxury, obtained through great connections. It was a little easier for those who knew how to sew well. In this case, the child was beautifully dressed, but the tendency to “wrap up” continued even in this case.
I remember very well how my mother began to dress me for school and kindergarten, putting a huge amount of clothes on the sofa. Underwear, a light long-sleeve sweater, a warm knitted wool blazer made with love by my grandmother. Then tights were used, warm woolen leggings and thick knitted socks were put on them. And only after that we started the actual insulation.
Outerwear - a bright look, the same for everyone
For winter in my wardrobe, like most of my peers, there was fur coat made of synthetic material. Here we must give credit to the parents: they tried hard and got a white fur coat, which they belted with a textile strap. This was necessary so that the wind did not penetrate under the fur coat.
First, a light skater's hat or scarf was put on the head, then a rabbit earflap or a product made of the same synthetic material as a fur coat. An elastic band was sewn onto it, which was crossed under the chin and pulled over the headdress.
The feet were wearing the usual felt boots or leather boots. There wasn't much choice in this regard either. Everything that appeared on the shelves was swept away with great speed. They tried to wear shoes carefully so that they could be “passed on as an inheritance” to younger children or friends.
In the fall, a scarf made of natural wool was worn over a fur coat or coat. The Orenburg miracle was thrown over the child’s shoulders, crossed in the front and tied like a belt on the lower back.So my parents tried protect your baby's upper body from hypothermia.
This has only been done to me in severe frosts. I usually wore a beautiful scarf, also knitted by my grandmother.
I completely forgot about the mittens. They, of course, were placed inside a multi-layered robe, sewn onto an elastic band and pulled through the sleeves of a fur coat. The lace rubbed my shoulders unpleasantly when I moved. All clothes were mercilessly itchy, since at that time natural wool was extremely prickly. If you and your mother went to the store, the body was sweating very quickly under layers of varied clothing and itching. But we had to endure it until we got home, since it was impossible to reach through the thick layer of clothes.
It’s scary to think how long it took kindergarten teachers in the USSR to dress children.
However, I remember these years with special warmth. Bulky and uncomfortable clothes did not become an obstacle to active snowball fights and sledding with friends. As we got older, we had fun skiing and skating, everyone had fun, no one paid attention to the slipping hat, untied scarf or completely frozen pants covered with snow. How was it for you? Maybe you were lucky and your parents bought fashionable, comfortable clothes for you?
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The author writes that he remembers these clothes with special warmth. If so, would the author agree to dress his child in the same way?
Yes!
Yes, we didn’t have computers or cool TVs, and therefore we always ran outside - both in the cold and in the summer heat. I come from Siberia and remember that the winters were very snowy and frosty with snowstorms and blizzards, so small children were covered as best they could. To take them for a walk or to take them to kindergarten, they put scarves on top of their fur coats, because they were sledding them in the morning, and the snowstorm burns the face or the frost is 35 degrees. The older children in the kindergarten went for walks and their fur coats were belted with a strap, but somehow the children with we managed this ourselves. Having climbed through the snowdrifts, taller than myself, my mittens and pants were all standing upright, then they were dried on the radiators, but somehow it was a lot of fun. And even as an adult, I have very warm memories of those fur coats and clothes. It’s great that now there are such clothes that cover the legs and face of a child, but in those days such clothes were not a tribute to fashion, but a necessity.
Yes, they dressed us like that. Yes, we dressed our children this way, it was very cold. But we were young and happy, and succeeded everywhere.
Born in the mid-80s - then perestroika began (Gorbi), and in the 90s everything completely collapsed.
Therefore, what you and your brother wore has nothing to do with the USSR. I was born in the 60s and there were no chemicals in my clothes, everything was natural leather, fabrics, sweatshirt, woolen mittens, leather gloves. Winter shoes are especially emphasized - leather and lined with natural fur on the inside. Now I bought almost similar ones made by Wrangler.The top is natural buffalo leather, and the lining inside, although they say fur, is artificial.
They sew a lot of buffalos in India. I'm not writing about the price.
Your current fashion will be even more ridiculous and awkward for those who will study it in 10-15 years! And he will probably laugh, and will not want to dress his child in what you consider today the standard of fashion!
The fur coats are entirely natural, the scarves are goat's down, it would be worth something like that now... Tweet!
In those days, no one looked after children in the yard. Everyone walked on their own as much as they wanted. My childhood was in the 60s. That's how everyone dressed back then. I live in the near Moscow region. We have slides and hills everywhere. My grandmother let me out with the sled and that was it. And you could only come home until you had ridden down the hill so hard that you could barely drag the sled behind you. And the mittens will all freeze. Mittens or mittens were knitted from domestic sheep wool. Your hands didn’t freeze in them until they got wet through and froze into ice. And the clothes were such that no frost was scary. A fur coat was a must for outerwear. At least among my friends. And no one got sick.
Lies again! Even in photographs, children are dressed in fur coats and hats made of natural fur, most often tsigeyka - the warmest and most wear-resistant option. What else do children need to feel warm and comfortable? In addition to the tsigeyka fur coat, I also had a dyed rabbit fur coat - white with a black spot, an older one had a fur coat made of astrakhan fur, in high school a rabbit cut like a seal, then a double-sided drape woolen coat with a veiled arctic fox collar almost to the waist.And after graduation, a fur coat made from Siberian squirrel! Still alive! Excellent workmanship! Such furs were called soft gold in the USSR and the best of them were exported for foreign currency!
I had a light sheepskin coat from the GDR. I didn’t feel like a seal in it. And felt boots with galoshes were really comfortable.