Figure 1.--Here we see Victor which his mother and little brother in 1964. He looks to be about 6 yeara old, about the time he began school. The boys' mother especially liked sailor suits.

A HBC reader has provided some fascinating information on his childood in the 1960s. He tells us, "I will tell you about the clothes I wore as a boy to add to your information on Soviet boys' clothing and I have photographs from our family album taken during the 1960s to illustrate the clothes that I wore." He has sent us his account in Russian. Our translation is not perfect. We are still working on it. Some passages in particular we are not sure about. We would be interested in any suggestions readers may have. I have slightly edited Victor's text. Readers who want to read the actual Russian text that Victor provided us can click on The Russian flag icon here.

Sailor Suits

As you can see from the photograph here, my mother liked to dress mylittle brother and me in sailor suits. As you see, sailor suits were popular during the summer time both with short and long trousers. It is clearly evident in the photographs that the suits different, but all had sailor styling. This type of clothing was very popular for small boys about 7 yearsof age just beginning school. Boys would wear them up to about 10 years of age, but not as commonly as the younger boys. Sailor suits by the mid-1960s were declining in popularity. They had veen much more popular in the 1940s and 50s when boys 9-11 years of age commonly wore them if parents could afford them. They were relatively expensive in the post-World War II Soviet Union and not all parents could afford them. The sailor suit was a style that was popular with boys. The sailor suit was not for everyday wear. As a rule we put on our sailor suits when dressing up such as walking with our parents into the city for jaunts.

Panamas

Mother often had us wear headwear called "panama". I had both white and dark ones. [? In this specific case it represents the triangular fabric, whose all three ends are buttoned to one button - it is obtained this likable children's head-gear.]

Play Clothes

For wear at home and for outdoor play there was a variety of simpler clothing [? which it was not pitifully wear to rags and reject]. As a rule we were jackets, different sweaters, and short or long trousers trousers. Long trousers were as a rule sufficiently warm. Some had a "nap" inside. A photograph shows how I often dressed to play games outdoors.

Ski Pants

I often wore "ski" or "jaunt" pants for play in cool weather along with a war javket and kepi to keep my head warm. This was very common clothes for boys that were not from very well to do families. We were not real well to do, but not poor either.

Suspender Pants

I commonly wore suspender pants as a younger boy. The photograph here shows me in August 1965. I am on a swing. I wear a short sleeve shirt with suspebder long pants. I am wearing a beret on my head, most likely a dark blue color. My pants are suspender pants, meaning pants with straps in the same material as the pants. They were not actual suspenders. At the back the straps cross abd are sewn onto the trouser waistline. At the front, the straps button to the waistband. The purpose of these straps is simple. They prevented the trousers from falling down. Such trousers were also the usual clothing of younger boys. I ws 7 years old when this photograph was taken.

Schoolwear

Unfortunately my school class photographs were not preserved. We had class portraits taken annually. While I do not have them, I do remember how we were dressed at the time during the 1960s. Our school uniform consisted of berets and suits. The photograph of me on the swing shows the beret I wore to school. We wore matching grey jackets and long trousers made from the same material. Often our pants were suspender pants for the support of trousers. The straps fastened from behind and from the front to the trousers. I did not like this uniform and found it very uncomfortable. It was very hot in warm weather and furthermore the cloth "bit" when I wore socks that left my legs uncovered.

Long Stockings

In cooler weather I wore long stockings up to 1968. The long stockings were predominantly brown color. In our class almost all the boys walked to school dressed precisely like this. Many boys did not like long stockings. The primary reason was that they were inconvenient. Long stockings were worn with a special underbodice to hold them up. This was a device like the contemporary womens belts for stockings. The inconvenience of the underbodice was an irritation. [HBC note: Boys around the world do not like clothing that is inconvenient or difficult to put on or take off. This is particularly true of younger children.] When you dressed and undressed it was a large button at the back that had to be dealt with. We boys in no way liked this type of clothing.

Tights

In 1968 tights ( kolgotki ) began to appear in the Soviet Union. They rapidly replaced long stockings. Long stockings had been commonly worn for many years, but this transition occurred very rapidly. Tights were positively perceived by boys and their parents. I note that HBC has a section on tights n Russia. This section very accurately describes fashion trends concerning tights.

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Created: 11:13 PM 4/19/2005
Last updated: 12:05 AM 4/20/2005