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Ukrainian fashion in the 20th century. Archival photos

Daria DurovaLife
Ukrainian fashion in the 20th century
Ukrainian fashion in the 20th century

Photos from Ukraine of the last century have been published online, showing the fashion of the country at the time. The digital archive called Family Album was created by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and popular fashion historian and critic Zoia Zvyniatskivska.

The media archive contains over a hundred photographs of the twentieth century from private family albums. The oldest photo is from 1905, and the newest is from 1997.

Uman, 1905
Kyiv, 1927

The photo shows how ordinary people living in what is now Ukraine dressed. The fashion of the last century was, of course, influenced by the realities of the USSR.

"This time was characterized by planned economic management, which determined the range of clothes in stores. Economic crises and shortages of goods led to alternative practices related to handmade, small-scale production or the recovery and reuse of clothing," the historians explained.

For example, the photo below shows a woman who worked as an engineer. Her daughter, who provided the photo, said that her mother used to wear a swan fluff hat made by a close friend.

A self-sewn hat. Kyiv, 1981.

When the Soviet Union collapsed and the process of marketization began, street style in Ukraine changed significantly.

A girl in a dress with a bow. Berdiansk, 1952
Woman walking in the park. Berdiansk, 1952

This was facilitated by both the import of clothing directly and the massive spread of new visual materials: movies, magazines, etc.

Here are more photos from the Family Album:

Kyiv, 1910
Kyiv, 1916
Kyiv, 1933
Blouse with a bow. Kyiv, 1951
Obukhiv, 1952
Pervomaisk-on-Bug, 1976
Dress with a brooch. Cherkasy, 1980
Second-year students of the Kyiv National Economic University celebrating their birthday. Kyiv, 1995.
Kyiv, 1997

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