Masha the poultry keeper, the Italian thief and Mironov’s shorts: fashion in Soviet cinema

5 Soviet films where catwalks and fashion models played their roles

“Girl with no address” (1957)

For some reason, the director of the film, Eldar Ryazanova, did not like this film of his own. For example, in his book of memoirs, he did not devote a single line to this work. However, the story about Katya Ivanova (actress Svetlana Karpinskaya), who ended up in Moscow, is often shown on TV. There is an episode in the film when the heroine accidentally gets into the clothes demonstrators. Alla Shchipakina’s book Fashion in the USSR. Sovetsky Kuznetsky, 14 “begins with the mention of the film” Girl without an address “. The author of the book, the leading art critic of the All-Union House of Models, writes about the role of this film and the profession of a clothing demonstrator (this is how models were called in the 1950s): “For the first time, the Red Hall, which later became famous, appeared on the screen with white columns and velvet chairs. Against this background, a charming girl moved “like a fashion model”. A sensation was born, fame came.

– Ryazanov forbade me to put on any makeup, – recalled Karpinskaya. “Then I was very upset. Even my partner Rybnikov said: “What a wonderful girl! Why does she always walk around in some kind of miserable skirt and in this terrible scarf? Let her hair down!” After all, I had a braid to the knees, which no one saw. And the director also made me urgently lose weight a few weeks before filming, so I had to start every morning with a jog and sit on a strict diet.

“Such a guy lives” (1964)

This film was the directorial debut of Vasily Shukshin. For the main role – Pashka Kolokolnikov, he invited his friend Leonid Kuravlev. The scene when the team of the House of Models arrives at the village club with a fashion show was filmed in one of the Altai village clubs. “A fashion show for the autumn-winter season,” the presenter announces. First of all, work clothes are shown, “This is Masha the poultry house. Her little furry friends will immediately recognize her in this simple, beautiful dress. And, as soon as they see her, they run to meet her in a crowd, ”the leading woman in a headscarf and apron introduces. And since Masha is also a student, there is a special pocket on the apron where Masha puts her textbook. The women’s “suit for field work” was also immediately presented, which was demonstrated by the “drummer of the Communist Labor Natasha.” Well, and the “ensemble for the beach” – a bathing suit, of course, was especially liked by the men in the hall. For those times, to show a woman in a swimsuit on the screen was a bold decision.

“Diamond Arm” (1968)

“Pants are turning… Pants are turning…” – everyone remembers this phrase from the episode of the fashion show in the film “Diamond Hand”, when the lightning does not work at the clothing demonstrator Kozodoev (Andrey Mironov). The demonstration of the Universal-69 summer combined suit is one of the most famous fashion scenes in Russian cinema. An ironic place was chosen for its presentation – a forum of modern clothes in Zhytomyr. Why is this white suit so weird? In the late 1960s, combinatory was a big trend: the wardrobe of a Soviet person had to be small, but functional. That is why a jacket could become a jacket, and trousers could become shorts.

The scene was filmed in the Moscow House of Models and the fashion models working there participated in it.

“The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia” (1973)

Another film by Eldar Ryazanov, in which he recalled the fashion show, is in the scene when the Italians with their “guide” run after the heroine of the film, Olga (Antonia Santilli), they end up in GUM. There, in the fashion salon, a show of “toilets of the spring-summer season” began. First, on the catwalk, we see how the fashion model demonstrates “a modest evening dress made of silver brocade.” When Olga ran from the hall onto the podium, the presenter was not at a loss and began to describe her clothes: “A casual suit is a jacket made of dark blue velvet …” Behind the scenes, Olga is mistakenly dressed in a black dress with a red rose, which, according to the presenter, gives “light toilet mystery. “In this dress, you can go anywhere,” the host of the show convinces. The heroine did just that: in a state-owned dress, she ran from the podium through the hall to the street.

“The meeting place cannot be changed” (1979)

In the famous 5-episode film by Stanislav Govorukhin, we watch a seasonal fashion show when Volodya Sharapov (Vladimir Konkin) comes to talk with fashion designer Irina Sobolevskaya (Natalia Fateeva). She presents her collection from the House of Models, telling what lines will be in the post-war fashion trends. The shooting of this episode took place in Odessa on the stage of the central park, real models of the local House of Models were filmed.