Do you know what this is? This is me trying to get an idea out of my head. It’s been more or less the only thing I can think of for the past three weeks. I’ve a couple of blog posts that I’ve started and not completed as I can’t muster the brain power to think of them. I’ve dozens of photos I could share to Instagram, but can’t as my brain tells me, “No you want to share about this first.” NO I DON’T, I wanted to share random trip pics first, that hasn’t happened. I just need to get this character worm out of my head.
So, we were hosting P’s inlaws, the last evening before we moved I decided to share a picture of my Ukrainian shirt and get Sl’s older sister’s opinion on it. Her older brother V also looked and they both agreed very much Ukrainian colors. Then V told me “You’re currently wearing Ukrainian colors. It looks like someone from a movie”
Did you have to???
Later I took a few pictures of the look so that I could remember it, for I thought “It’d make a funny Instagram caption.” But oh no. Oh no, no. That night as I lay in bed, the next day as I cleaned, as we drove down to the new house, until now: what movie would it be, what character would she be.
Well, do I have answers.
It’s a story of smuggling in the USSR in the 1950s. She is a proud Ukrainian who helps the smugglers. How can I tell?
First off, as has been mentioned, she is a proud Ukrainian, we can tell as she wears the Ukrainian colors all the time. It’s a great way to reference her background and politics without having to mention it much.
Second, it’s set in the 1950s, her hair appears short, but she wears a hat. (and not for just for the cold). Also she wears a circle skirt that hits just below the knee. Together these really only add up to the 1950s.
Thirdly, that it is set in the USSR. Now I will admit a lot of this is speculation on my part as I’ve not made a study into 1950’s Soviet fashion but…
Her hair appears straight under the hat. In the West where everybody had wealth, electric servants, and/or leisure time having your hair coiffed most of the time was a must. In the Soviet Union these things were far rarer so I expect that such acts were much less common.
Her skirt also falls straight down. I do not claim that straight skirts didn’t exsist in the West during the 1950s I’m just saying that if you had a circle skirt you wore petticoats that helped flair it out. In the USSR where people were more improvished and living spaces were tighter, I wouldn’t expect floofy, time consuming petticoats to be common.
However the West’s fashion has long been a draw for citizens of less free countries, so to see a character who is not satisfied with her current country mimicking them isn’t surprising. Also depending on her position in the smugglers ring and what they are smuggling she may occasionally end up on the Western side of the line, where following the styles would help her blend in.
There is chance that you are wondering “How come I was wearing this?” There are several answers.
- My favorite color is blue. Yellow comes soon after.
- We were traveling so I had a limited wardrobe.
- It was fall so I wanted warmer clothes. The yellow shirt was one of the only long sleeves I had out and the skirt, being longer and thicker is a good transitional piece.
- They were clean.
- I like them all of these garments. (and now I really like them together.)
As you may have noticed there are some pictures where I am wearing a blue and yellow sweater, but in most of them I’m wearing a black and yellow shirt. The original look was the one with the shirt, but as winter is coming and as Ukraine is in the North, I thought I’d include the sweater as an alternative look for V’s Girl.
I somewhat fully intend to do a series of posts about most of the items in my wardrobe as standalone pieces and not just as parts of outfits as I really love them. Where this look stands at the time of writing, only one item has been blogged about, but in my defense I’ve blogged about it three times, so that must count for something. So more details about the individual garments to come.
There is one other detail about her character that I imagine, but I couldn’t think of how her clothes would show it, so thoughts please. Her family had been landed farmers. I know she works at a collective now, but that’s all I’ve got.
So if you ever find yourself wondering if your outfit is good ask someone very different and maybe you’ll find yourself out of a movie.
We've Got Pockets 