Why did women in the USSR wear hats indoors?
Why did women in the USSR wear hats indoors?

Video: Why did women in the USSR wear hats indoors?

Video: Why did women in the USSR wear hats indoors?
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How can you sit in a restaurant wearing a warm headdress? It turns out that many people used to do this - and no one questioned it.

Visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery
Visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery

Visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery. (Yuri Sadovnikov / MAMM / MDF)

In many photographs taken in the late Soviet Union and in the 1990s, you can see women sitting in rooms without outerwear, but in huge fur hats. Do they all have a cold head? Or are they remnants of pre-revolutionary customs, when a woman had to cover her head? No, this is not the reason at all.

Visitors to the A. S. State Museum of Fine Arts
Visitors to the A. S. State Museum of Fine Arts

Visitors to the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A. S. Pushkin. 1972. (V. Shiyanovsky / Sputnik)

A few decades ago, a fur hat was worn not only for warmth, but also to show a certain social status. And if today young people stand in lines for smartphones of the latest model, then before women stood in lines for luxurious (and scarce) hats made of mink and fox.

However, there were also more budget models made of rabbit and even faux fur.

Visitors to the State Museum of Fine Arts named after Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin inspect the exposition of the exhibition
Visitors to the State Museum of Fine Arts named after Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin inspect the exposition of the exhibition

Visitors to the State Museum of Fine Arts named after Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin visiting the exposition of the exhibition "Flemish Tapestries of the 16th-18th centuries", 1978. (Sergei Guneev / Sputnik)

The thing was so valuable that few people dared to leave it in the wardrobe of a theater or cinema. In addition, there were usually warnings that "the wardrobe is not responsible for the safety of things."

A restaurant
A restaurant

Slavyansky Bazar restaurant in Moscow. 1968. (Yuri Artamonov / Sputnik)

But it seems that Soviet women were not very upset when they had to take their hat with them to the cinema, restaurant or museum. It was a chance for them to showcase a fashionable and expensive item in public. Moreover, according to the rules of etiquette, women may not take off their hats indoors.

Engineer at work, 1982
Engineer at work, 1982

Engineer at work, 1982. (Vadim Kachan / Archive of Vadim Kachan)

“Then, in 1997, all the women sported in long fur coats and fur hats. If you had both a fur coat and a hat, then you were equated with the "luxury" segment, - the blogger "About this and that" shares his memories. - My mother also tried to maintain the status of a business woman, despite her low income. And indoors, she also very rarely took off her favorite fur hat. Now I understand why.

One winter day we went to the theater. Sitting on the third row, my mother took off her hat so that the children sitting behind us could also enjoy the show. It was a fatal mistake that deprived us of our beloved hat - it was simply stolen."

McDonald's opening in Moscow, 1990
McDonald's opening in Moscow, 1990

McDonald's opening in Moscow, 1990. (Yuri Abramochkin / Sputnik)

Of course, such a hat often fell victim to street thieves. To prevent it from being ripped off in a dark alley, women sewed elastic bands to their caps, which they put on their chins.

Moscow
Moscow

Moscow. November 28, 1976 The audience hall during the Great Evening of Poetry at the Sports Palace of the Central Stadium named after V. I. Lenin. (Valentin Mastyukov, Vladimir Savostyanov / TASS)

In addition, under such a hat, the hairstyle was very spoiled: fashionable bouffants and curls were pressed against by heavy fur and instantly lost their volume. Hair got dirty too much faster, so without a hat, the hair did not look very fresh.

Moscow
Moscow

Moscow. January 1, 1987. Members of the claim group of the Moscow sewing production association "Moscow" during the inspection of the quality of the fabric of the Rostokin worsted-finishing factory. (Valery Khristoforov / TASS)

Over time, fur hats ceased to be in short supply and went out of fashion, and the status is now called upon to demonstrate expensive accessories of famous brands and gadgets.

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