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Abstract. The research focuses on the project of the Westernization of Russian citizens’ appearance after the death of Peter the Great. The author considers its (non-)functioning on two levels: legislative regulation (from above) and implementation practices (from below). Special attention is paid to the interaction of these two levels, that is, how legislative regulation influenced practice on the ground, and how the real experience of interaction with the population influenced the adjustment of previously adopted laws. Based on the archival documents of the Governing Senate, the Оld Believers’ Office and some local authorities, the author traces how the state institutions created by Peter the Great ensured regular confirmation of his legislation, accompanied by waves of activity by the local authorities to force citizens to comply with it. However, the local authorities did not have the resources to successfully implement the beard shaving and dress legislation of the 1720s, unless Russian subjects in a particular town and city were themselves disposed to adopt new cultural practices. A variety of ways of avoiding the laws on shaving and dress used by the population, identifying weakness, inconsistency and inefficiency of the Peter’s legislation, encouraged the government to review it. But the suggestions for improvements of the Peter’s legislation were blocked when they reached the top of the bureaucratic system. Moreover, the abolition of the Peter’s decrees was discussed. This was due to the awareness by representatives of the ruling elite of both the financial insolvency of the legislation on beards and clothes, and its negative social consequences.
Keywords: Peter the Great, reforms, cultural policy, westernization, power and society, the legislative process, the Оld Believers’ Office