“Vseobuch vkusa”: the Theory of Soviet Fashion and the Aesthetic Education of Mass Consumers in the Late USSR (1960s–1980s)

Abstract. This article analyzes Soviet books published in 1959–1991 which were purposed to educate Soviet consumers both aesthetically and politically. I suggest calling this genre, and the campaign these books belong to, “modnyi likbez”, an eradication of illiteracy in fashion and clothing. These books, as well as lectures given by designers and art critics working for design institutions such as fashion houses of prototypes (doma modelei), not only taught people how to choose clothes for themselves or their family members, but also introduced Soviet consumers to the concept of endemic Soviet fashion and socialist consumption, seeking to develop a unique Soviet taste. I argue that good Soviet taste in these texts belonging to the esteticheskii likbez campaign was theorized as a system of ideologically informed determinants of choice. According to Soviet fashion theorists, the good Soviet consumer was supposed to know not only the rules of color or item coordination, age and gender conventions in clothing, but also understand the difference between Soviet and capitalist fashion, as well as the Soviet interpretation of “beauty”, “elegance”, “the culture of clothing” and other important concepts. This consumer was also supposed to refuse new fashion trends if they were at odds with the Soviet interpretation of good taste or “the aesthetic canons” of the Soviet system.

Keywords: Soviet fashion, consumption in USSR, late socialism, aesthetic turn, everyday life in USSR, Vyacheslav Zaitsev.


For citation: Kulinicheva E.A. “Vseobuch vkusa”: the theory of Soviet fashion and the aesthetic education of mass consumers in the late USSR (1960s–1980s), in Novoe Proshloe / The New Past. 2021. No. 4. Pp. 70–90. DOI 10.18522/2500‑3224‑2021‑4-70-90.

The article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).