Olga Khoroshilova, professor at the Department of History and Theory of Art at Ƶ, presented her research on how guards officers dictated fashion to the Russian Empire. The results are published in the scientific journal .
The art critic notes that until 1917 the capital of Russian fashion was St. Petersburg, and its main fashionistas were guard officers. They watched their appearance, cut their mustaches and beards in the latest fashion, and sewed their uniforms from prestigious tailors.
Among the most famous tailors of the time:
- Nordenström brothers. In their atelier, the form was sewn so that even "ugly figures acquired harmony, as if by magic";
- Stepan Doronin and Yakov Dmitriev - competitors who created uniforms for higher persons;
- Alexander Skosyrev - "the king among the tailors," who could be dressed "from head to toe";
- Lev Mikhelson is a master whose clients included not only officers, but also goldfinch students.
"Officers who followed fashion were called "tonnyags." They knew all the rules of guards chic. "Tonnyagi" liked to "tighten," that is, they wore men's corsets that emphasized the waist. They bought only white shirts, since colored ones were considered bad form in the guards and even a sign of a dangerous revolutionary spirit. "Tonnages" ordered a form that met not only the regulations, but also secular fashion. For example, at the beginning of the twentieth century, they forced their uniforms a little shorter, a little closer in girth, with a narrowed waist and a very high collar digging into the neck," the study says.
In addition, the "tonnages" loved accessories, especially thin canes. And in the early 1910s. pince-nez without frames became popular with them, which were not removed even during parades and the highest shows. Although previously even visually impaired officers avoided wearing glasses.
During the First World War, "front-line chic" began to form. Then the style was influenced by the overalls of pilots and motorists. English protective shirts with a pent-up collar, black leather "Swedish" jackets, English tunics and hunting jackets in protective shades have come into fashion. In addition, popular breeches-breeches became, over which they put on high boots that tightly covered the leg.
"The officers of the special forces mounted detachments were distinguished by special chic. My grandfather, Lev Punin, who served in one of them, wrote to his father: "I now dress head to toe from Emir of Bukhara. You will not believe what frants we all walk, both officers and soldiers. I have long forgotten what a shirt is. I wear chic English tunics. It is clear that we dress simpler for reconnaissance," writes Olga Khoroshilova, professor at Ƶ, in her article.
As outerwear, officers wore double-breasted gabardine water ruff coats. In 1901, Burberry patented them, becoming the main supplier of military water ruffs in the British Army. They are also called trench coats (translated from English - trench coat) - it was under this name that they spread among Russian English officers.
"Tonnages" stood out not only in style, but also in speech: they beautifully mapped, spoke in the nose and stretched vowels. This speech was called "guards," it appeared under the influence of the softly pitted Alexander II. The accent survived the 1917 revolution and, together with the emigrants, turned out to be abroad.