"Rigas Modes" in the 1960's

Fashion Magazine that changed fashion in the USSR

Rīgas Modes, 1960 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Rigas Modes fashion magazine was published in small town of Riga, but famous all over big Soviet Union.

Rīgas Modes, 1960 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Many Soviet women have vivid personal memories connected with Rigas Modes. The magazine first came out in 1948 as “Assistant for families and sewing workshops in creating beautiful and tasteful clothes”.

Rīgas Modes, 1960 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

In 1960's Khruschev's thaw started and Soviet women got access to western fashion. Of course, they needed sewing patterns to create these clothes by themselves, and the magazine offered those.

Rīgas Modes, 1960 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Men were also looking for fashionable clothing. But they were proposed to wear woolen and linen suits, some of them - underlined - made of inexpensive textile. The stilyagi, or style hunters, would be bored and disappointed.

Rīgas Modes, 1960 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Children's fashions were lagging behind. It was almost impossible to buy fashionable kids clothing. Shops proposed dark brown, grey or dirty blue shoes and clothes.

Rīgas Modes, 1960 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Parents could dress their children decently only if they could sew themselves. Mothers and grandmothers spent hours sewing and knitting and kids were obliged to keep clothes clean and safe in order to pass them to younger siblings.

Rīgas Modes, 1961-62 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Due to the wish to dress up stylishly, the circulation of Rigas Modes magazine was quite impressive, with a whopping 220,000 copies – but it didn't cover the needs of the entire USSR.

Rīgas Modes, 1961-62 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

State-owned magazines moderated fashion trends for Soviet audiences. Fashion "crazes" were rejected in favor of classic, long-running styles. In addition, moderation and modesty were stressed.

Rīgas Modes, 1961-62 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Rīgas Modes was not that much moderated by authorities, as soon as the Baltic republics enjoyed more freedom in the USSR. So, magazines were torn and worn by frequent use of many women.

Rīgas Modes, 1961-62 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Every family had a sewing machine, and sewing classes gained popularity increasingly. Women at that time knew how to knit and sew, and also knew how to alter old clothes by turning them inside out.

By the early 1960s, the middle class’s standards of appearance had risen such that Moscow street fashion was nearly indistinguishable from that in a Western city.

Rīgas Modes, 1964 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Rīgas Modes was not the only guide in the world of fashion, but it was definitely the most influential fashion magazine for both women and men, especially in the 1960s.

Rīgas Modes, 1964 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Fashion historian and collector Alexandre Vassiliev represents the magazine as the “Soviet Vogue”, in his exhibition Fashion behind the Iron Curtain.

Rīgas Modes, 1964 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

The magazine contributed to forming a sense of taste and style and also demonstrated the primary standard of beauty.

Rīgas Modes, 1964 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

The magazine followed tendencies of politics in the USSR. Women's dresses are not as bourgeois as 10 years before. They look simple and practical, as the society demanded women to be.

Rīgas Modes, 1964 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Coco Chanel’s signature style, for example, was particularly admired as a symbol of timelessness and simple sophistication.

Rīgas Modes, 1967 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

In the end of 1960's the polygraphic quality raised, they started to use more photos, but signature style of the magazine didn't change much.

The magazine still used many drawings, and they make the issues so attractive and nostalgic.

Rīgas Modes, 1967 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Youth fashion was quite brave, and allowed youngsters to show all their beauty, especially in summer. Men wore items such as Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, narrow slacks, and pointed shoes, while women wore miniskirts and maintained a childlike demeanor.

Rīgas Modes, 1967 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

In the 1960s Riga was the trend-setter for the entire Soviet Union. Artists of the Riga Fashion House created designs that were shown in exhibitions and fashion shows, also abroad, i.e. in France.

Rīgas Modes, 1967 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

The show in the world capital of fashion was very successful. Rīgas Modes reported about this abroad trip proudly.

Rīgas Modes, 1967 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

Both the Rigas Modes and the Riga Fashion House ceased to exist in 1992, following the change of state and economic system. Today, you will not find major manufacturers of designer clothing in Riga.

Rīgas Modes, 1967 by Fashion Museum RigaFashion Museum

But there are bright and recognizable designers, and small salons which specialize in making clothes, shoes, bags, hats and accessories for fashion followers.

Credits: Story

Fashion Museum, Riga, Latvia
Rīga, 24–1 Grēcinieku Street, LV-1050

www.fashionmuseumriga.lv

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