- International Women's Day on 8 March was nowhere more
ostentatiously celebrated than in the old Soviet Union. Men thought they
could redeem their drinking, womanising and layabout habits of the rest
of the year with one day of flowers, chocolates and formulaic eulogies.
It was a hateful display of hypocrisy and condescension. This year, the
event was positively enjoyable.
-
- In those late years of Soviet power, Russian men were
by and large dismal specimens. From their blunt-scissored haircuts and
wispy moustaches, to their ill-fitting imitation jeans and cardboard brown
suits, they were abjectly groomed and appallingly dressed. Their demeanour
breathed apology. When central planning collapsed, and imports flooded
in, they went for shell-suits and cognac instead.
-
- Not all of this was their fault, of course. Whether to
wear stiff jeans, polyester trousers in brown polyester, or blue tracksuits
with white stripes was not much of a choice. At the barber's it was military-style
(very) short back and sides. As for after-shave and deodorant - even toothpaste
- suffice it to say that there was not much about.
-
- Russian women went to enormous efforts to make themselves
presentable; queuing for hours for the few half-decent clothes and cosmetics
that might have made a fleeting appearance in the shops; buying Burda magazine
(when it became available) just to have Western-style sewing-patterns;
and cossetting their "best" clothes in a way which put us Westerners
to shame. Meanwhile, their menfolk just seemed to give up on all matters
sartorial, consoling themselves with the vodka bottle and bad cigarettes.
-
- How times change. One of the lesser-noticed transformations
in post-Soviet Russia is the arrival of New Russian Man. I am not talking
of the "new Russians" phenomenon as seen in London, Moscow and
Nice where show-couples extravagantly clad in leather and fur, peel high-denomination
notes of their wads, but of the "ordinary" men now to be seen
in the streets and offices of many a Russian city. They put their scruffy
British counterparts to shame.
-
- The first evidence of this transformation came from the
televised sittings of the Russian parliament a few years ago - where it
became hard to square the sharp suits, Italian jackets and silk ties with
the untailored brown and blue ensembles of before. In particular, the quality
of the footwear grew beyond recognition: in Soviet times, it was the dire
quality and style of shoes that always gave East Europeans away when they
were abroad.
-
- But the influence of New Russian Man has spread well
beyond the television studio, or the Russian parliament. In the boardroom,
New Russian Man has adopted the English or American style - pressed blue
or grey suits, white or pastel shirts, and Oxfords. The look is perfectly
modeled by Alexei Mordashov and his managers at the steel giant, Severstal.
Each does smart-casual well, favouring Italian or French style for their
jackets, fine wool pullovers and jeans.
-
- On foot, New Russian Man wears a solid, stylish Italian
boot; trainers, mercifully, do not survive well in snow. The overcoat scene
has also been transformed. NRM no longer wears cheap quilted Chinese-made
anoraks, but long, stylishly-cut wool coats. Fur hats now come in more
than one model, and are alternated with tweed or leather caps.
-
- Nowadays, Russian men are being coiffed as stylishly
as Russian women - though who knows where the barbers have come from; wisps,
that passed for moustaches and beards have been replaced by the real thing,
or shaved off. No longer is the scent of New Russian Man tractor oil or
old sweat, but Calvin Klein or its Russian imitation. And - maybe it's
just my imagination - isn't male Russian breath now less nauseous vodka
and tobacco and more minty fresh? If you see New Russian Man drinking in
the street at all these days, it is from a carton of fruit-juice.
-
- The apologetic weediness has gone; New Russian Man has
a good job. He works hard and takes responsibility. If he has a wife and
children, he talks about them affectionately. He looks energetic and fit;
dare I say, even handsome. With the smarter appearance have also come delightful
changes in manner. Instead of pushing and shoving, NRM is chivalrous to
a fault. He is confident, but not arrogant, with a rather French sense
of irony and a British self-depreciating, brand of humour. He has a firm
handshake, or he kisses your hand, Polish style.
-
- Where did these manners come from? Did Russian men really
know how to do it all along? Did Russia's mothers and grandmothers always
bring their pampered sons up to behave "nicely", only to have
it all knocked out of them by the army or the cruel lottery of Soviet life?
Have they been watching films set in Tsarist times to learn how to become
"Russian" again?
-
- I am not alone in noticing this dramatic ascent of Russian
man. Olga Romanova, a presenter for the independent RenTV company, has
remarked on the sartorial assets of certain Russian politicians. Commenting
on valedictory pictures of the just-sacked government, she wrote: "Only
the lazy could fail to notice that the Prime Minister's chair will no longer
be adorned by the figure of Mikhail Kasyanov who, as we all know, had the
best jackets and ties in the whole government." She commented, too,
on the defence minister, Sergei Ivanov, with his "Hollywood smile"
and looks that qualified him to play, "a treacherous Pentagon official
in any blockbuster."
-
- I can confirm that there are a lot of younger, no worse-looking
versions of Mikhail Kasyanov and Sergei Ivanov out there. So, I suggest
that the publishing world forget any Bridget Jones sequel like "BJ
gets married". Let's have "Bridget Jones goes to Russia"
instead. She would have an absolute whale of a time.
-
- STEPPES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: THE RISE OF THE RUSSIAN
MALE
-
- Grizzly bears
-
- * Grigori Efimovich Rasputin, deranged monk, prolific
seducer, faith-healer and, arguably, the founding father of shabby chic
at the court of Tsar Nicholas II.
-
- * Leonid Brezhnev, president of the Supreme Soviet from
1977 to 1982 and owner of the world's most dramatic eyebrows.
-
- * Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia 1985-87. A stylish
lover of the good life - and lively on the dancefloor after a vodka or
two.
-
- White knights
-
- * Mikhail Baryshnikov, main mover in the Russian ballet
scene, and Sarah Jessica Parker's super new squeeze in Sex and the City.
-
- * Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire and chairman
of Chelski - formally known as Chelsea Football Club.
-
- * Alexsei Mordashov, the smouldering Severstal steel
magnate and all-round Russian sex-pot, according to Muscovite Bridget Joneses:
and his hair is, indeed, all his own.
-
- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=499575
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