A passion for fashion?

As a girl, it's intimidating to move to a country rumored to have some of the most beautiful women on the planet! I hoped that some of this legendary beauty know-how would rub off over time, but it's doubtful. Yesterday a student gifted me a gorgeous blue scarf, which I immediately hung around my neck. At the end of class she approached me- no, no, no. You should loop the scarf like this and pull the ends equal here. Oops!

Just to shock my English students, sometimes I'll lower my voice and whisper evil stories of American fashion. And on occasion, university students will actually wear their pajamas to class! Students here love Friends and Sex and the City, and they'd never imagine that this kind of crazy pajama absurdity can happen in the land that brings you Jennifer Aniston and Carrie Bradshaw. But I assure you, students, happen it does.

It's not that Ukrainians are totally obsessed with appearance. In a class last fall, one woman bragged about never having worn makeup, not even for her wedding. Others- male and female alike- eschew trends and prefer comfy clothes. Last night I saw a scruffy kid wearing a Cannibal Corpse backpack. But perhaps I have become obsessed with fashion, for I pay attention to it everywhere I go. I can name the big differences between Ukraine and the US off the top of my head:

Women here tend to wear bangs and high heels and dye their hair with wild abandon.

Men wear bangs too and pointy shoes and rather form-fitting jeans. Not gonna bring up the mullet. It also happens.

Overall, both genders put a lot of thought into their appearance. It's not rare to see people polishing their shoes with Kleenex before entering a building. Ukrainian friends routinely show off more extravagant manicures than friends back home do.

Here- see for yourself.

Two young women preparing to ride the rickety cable carts in Gorky Park. The man is wearing an outfit typical to the older Kharkov male: leather cap and jacket.

Площа Повстання 2: Winter Fashion, the Yeast Factory, and more

Welcome to Yakira Street

It's -6 C at the moment (21 F) and the weather forecast is predicting snow for the rest of this week. The small children of Kharkov have been parading around in snowsuits for almost two months and now the rest of us are beginning to follow suit. Tall heeled boots and шубы (fur coats) are everywhere, as are fur hats the actual size of beavers!

Waiting for the tram

Probably the slowest but cheapest form of transportation in town

Undaunted (but bundled up), we recently went on a lengthy exploration of Yakira steet. Perhaps it's just the time of year, but this part of town seems almost untouched by 2012. It feels more like the 1970s. Take a look-

Ukrainian style

Even though I want to constantly sneak close-up photos of people in interesting outfits, I usually am able to hold back. But this outfit was so typical that it demanded to be captured.

Bleached blond hair, black boots with a heel, tight black jeans, a leather jacket AND a fur vest. This describes the winter attire of most Kharkovian women, except most go either for a leather jacket or a fur vest, not both. Oh, and black is just as popular a hair color choice as blond.

Other observations:

• Two young moms out for a stroll in fashionable clothes. One pushes a baby stroller and holds an open beer. The other, in boots with a pencil-thin heel, smokes a cigarette and totters along next to her toddler.  

• On the metro: a man in a gray wife-beater, gold chain, black jeans, a laptop case, and pointy black leather shoes. Pointy shoes are very popular for both sexes.

• Lots of women over 50 with purple or pink hair. Is this the result of a mishap with some dye? I'd think so except I've actually seen hair dyes available in these colors in the drug stores.

• A middle-aged man in blazer, slacks, sneakers, with traditional Cossack-style hair (head shaved except for a tiny tuft on top). It's common to see older men wearing blazers and track pants.

• Bangs. Everyone has bangs. Everyone.

• Ukrainians can make mullets look good. Does this mean I've been here for too long? 

• One wardrobe staple (other than heels) is the lace or mesh shirt. This is an AWESOME idea. They're sold everywhere, they're cheap, they come in every color and pattern possible, and you can use them to easily change the look of an outfit. They come in varying degrees of see-through so they're not a stand-alone item. To the right are my newest shirts. They were about $5 each at the Caravan mall.

• In the winter it's popular for women to wear mid-length shorts, nylons, and boots, creating an interesting 3-layer look. Now that the weather's warm we have gone from that to merely short shorts. Seriously, how did people stay so skinny all winter? Does no one need to go on a "winter's over, it's time to lose the 10 lbs from the holidays" diet?

• Another flashback- as winter ended and spring began, bright colors suddenly came out of hiding. Well, except for the guys. Men tend to always wear subdued colors. And you'll notice women wearing clothes that are tailored in at the waist or simply using a belt to accent their waistline. I think this is a brilliant idea that we've forgotten about in the US. No wonder Ukrainians have a reputation for looking so put-together!

• Incredibly long and elaborate fake nails. It's one thing to have these, it's another to have them redone in a new style every week (as I've seen on many of my students). Btw, it's incredibly amusing to watch people try to send text messages with such nails.

Steve Daubs, who keeps an interesting photo blog about Kharkov, observes young beauties and old babushki in this post.

All that aside, I like the fashion here in general. As I've written, ah, like 90 billion times before. Let me show you why...
The lace tops? Here's one with a white tank top underneath:

Turtlenecks are popular. I like their look so I just deal with the {gasp} strangling neckband. This unusual necklace was a gift from some male co-workers on Women's Day. 

I must admit the top above did not last very long. It literally fell apart after two months, but let me tell you- those were two beautiful months of lace turtleneck!

And oh, the super-feminine details! Most of my Ukrainian shirts have lace backs or sparkles or bows. D ribs me endlessly about the bows but hey, I dig them. They make me feel like a present. An expensive one.

True, this is one crazy shirt just from the front. And there's lace and a bow on the back. I can't help it! It's soooo good!

Want more fashion? Go here!

Explain this...

...please! I don't understand.

Told you I wasn't making this up!

Normal Ukrainian Footwear: Exhibit A. Because what else would you wear to hang out at the mall? Sveta's got style!

Shopping war stories

You've probably heard the stories about Ukrainian women being amazingly beautiful and kind and domestic and feminine and educated and blah blah blah. It really is true. But I don't care about any of that. When I think of Ukrainian women, I think "Thanks a lot, stork ladies!"