A tulle dress and matches as a gift: an exhibition dedicated to Soviet weddings has opened in Ryazan.
The Ryazan Museum of the USSR has opened an exhibition titled "Ah, This Wedding!" Dedicated to Soviet-era wedding traditions and customs, the exhibit is housed in a single room, yet encompasses an entire era. says site "Field of View".
The collection was collected over the years by the museum's founder and owner. Svetlana MakovaThe idea for the exhibition was born simply and touchingly:
"My son was getting married, and I looked at modern weddings and wondered: where's the bride price? Where's the champagne from a slipper, the trips to monuments with a photographer, the dolls in cars? I decided: at least let all this remain in my museum," Svetlana says.
Wedding dresses and veils, wreaths, snow-white shoes, formal men's suits with formal ties, bouquets and brooches, dolls for decorating car hoods, and dozens of black-and-white photographs—all of this can now be seen and touched.
Before being put on display, some items had been kept in families for decades as heirlooms. One of the donors carefully saved a plastic doll used to decorate the hood of a car for her daughter's wedding, but it wasn't needed—it was "last century." The doll was kept for a granddaughter, but the children now have other toys.
Wedding dresses take up an entire wall. Among them is a rare pink one, rare for that time. In Soviet times, brides were expected to wear only white to their civil registration, but a brave young woman secretly sewed a dress in a different color. Next to it is a dress made of curtain tulle, its silver ruffles adorned with tinsel from the Christmas tree. Supplies were in short supply, so wedding dresses were often handmade.
A separate corner is reserved for gifts to the newlyweds. The most unusual was a set of matchboxes with portraits of cosmonauts. While it seems funny today, back then such a set was considered a rarity.
"My dream is to compile a complete history of Soviet wedding fashion: when long dresses with veils or hats were worn, and in what years short dresses came into fashion. I hope it will work out."“,” says Svetlana.
In modern Ryazan, almost nothing remains of those traditions. The wedding palace, once housed in the building of the Assembly of Nobility, closed more than ten years ago—it now houses the regional Duma.
Photo, video: "Field of View"
