Russian Folk Costume in Miniature Mini-Museum

The mobile private museum operates at the invitation of galleries, libraries, houses of creativity, educational institutions, and city administrations. It takes part in Russian and international festivals and exhibitions, and works with specialized museums, exhibition halls, private collectors, and with Slavic and Russian societies abroad.

“For me, it all began when I was a student with regular classes in storerooms of historical museums, first in Moscow, then in other cities in Russia: Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Tver, Kaluga, and Severodvinsk. The museums’ collections contained unique samples of costumes, but these were not always complete costumes. The idea was born to assemble sets taking into account the region, province, county, and village of the items. My main informants were the Kirov State Medical University reserve employees, field laboratory assistants, L.V. Efimova and O.G. Gordeeva. Looking for genuine samples of antique clothing and sometimes collecting valuable information bit by bit, I talked with residents and asked what they wore and how things were worn. It was necessary to assemble the disparate elements of the costumes into a single whole, to imagine how they should be combined with each other. For this purpose I armed myself with an album, pencils, and measuring tape. I made sketches of individual elements, fragments of costumes, sketched ornaments and embroideries, measured out proportions, and made drawings. Based on the data collected, I made patterns and systematized the features of the cut.

I was bewitched by the Russian folk costumes; I studied each sample with bated breath and a trembling heart. Thus, images were created, from headdresses to shoes. As a fashion designer, I did not see the point in reconstructing full sized costumes so I thought about creating a collection of women’s folk costumes reduced three times from their actual size; that is, in the proportion of 1/3.

The idea was already leading me. If the costumes were small then dolls would be my assistant demonstrators! I created my wooden mannequins, developed sketches and accurate drawings, and carved them on a lathe. The height of the dolls is 55-60 cm.

Of particular value to the collection is the availability of the drawings.

The idea of creating wooden dolls was very practical. It is convenient for me to carry them in a suitcase. The exhibition moves from Moscow to Belgrade, from Budapest to Balashikha, and from there to North Carolina. The dolls are great at traveling and delight visitors at the galleries, museums, houses of creativity, libraries, theaters and fairs.”