There are few emotions that can rival the feeling of wearing one’s favorite ensemble. Fashion is widely considered to be a way for an individual to express themselves, but in a society like that of the 1930s Soviet Union, conformity could be the difference between life and imprisonment or death. The Soviet Union under Stalin was to be divergent from the West in every way, and fashion was no exception. The Stalinist regime sought to control every facet of citizens’ lives, and attempted to standardize the Soviet mode of dress through a state-operated fashion house with uniquely Soviet silhouettes and patterns. In Lydia Chukoskaya’s novella Sofia Petrovna, descriptions of personal appearance and style exist for multiple purposes, first as a window into the mindset of characters, and later as the novella develops, as a subversion of the uniformity and ideals encouraged by Socialist Realism. 

To begin with, Sofia Petrovna is chock full of detailed language. From the mention of titular character Sofia Petrovna’s meticulous hair routine on page 4, to Sofia reminiscing about her son’s attention-grabbing appearance as an infant in “all white, a white cape and a white hood” (10), Chukovskaya allows readers a glimpse into the mental state of the characters in the novella through descriptions of their clothing. A notable function of style within the novella is the emphasis on appearance as descriptors of characters’ station in life and mental state. For example, characters like Sofia's young adult son Nikolai (Kolya) and his best friend Alik are juxtaposed, with Sofia’s descriptions of her son as a beautiful child and well-dressed young man, while his friend Alik is described as having perpetually “shabby” clothes and shoes and this reflects in how she treats both boys (10, 19). Where Sofia herself is neat and up to date with her clothing choices at the beginning of the story while employed as a typist, she descends into wearing unkempt clothing that is out of season and unclean following the arrest of her son Kolya and the loss of her honorable job (96). A remarkable moment in the text is when Sofia comes across Maria Erastovna Kiparisova, the wife of a now jailed acquaintance, and her response as she is taken aback by her unfashionable appearance: 

“On the street she noticed a tall old woman with a scarf over her hat, wearing felt boots with galoshes over them, and carrying a cane... She’s simply let herself go terribly: the felt boots, the cane, the scarf... It’s very important for a woman not to let herself go, to take care of herself. Who on earth wears felt boots these days? It’s not 1918.” (37)

This is an especially ironic scene, as Sofia judges her old friend, yet is progressively described wearing similar clothing and even carrying a cane (107). Though she judges Kiparisova for her disheveled appearance, at the end of the novella it was as if the two are glancing at a mirror when talking to each other, both women worn down and reduced to a raggedy version of their former selves as a result of the loss of loved ones at the hands of the state. As Sofia Petrovna’s life is destroyed by the Soviet state following her only son’s arrest, there is also a corresponding deterioration of her personal style and appearance.

Though never explicitly mentioned in Chukovskaya's book, Socialist Realism as a movement sought to romanticize and promote Communist ideas like collectivism and upholding the state as a leader in all aspects of life. While Socialist Realism is normally applied to art like literature and paining, Tatiana Strizhenova writes in her article “The Soviet Garment Industry in the 1930s,” that “[t]extile design was faced with the same tasks that confronted painting, their common goal being to reflect surrounding reality, to fight for a new way of life and agitate for it” (164). As part of the goal to reject the West, Stalin’s government created a fashion house to fulfill the needs of the people and provide a uniquely Soviet form of expression that did not stray too far from uniformity and collectivism. Styles encouraged by the state were inspired and designed by Western fashion designers, but the integral part of this whole system was the (anticipated) reliance of citizens on their government to dictate what their style would look like. The idea of differentiation amongst characters by dress is again present as Sofia Petrovna stands in line with other women seeking to know the whereabouts of and advocating for their loved ones who have been sent to prison or gulags. Sofia is “surprised that they were all very warmly dressed, muffled in scarves over their coats, and almost all in felt boots and galoshes” (48). Readers will recall that earlier in the text Sofia had judged Kiparisova for this similar sort of attire, so the deterioration of Sofia Petrovna’s style to dirty, haphazard dress like the other women waiting in line instead of her sharp clothing re-emphasizes her loss of personality and succumbing to uniformity encouraged by the state.

Going against the grain and embracing individualistic fashion exists within Sofia Petrovna in opposition to the Soviet state. Sofia Petrovna remarks positively about Western fashion numerous times prior to her son’s arrest, and even dreams about opening up her own dress shop where global fashions would be displayed and discussed (4). While Sofia never realizes this dream, Chukovskaya introduces her younger colleague Natasha’s embroidery throughout the novella, and this functions as a subtle subversion of the state-enforced Soviet fashion norms of the time (30). Readers are told that she wears clothes that she makes herself, with intricate embroidery that harkens back to a pre-Soviet past. Natasha’s character is set apart from others almost immediately, where others buy their clothes, she is always credited with making her own. She is a reminder of the power of imagination, and that regardless of what your circumstance, your thoughts are your own. Characters like the party secretary show their rise in status or their allegiance to the Stalinist government through changes in their wardrobe, rejecting traditional Russian clothing for more uniform suits and other silhouettes endorsed by the state (55). Natasha is a rogue character: Although she does not speak much in the novella, her actions and her dress speak for her. She does not conform to others’ expectations and rules, as evidenced by her insistence to wear her handmade embroidered clothes, inability to officially join the Communist party due to her refusal to denounce her land-owning family, and choice of death over life under such a regime without her lover, Kolya. 

Ultimately, Lydia Chukovskaya’s novella Sofia Petrovna sets out to both utilize descriptions of appearance and style to give insight into characters and comment on the ideals like conformity that were upheld by Socialist Realism. Chukovskaya wrote during a time where the Soviet government worked to stamp out differentiation at all levels, including clothing, through the establishment of Soviet fashion silhouettes and a state-owned fashion house. This translated into her work through characters like Sofia Petrovna whose appearance was correlated with her state of mental well-being, and Natasha whose style choices were a quiet rebellion against the uniformity enforced by the state. 

Bibliography
Chukovskaya, Lydia. Sofia Petrovna. Trans. Aline Werth. Northwestern University Press, 1994. 

Strizhenova, Tatiana. “The Soviet Garment Industry in the 1930s.” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, vol. 5, 1987, pp. 160–175. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1503942. Accessed 11 Dec. 2020.