Fashion in the Post-Soviet countries...memories

When I was a teenager I thought that brand was everything. If anyone I knew wore Tommy Hilfiger or Lacoste...Goodness...that person was too fancy for me:)

I remember one time my father was talking to a man, perhaps his friend, and I was beside them, just looking. When he left I turned to my father and said: "Our father, your friend is rich, right? His shirt is Paul & Shark. " My father looked at me and said: "He is not rich daughter, he just does not live in Ukraine!" At that moment I understood almost nothing of what my father said. Like how the fact that he does not live in Ukraine can influence this situation? It should be the opposite! He must be rich! Very rich!

Time passed and I moved to London, spent a little time in Germany and now I live in Brazil. And I think only now I understood the words of my father. But let 's start from the beginning:)

Back in the day we used to use fakes: handbags, shoes, coats, glasses ... It seemed that there even were some true brands in the stores (which I doubt), but the price was very high and totally out of reach for a simple person. Only if his father was from the mafia and if he accepted bribes than, yes. It might be possible that in this type of family you can see little children using Calvin Klein dresses and their mothers their tight jeans full of glitter and gold studs with words DOLCE & GABBANA written in the entire ass. And everyone with those glasses "Prada" or "Gucci", flashing for everyone to see. Most of the time nothing was genuine, but it was sold as it were. Or, indeed, doesn't matter if the clothes were fake or not...It was all about the brand!

You would be (today is still like this) considered super "in fashion" not because you know how to match the colors or use the latest fashion trends. No...You have to have brands! This is obligatory! Do you already have some? Then you surely would be a part of the most stylish group in town! Whoohoo! ;-) 

Later, while living in London, I realized that brand is nothing. I donated my entire warderobe, which was full of "false friends":) I bought some Levi's, Boycut Baggy jeans with holes (!) And a white Converse All Star, which I wanted to make dirty as soon as possible, because that was the fashion in London. Actually, it was not really fashionable, but it was stylish! Simple as that! 

So why the friend of my father was Paul&Shark that day? First, because Paul&Shark over there, where he lived was half price cheaper than in Ukraine. And another thing ...Paul & Shark is nothing! Because brand means nothing to people who take care of their style!