Stilyagi

Stilyagi were members of a youth counterculture from the late 1940s until the early 1960s in the Soviet Union. They were primarily distinguished by snappy, foreign clothing that contrasted heavily with the communist realities of the time. Clothing was often acquired from illegal traders called fartsovshchiks. They were known for a fascination with zagranitsa (the real or imagined borders of an idealized western world), modern western music, and fashion corresponding with that of the Beat Generation. English writings on Soviet culture roughly translated the derogatory term to dandies, fashionistas, beatniks, hipsters, or zoot suiters.
Category:Russian
Category:Fashion
Category:Needs work
Category:1940s
Category:European
Category:Slavic