I Dream of a Dacha

I‘ll never forget the first time I watched Dr. Zhivago and the chills it sent down my spine as Yuri and Lara walked into their abandoned ice palace; the winter dacha of the Varykino estate. I haven’t been to Russia yet, but I dream of it; of boarding the Trans-Siberian Railway, travelling deep into mother Russia, blanketed…

The Stylehunters of Soviet Russia

In communist Russia of the 1950s, members of a provocative subculture put their own original twist on street style. Labeled “Stilyaga” or “Stilyagi” (plural) by disapproving outsiders – a name that literally translates to stylehunter – a group of dandy youngsters dressed up in colorful American-inspired get ups to meet on Leningrad and Moscow’s main…

The Most Beautiful Ruin In Chernobyl

It is the ferris wheel in Pripyat’s abandoned amusement park that gets the most attention. For intrepid explorers to Chernobyl’s iconic Exclusion Zone, the bright yellow seats of the fun fair ride provide a stark contrast to the concrete ruins, lying desolate all around. But on the outskirts of the small city, there is one particular…

Why NASA Set up Shop in Russia’s Forbidden Star City

Tucked in a Russian forest not terribly far from Moscow, you’ll find it: a veritable mini-city, populated entirely by space explorers and their kin for over half-a-century. This is “Star City,” and getting an invite here is a bit like making it into Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; it’s the world’s oldest habitation of its kind, a…

The Soviet Communist Origins of International Women’s Day

I’ve been informed that the way we celebrate Women’s Day in western society is a little bit weak compared to the way they do it in Russia– which might have something to do with the fact that the Soviets basically invented the holiday. Long before the world had International Women’s Day, Soviet Russia had ‘Working Women’s Day’, where it was first declared a national…

Never Again would there be a Costume Party quite like the 1903 Winter Ball

When the Russian Imperial family threw a party, they didn’t do “low key”. Even with a looming global economic crisis that would mark the beginning of the end for the Russian Empire, no expense was spared. If tsarist Russia was going down, they were going out with a bang. And so, in February of 1903, on the…

A Dozen Celebrity Digs That Remind us to Go Big or Go Home

As long as folks have had money, they’ve had the ability to realise interior designs that most of us can only dream about – to breathe new life into ancient Italian villas, or hole up in a French seaside fortress; to live out their days in a storybook windmill, or commission a veritable spaceship. Our…

Little Russia in Paris

The international world fairs of the early 20th century brought to Paris some seriously elaborate pavilions and palatial monuments such as the Grand Palais (and don’t forget the Eiffel Tower), but with the simultaneous arrival of migrants from the east, so too have they brought their own little pieces of home over the years. And that’s how this little church, Paroisse Saint Serge,…

Lessons in Historical Male Peacocking, from Lord Gaga to the King of Afrofuturism

They’re performers. Dandies. Men with a streak of the mad poet. Writers, dancers, and professional party boys. Though these eccentrics span across generations, all share a brazen commitment to being themselves that’s made for some of the most memorable menswear moments in the 19th and 20th centuries. Long before fashion was giving the middle finger…

Meet Russia’s Gravity-Defying Answer to the Rockettes

On a dimly lit stage, dozens of cloaked figures rise in unison under a somber, blue glow. As the spotlight grows brighter, the dancers are revealed; all unshakeable smiles and sparkles in their conical gowns that seemingly glide – no, float – across the stage like a life-sized music box. It’s enchanting, it’s eerie, and…