How do Ukrainian women dress?

In every country the style and manner of dressing are as different as the national culture, cuisine or politics. It happens that after the first glance at a person’s clothes you can understand where she comes from. We would like to tell you in details how Ukrainian women dress. It is not a secret that Ukrainian women are considered to be among of the most beautiful women in the world. And the point here is not only that the nature was particularly generous with these women, but also the matter is that Ukrainian women find it vital to look 24 hours a day as if a limousine will stop in front of them, and the red carpet will fall right out of it to their feet.

As Alexander Vasiliev, the fashion historian, said once: “women in Ukraine dress to stand out, while in Europe – on the contrary”. Actually, this is also caused by the inner freedom because a European woman already understands her value, so she feels free in her choice, but a woman from Ukrainian needs to prove this value. Ukrainian people still judge others by their appearance, in other words they keep judging the book by its cover. The second point is, and it comes out of the first one, that in Europe the geography does not matter.

Naturally, a citizen of Berlin can be distinguished from a Parisian, but there are lots of stylish women in small cities and towns. Unfortunately, in Ukraine there is a huge “style” gap between a resident of the capital (and three or four major cities) and her “colleague” from the regional center. And this happens not only due to opportunities, but primarily because of a more primitive world view.

Accordingly, Ukrainian girls from the point of view of style can be divided into two major “groups”– those who dress fashionable and keeps up with the times, and all the rest. Of course, it would be wrong to make a general impression about the style of Ukrainian ladies, taking into account either only the first or only the second group. So, let’s consider both of them.

How do women from Ukraine dress?

1. First Category – fashion lovers.

Ukrainian youth, mostly the residents of major cities and the capital, carefully follow what is going on in the world’s fashion capitals.  They study the trends dictated by the glossy magazines, knowing exactly what is fashionable in this season and what is not.  They are not afraid to experiment with style. That is why their manner of dressing can not be defined explicitly. Young Ukrainian women choose loose and comfortable things like long coats and sneakers, baggy sweaters and other oversize things which are in fashion now.

But sometimes in their images not only the influence of glossy magazines can be traced, but also the heritage of mothers and grandmothers: often you can meet girls in luxurious fur-coats or high heels in the snow. They think it is okay to wear diamond jewelry in the day time if you go out for a lunch with a friend. They tend to wear “all the best” at the same time. These Ukrainian girls also prefer long nails with gel polish of all possible colors and designs, fake eyelashes, and botox in lips and forehead.

• Second category – stuck to old traditions.

The main part of the population, mainly in small towns, still keeps up to the traditions of the 2000s. They choose tight tops, mini-skirts, boots, rhinestones, large jewelry when they go out to the club. Blouses and the obligatory heels are worn to work. In general, the style of women from residential areas is not impressive. When wearing a standard uniform jeans and a tight t-shirt, it is very clearly visible all the details of the figure.

While a dress or skirt could hide flaws and highlight the merits. And worn out jeans do not look fashionable in most of the cases. Lots of girls wear high heels even to such places as children sandboxes. In offices the picture is the same. Everyone seems to know that there is such a thing as a business dress code, but few people follow it. It seems that the middle-level and female workers can be divided into two categories:

 1) “Fans of casual style” do not bother themselves with the question of what to wear. In winter it can be a sweater and jeans, in summer they prefer a t-shirt and jeans. Shoes or even sneakers are chosen to accompany the outfit. There are transitional options with skirts and comfortable shoes.

 2) “Lovers of femininity”. The women of this category choose skirts, rhinestones, transparent fabric and shoes with high heels at any time of the year. They prefer bright make up and nicely done hair-style. They often look as if today is their birthday party and they want to be stunning.

If you think about the reasons for such total lack of taste, the main reason is historical. After all, the traditional Ukrainian costume is harmonious and bright. It was inspired by the beautiful surrounding nature. Obviously, it could result in an innate sense of taste and style, but the war and the following t years of survival pushed the aesthetics into the background. Later there spread the opinion that taking care of the looks is low and shallow.

It should be said that even now the clothes is not the main item of expenditure for Ukrainians. In the province tailor houses and second-hand shops are gaining popularity again: girls try to transform the old clothes or buy something at a discount rather than spending much money on new and expensive ones.

Hair and makeup

Europeans jokingly say that the Scandinavian countries are the countries of natural blondes, and Ukraine is the country of dyed blondes. Indeed, Ukrainian girls from an early age begin to experiment with their hair color. Although, now the majority keeps their natural color and let the hair grow long. As for the make-up, Ukrainian women are also divided into those who follow the trends of “natural” make-up, and those who do not go out without bright eye-shadows and lipsticks, even at to work. They hardly differentiate the concepts of  “light morning make-up” and “evening make-up”.

In spite of all these extremes in the manner of dressing and make-up, one thing is true: Ukrainian ladies try to do their best to look good. If in Europe and America you can see women going to the nearest shop in pajamas, this picture cannot happen in Ukraine. People will definitely laugh at you if they see you wearing home slippers and a dressing-gown at the supermarket. A Ukrainian woman can wake up 2 hours earlier to wash her hair and do a pretty-hairstyle to work or to the college. She won’t come for a date wearing dirty clothes.

The reason is that Ukrainian ladies are used to the standard model imposed by society: a woman’s happiness depends on how luckily she gets married. In pursuit of man, who are now somehow considered to be very few, valuable and rare exhibits, women are ready to do anything. They try to look brighter, more noticeable, more attractive. Heels are higher; make-up is more aggressive, so as a result, men are relaxed and waiting to be conquered by the girls.

However, Ukrainian women have no one to blame for this except themselves. If the desire to please the opposite sex runs ahead of the desire to look good in your own eyes, then there is a problem with self-esteem. But summing everything up, it is worth saying that Ukrainian ladies love nice outfits, jewelry and good make-up. They are ready to invest time and efforts in their looks, and, honestly, lots of men appreciate that.