Antiquated Country Dress

Antiquated Country Dress

Eugene Onegin: "Reading in Fashion"

Old-fashioned dresses were common in the countryside, resultant from living outside the realm of city styles.

Elizabeth LaFave

Text: Alexander Pushkin; Eugene Onegin 
Image:Russian Elegance: Country and City Fashion from the 15th to the Early 20th Century. 

Text: Oxford's World Classics
Image: Vivays Publishing

«На суд взыскательному свету

Представить ясные черты

Провинциальной простоты,

И запоздалые наряды,

И запоздалый склад речей;

Московских франтов и цирцей

Привлечь насмешливые взгляды!..» (7, XXVII, 169). 


“The haughty world would watch her closely

And judge her harshly from the start:

Her simple, open country heart

 And country dress would find no mercy;

And antiquated turns of phrase

Were sure to bring mocking gaze” (Chapter 7, Stanza 27, Page 169).