No matter what: stylish Russian pensioners

The author of the project, Igor Gavar, says: “For a long time, the concept of beauty was associated exclusively with the cult of youth, the stereotype that opposes beauty and old age has firmly settled in the public mind. The Oldushka project is an attempt to dispel this stereotype, to expand our understanding of age, to create an image of an attractive elderly person. The blog explores the peculiarities of national color, the relationship between age and style of the older generation living in Russia. Consciously or accidentally, they create original images based on sensations, intuition and past experience.

This series is a collective portrait of our elderly compatriots who have retained a sense of style despite the circumstances and the system of ideas about old age. This generation lived for a long time in conditions of scarcity and a political regime that suppressed any manifestations of individuality. And now, in modern Russia, many pensioners live in conditions that are incommensurable with the standard of normal life. However, neither these circumstances, nor the power of stereotypes associated with age, can overcome the desire of people to look beautiful.

Source: colta.ru

1. Valeria Nikolaevna, 75 years old. Moscow.

- This outfit is for dancing, I'm going to the park, to the summer dance floor. For as long as I can remember, I have always loved this business, even taught dance at the CSO for 15 years. Then I was laid off, and I began to go to a special group, dance in tandem with visually impaired people.

2. Irina Andreevna, 75 years old. Omsk.

- I am often mistaken for an actress or a foreign citizen. These situations sometimes develop into interesting acquaintances. So, one day I met a Chinese family, the head of which works as a translator. When a foreign delegation comes to Omsk, he takes it around the city and invites me as a Russian escort.

3. Larisa Iosifovna, 63 years old. Moscow.

4. Albina Stanislavovna, 70 years old. Moscow.

- Once I was on the subway, and the recruiting manager noticed me and invited me to a casting. I came, and I was approved for a role in the film "Mermaid". It was 2007. Since then, I have been acting in films and TV series. My recent work is a role in Renata Litvinova's film "Rita's Last Tale". Before my acting career, I worked as a spinner in a textile factory.

5. Lilia Pavlovna, 74 years old. Omsk.

6. Albina Nikolaevna, 73 years old. Omsk.

- The current generation does not know the history of their country well, it is not interested in the past and cannot adequately judge the changes taking place in the state. We have lost the link between era and generation.

7. Lev Avramovich, 88 years old. Moscow.

- I did not select anything on purpose, these are the clothes in which I usually walk.

8. Andrei Viktorovich, 72 years old. Moscow.

9. Valentina Alexandrovna, 72 years old. Saint Petersburg.

10. Nadezhda Dmitrievna, 62 years old. Moscow.

- It is very important to adequately assess your age, to understand that over the years our appearance changes and we need to rebuild our style to fit these changes. Some women, passing a certain age limit, try to slip back into youth and look ridiculous from this.

11. Nelli Pavlovna, 78 years old. Moscow.

12. Rimma Konstantinovna, 73 years old. Moscow.

13. Galina Andreevna, 77 years old. Omsk.

— I love bright and I combine many things at once. Sometimes I wrap myself up like a cabbage fork, look at myself and think: “Well, where am I going to go like this ?!” Probably, this manner was passed on from his great-grandfather, he was a gypsy of Indian origin. There, in India, everyone dresses so brightly. There is so much going on that you can't do it all in one day. I have enough entertainment like this, but there is no happiness, because there is no man next to me, but I would like to. There seem to be men around, but they only ridicule, they call me grandmother ... What kind of grandmother am I to them ?! I am an old woman! Once on the bus, a man stared at me, so invisible himself, and I was driving, I turned my head towards the Khimik youth center, I didn’t look at him. And then he says to me: “I rarely make such confessions to anyone in public transport, but you have such a beautiful face.”

14. Galina Vitalievna, 73 years old. Omsk.

Photographer's grandmother!

15. Nina Trifonovna, Omsk.

16. Gennady, 78 years old. Moscow.

17. Tamara Georgievna, 73 years old. Permian.

18. Dagmara Alexandrovna, 97 years old. Moscow.

“It is important to never get discouraged, always be in a good mood and convey this mood to people. And sit down to lose heart, and even infect others, why? If perishing infect, then only laughter!

19. Evgeny Andreevich, 67 years old. Saint Petersburg.

20. Ekaterina Pavlovna, Omsk.

21. Eleonora Karlovna, 63 years old. Moscow.

22. Elvira, Moscow.

- I am a woman without age, I do not record numbers.