hallo ! we were wondering if theresnanything specific that there is to do to "look" more russian?
hi!!
this is a good question!
im sorry but my answer probably will be unsatisfying 😅
what you need to understand is that russia is fucking huge. its very diverse geographically, culturally, idealogycally, genetically, ect. there isn't and couldn't be one or even ten looks for 140 million people spread out over 1/6 of the world.
and in general if you saw a photo of a normie cloud from russia it would probably look very familiar. just a normie cloud
so IN GENERAL this probably is how the majority of people in russia look
but!!! ive never liked dressing as a normie. and there are a lot of alt people in russia. furries, goths, punks, 2020-alt-tiktok looking people, ect ect ect. mostly they look pretty similar if not the same as people of those subcultures from other places.
conservative old people look like conservative old people. instagram divas look instagram divas. Buddhist monks look like buddhist monks. ect.
but of course there are some subcultures and/or aesthetics that are more specific to russia and surrounding countries! yeah they look similar to sertant western ones, but there are some differences both in the definitions and in the looks.
some (but not all!) examples:
винишко-тян (vinishko-tyan, little-wine-chan) - it's a little outdated (the peak was probably in 2010ies) meme/stereotype/aesthetic/subculture. the typical description: having these kinds of glasses, colored hair, drinking wine, loving anime, having this haircut, being kinda pretentious. its very 2017 core!
гопник (gopnik) - when people hear about more russian-specific subcultures they probably is this. гопники have existed for 20-30 years! historically they are people (mostly men) from "bad" families and/or neighborhoods, they are aggressive, trying to steal your phone or money, beat you or fight other gopnik's groups. and they (stereotypically) sit and dress like this (pics below!). but now there are much less gopnik's then some years ago. also their subculture was influenced by russian jail culture, which is its own long story.
нефор (nefor, derived from an adjective неформальный (neformalny) meaning informal) - it's used either as a broad term for anyone alternative, or more specifically for people like this (pictures below). its very 2020ies core, teenagers hanging out in shopping malls, vaping, online fandoms, the mainstream-isation of anime fan culture.
альтушка (altushka, alt girly) - similarly to нефор, can be used either to describe anyone (mostly young women!) alternative, or to mean a more specific thing. the more specific meaning is close to an e-girl. but i mostly see people using this term to mean any, usually attractive, young alternative woman
оффник (offnik) - basically a more modern gopnik type, with some alternative influences like nefors. usually a football fan and a nazi. to be honest and vulnerable with you for a moment, these guys are the type of people who threatened me with rape and murder the most when i still lived in russia.
скуф (skoof or skuf) - usually an older, fat, balding man, lonely, loves beer, is trying to find a younger woman to love online. this is a meme and a derogatory term, but some guys use that to describe themselves
also there's always traditional ethnic clothes and accessories, but it's rarely worn on a daily basis, at least in the places ive been in sometime! but they are pretty straightforward too google. the same probably goes for historically accurate clothing.
a very important note about traditional clothing: most probably you grossly underestimate how many nationalities there are in russian, how diverse they are, and how many people is that. it is times and times more then you probably think. and most of them aren't even slavic. please look into them, as they are the real face of russia, not the imagined blond blue-eyed girl in a kokoshnik.
also there is probably very very very little people who are really 90%+ ethnically russian, it just doesn't work like that! in russia "russian" is a dominating and oppressive category that is treated as the default and often erases all ather ethnic groups. a lot of people are a mix of tatar, buryat, jewish, russian and tadjik ethnicity and they fully see themselves as russian and talk about themselves as russian. russia only got that big from colonisation, and i am not going to sugarcoat it. i love russia but I see its flaws.
also important to mention: for multiple centuries now it has been always cool to imitate western culture and fashion. it was true for peter the great, it was true for people in ussr, it was true in 90s, and it is cool now. the world really is very america-centric! a lot of products deemed cheap in the west are kind of a status symbol in russia (for example monster energy, ikea furniture, doc martens boots).
sooo.... you basically can look however you want and not look un-russian!
i don't know if i answered well, but i really did try. thank you for the ask, and i hope it helps you!
