Odds and Ends

If the other items mentioned in this article are not unusual enough for you, wait, there’s more! In our research for this article we came across several interesting import items that may be flying under the radar of Russophile consumers.

When planting your heirloom Russian plum tomatoes, be sure to first slip into a pair of valenki. These felt boots are de rigeur uniform items of Russian dachniks and are great for scuffling around the garden or yard year-round. You can get the “basic” model with felt soles, but we recommend the rubber-soled variety for longer use and comfort. Expect to pay about $50.

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russianlegacy.com

Time was, every Russian street sweeper wore a battered
telogreyka, the quilted cotton coat (literally, “body warmer”) ubiquitous in World War II. So iconic was the coat that, in the early 1990s, the telogreyka enjoyed a brief tenure in the front windows of Parisian boutiques. But the fad passed and the glitter is gone. Now, sadly, on the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg you are more likely to see street workers wearing Euro-style orange or green logo-bearing jumpsuits than the time-honored telogreyka.

Forget fur hats and woven silk scarves. If you want a truly authentic Russian clothing item that is functional and animal-friendly, get your telogreyka before the guys at Lands End discover them and commercialize them. You might be able to find one in Russia for $10 or so, but expect to pay at least $50 for the convenience of buying one here (the price we have seen on ebay.com).

collectrussia.com

Easier to find are the standard-issue cotton shirts worn by Russian sailors – the telnyashka. Tight-woven to keep out the cold, these blue and white striped cotton shirts may look like something George Clooney wore in O Brother Where Art Thou?, but we know better. They have been standard issue in the Russian navy for over 150 years and are a definite fashion statement (especially if you opt for the sleeve-less muscle shirt, which combines that Stanley Kowalski thing with all the prowess of Peter the Great’s navy). Shop around, and you can pick up one of these in your size for around $25.

collectrussia.com

russianoptics.com

It is not all clothing on our odd-imports wishlist. If you are looking for something Russian and unusual for an adopted Russian child or a grown-up Russophile who still wishes he was a child, you can’t go wrong with genuine plastic models of Russian aircraft, cars, tanks, etc. Just imagine the conversation-starting value of a Soyuz rocket or Russian submarine model sitting on your mantel. Yours for $15 or less.

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