Attempts to regulate by the governance of mode of life and behavior of partials in the history of imperial states were especially evident in the fashion industry. The article explores the evolution of the Russian court costume, as well as the uniform of officials and students during the XVIII-XIX centuries in the context of social political reforms that took place in the state during this period of time.
The content of government decrees published in the full collection of laws of the Russian Empire is analyzed, which contain orders on the color of the fabric, cut and trim of the costume. The purpose of this lawmaking is to “reconcile” the old Russian traditions with the norms of modern European life. A special place in the study is given to the reforming activities of Peter I, who, with his decrees, changed the entire “sign” system of Ancient Russia. Peter I “changed clothes” of the Russian elite into a European costume, but after the October Revolution of 1917, the Soviet elite could not wear the prePeter garb, which, like the entire “sign system” of the Moscow kingdom, was associated with the ideas of Orthodoxy, the inviolability and the eternity of regal power.
In the 20-30s of the twentieth century, the struggle in the USSR against the tailcoat and tall hat was a struggle against bourgeois ethics, and as a result, a struggle against the norms of Western European etiquette.
It is revealed that the problem of “form” in the broadest sense of the word was of particular importance for Russian life. The pressure of a powerful, but not organized force - all this increased the importance of external forms and organization of life, be it a form of government structure or everyday life.