“Mitki” decided to pompously celebrate the Day of the vest

Rock in stripes and Brodsky in tow

In Russia, the marine attribute acquired a new meaning when rockers of the perestroika era began to perform in vests. The “striped boom” happened thanks to the Mitki: the vest is a corporate identity, a favorite theme and philosophy of this art movement. Every year artists, and not only them, celebrate the Day of the Vest. This time the “Mitki” will play a concert and arrange an opening day on the cruiser “Aurora”.

The main shirt-guy of the Russian underground, Mitya Shagin, always appears in public in a vest. He has a whole collection of them. The main Mitka of all Russia has a marine soul, as he sings in his own song.

Father wanted Mitya to become a sailor, mother wanted to become a film director, Shagin turned out to be an artist who makes films and even dives into the water to make a new work.

The poet Konstantin Kuzminsky, who is called the “Mitkovo” patriarch, said: “The Mitki washed the blood from the commissar’s vests, turning them from a symbol of violence into a symbol of goodness.” For Shagin, a vest is such a “yin-yang”, he often wishes that “the white stripes were wider, so that there were more bright days in the life.” And he knows better than anyone the history of the vest, which in Russia officially begins in 1874, when the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich Romanov signed a decree on the introduction of a new uniform in the navy. The decree was approved by Emperor Alexander II on August 19.

“Actually, we celebrate Vest Day twice a year – on the 6th, according to the old style, and on August 19, according to the new one,” says Shagin. – On this day, my exhibition of paintings will open at the Naval Museum and there will be a concert called “Rock in the Stripes”, where the Mitki will perform. We have been celebrating Vest Day since the 1990s, and for the last four years the holiday has been especially popular in St. Petersburg. Once we arranged walks in sailor suits – people really liked it. But then the deputies for some reason were offended, as if the “Mitki” appropriated the vests and tried to forbid us to wear them.

But it is impossible to assign vests – the sailor suit is deeply inscribed in the history of the world. Its prototypes appeared during the heyday of the sailing fleet – at the beginning of the 18th century.

Sailors began to dress in striped clothing to be visible against the backdrop of the sail. In addition, the coloring can make it easier to find the overboard.

– At first, white-and-red vests were more often sewn – in England, for example. And when they colonized America, many sailors remained on the continent and often ended up in prison, says the artist. – Vests became the clothes of prisoners and became associated with lack of freedom. After being freed from slavery, the stripes appeared on the US flag. Blue and white vests were invented in France. There, the sailor suit became a symbol of the French Revolution.

The vest has a special knitting technology, it is like modern thermal underwear, it does not blow through and it is not hot in it. Russian sailors who went to foreign countries began to buy vests because of the convenience and bring them home. The non-statutory attire gradually became the informal naval uniform. And in 1874 it was legalized by Prince Konstantin. At first, vests were knitted only for long-distance sailors, then it spread to the entire fleet, then to other types of armed forces. Moreover, at first the white stripe was four times larger than the blue one. And in 1912 they made them equal.

– That is, the vest has a double anniversary?

– Exactly. In the form we are accustomed to, it has existed in Russia for exactly 120 years. And in the 1980s, the “Mitki” brought the vests into fashion – “Aquarium”, the group “Zero” and other rock musicians began to perform in them. She has become a symbol of freedom and goodness.

In addition to the exhibition at the Naval Museum, the Mitki workshop shows new paintings “in vests”. And there is also a series dedicated to “The Ballad of a Little Tugboat” by Joseph Brodsky. This is the first work of the disgraced poet, published during his lifetime in his homeland. The illustrations for the ballad in the 1980s were done by Richard Wasmi and Sholom Schwartz, illustrator friends. The editor did not like the work of Schwartz, then Richard refused to participate alone. They were never published, the illustrations were made by another artist. “This is a story about friendship, like in the Navy,” Shagin summed up.