In the times of Mikhail Gorbachev many things started to change in the country. That period might be called a period of imitation. It came to show business too. The first beauty contest in the USSR became a sensation. Abroad the event called “Moscow beauty” was even called as loud as the flight of Gagarin into space.
In spring 1988 they chose the first miss USSR.
Perestroika let any woman of the country who considered herself to be beautiful come and show herself. The casting took place in Gorky Park, the line was about two km long! Many women were accompanied by children and husbands, many of them were holding string bags. Those girls who were patient enough to stand in the line for some hours filled in forms.
1989, January, the Crimea. They are preparing for the third round of the contest. It was the second year since they had started to hold beauty contests.
1988. The beauty contest has started.
The girls didn’t fully understand what they had to do. But they were so proud to be there.
1988 – it’s the first round of the contest “Moscow Region Beauty” in Moscow.
1988. It’s the second round of the first contest “Miss USSR”. Participants are ready for the “battle”.
1989. The Crimea. The girls are getting ready for the third round of the beauty contest “Moscow Region Beauty 89″.
The girls were taught to walk.
Victoria is not sure what else she can change in her figure.
1989, the third round. Girls come out in national costumes.
1989. The third round of the contest “Moscow Region Beauty 89″, now they will decide who is going to stay and who has to leave.
1989. So different girls all have number four.
The winner’s name was Maria Kalinina.
This is Maria herself.
Her photos spread all over the entire planet, she was welcomed by presidents and ministers, she was proposed by guys from all over the world. Later she moved to America and entered the acting school of Hollywood. She didn’t act much so her acting career was not very successful. Today she is called Maria Kalin and she lives in Los Angeles, teaches kundalini yoga in her own studio.
And the first prize was the color photo, right?
and a package of chewing gum
Finalist moved to US, that’s why there was 2km queue for the contest…
Also the lack of food in that times is very obvious in these photos.
The soviets were good at queuing. A lot of the girls might have just seen a queue forming and figured they should join it.
Haha
You guys are just jealous that you will never have a girl like these. Maybe some McDonald’s professional eater if you are lucky,
Hardly jealous, most of them are rather ordinary looking for late 80s girls. Jealous is what all of those ordinary looking ones felt when they didn’t win.
Yes. They are ordinary to you, because they don’t weigh in at 140 pounds. Lol.
Everyone I know from Soviet times says they only would cue at the store for the time of year the bananas were in season.
Of course, in the west were a lot of stories of shortages… meanwhile, in USSR, nobody was ever unemployed.
Nobody is ever unemloyed in prisons there either. How do you figure that’s a good thing? Work for a govt job, no choice, get paid what you get , whether you starve or not. Had a friend come over from there in the late ’70s; it would have taken nearly a year’s wages and some near starving to even attempt to purchase a 2nd hand acoustic guitar.
You really need to get to know some people from ther , before you spout off about how “nobody ws ever employed” there. I know a friend who could and most definitely would explain to you how ass backwards your thinking is in believeing that “being employed” in that country was like something good or something you couold live on or feed a kid.
Youy live under a rock or quite young, yet. Stoplistening to people and learn for yourself; ask a Russian who has defected about socialism, communism and how that worked and how “great” it was to always be employed (I wouldn’t stand within arm’s reach of the person if you really are naive enough to ask them.
Times have changed but pretty girls have always been pretty.
empire collapses, use beauty, move to another empire on opposite side of the world.
Beautiful. Way more than the current fake “beauty”. No silicone and plastic, no fake tans and duck face.
Wonderful Pics.
Communist hotties! Cool!
I wonder if they have aged well almost 25 years later…
And so it began…today it’s fake boobs and fish lips everywhere!
One of the many daggers aimed at destroying your little “utopia”, lol
vorontsevich understands.
I got it. Not entirely sure you do though. “Fake boobs” and “fish lips” “EVERYWHERE”. Lol. U dumbphuck. You think that just because 7 out of 10 Americans are fat and ugly, that the rest of the world has the same “standards”? Pathetic.
Dagger. Pfff. More like an annoying pebble in a shoe.
Oh please, today Russian women can’t ruin their natural beauty fast enough with fake boobs and lip injections that make them look ridiculous. So much for them not drinking the western kool-aid! hahaha
Enjoy what’s left of your little “utopia”.
“Oh please, today Russian women can’t ruin their natural beauty fast enough with fake boobs and lip injections that make them look ridiculous. So much for them not drinking the western kool-aid!” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL @ that! Where on earth did you manage to pull that out of? Lol. if you believe everything you read on English Russia you might be stupid too. Sound familiar? Lol. You fail too hard.
Whats “left” of our “utopia” is a lot more than what will be left of yours in a few years. You might wanna get your priorities right. Lol.
In about two weeks we will be doing exactly that by throwing Obama out on his a*s in favor of someone with financial common sense. Enough of the big spending budget busting international apologist who thinks Putin’s Russia is our friend.
Hmmm, it didn´t work out that way … Romney´s financial sense came to light when he did not want to clarify his tax declarations.
“Perestroika let any woman of the country who considered herself to be beautiful come and show herself.”
Biiiig mistake! Never let a woman judge herself.
You are right, there were no shortages in 1980s USSR. lol