As per my poll of the most fashionable Mind the gap, Little Miss Moi, Ms. Raluka (what’s your blog address??) and me this summer little flat sandals are definitely in style.

The things are dressy enough to keep it cool at the garden parties as well as comfy to brave those Kyiv ups and downs. The Birks on the bottom left are so classic that they do not even need an introduction.

I remember taking down beadsheets from the line in the midst of winder – they would be solid and crusty, but yet dry once they are brought inside the house.  Wait, maybe Ukrainians and the whole Europe is just very consicous about burning extra kilowatts of energy on that machine? Our contributions to becoming “green”.

I would ask my subjects for their name, occupation, age, where the things were bought, what’s their style inspiration is about, etc, etc and hand them some kind of business card with the site address on it…

Here this lady was buying the twigs on a sidewalk from babushkas, with St. Sophia in the background – looking very happy about her new summer purse and a bunch of twigs in left her hand.

Then come the duty-free shops. Desperation gets out at this stage and most exiting things get carried on the plane in the clear sealed plastic bags. And lastly, the duty free shopping from catalogue on the plane. I thought they are there for the in-flight entertainment. But no! As we were giggling about the items on the list, my neighbor promptly made a request to buy something from it.

Irony aside, I love to shop every time I am abroad. This time I was coming back with one more garment bag, securely wrapped at the airport in bright acid green plastic and our carry-on luggage full of duty-free food goodies. God save us from the catalogues.

Local clothing production is almost non-existent. There used to be a nice “democratic” British-Ukrainian label called Sensus which is no more. Several Ukrainian acting designers do not make the weather here just yet.

Although a pleasant encounter in Lviv Magnus mall sparked some hope. There I bumped into an opening of a High Design Group store, representing Andre Tan, Zalevsky, etc. Having walked in the boutique, I was instantly examined by half a dozen super-fashionably dressed ladies and gents lounging around the cashiers’. As I found out later, some of them were the designers represented in the store, therefore their natural curiosity about which garment I will approach. I felt terribly uncomfortable, especially when I went though the whole store and found absolutely nothing that would fit me or appear “normal” to my discerning eye. Asymmetrical cuts, tassels, although sans glitter ,were good for the catwalk, but definitely not for braving the Kyiv streets. Here goes credit to the designers though: unlike many, they sport their own designs, hat tipped to Ludmila Kislenko, who was one of the discerning eyes.

A minute after a herd of models run in to try on the garments for the opening show later that night. Suddenly all seemed normal and the target audience of the shop has been identified. Art for the sake of art.

Photo courtesy of Vysokyi Zamok.