How Did Women Use to Dress in Lithuania Years Ago
What is Lithuanian women's fashion?
Lithuania is a small country in Eastern Europe, and one of the Baltic States. It's famous for basketball, unique landscapes and amazing food. However, rarely anyone talks about Lithuanian fashion. Even when I tried to google it, only the traditional clothing comes up, which is rarely worn and only during certain occasions. Being Lithuanian myself, I was curious about my country's women style, however, living in England for nearly 5 years now, I felt like I needed some support with the topic. So, I teamed up with my friend Monika, who is a stylist and a personal shopper in Lithuania, to give first-hand impressions and experiences about Lithuanian women style.
Rasa: Tell me a bit about yourself and how your journey in the fashion industry began?
Monika: I'm a Visual Merchandiser (VM) and freelance personal and photoshoot fashion stylist. I've been in this industry for 4 years now. I first found out about visual merchandising on my first year at university, while working as a sales advisor in one clothing store. The role seemed very fascinating and so I began to push myself and develop the necessary skills to become a VM. And eventually I did! A couple years ago, the store that I work in, opened a personal shopping service. After the required training, soon enough I could call myself a personal shopper as well. That's when I understood that I am passionate about helping people solve their clothing and wardrobe issues; however I felt restricted by the range of clothing that the brand offered. As a result, I launched my own personal styling service Asmeninis Stilius.
How would you describe Lithuanian women's style?
Firstly, it depends on a lot of different things, such as age, income, the place they live in. But if we think of women aged 25–55, living in a big city, with an average income, their style would be simple, dull and comfortable. These are the three most common words I hear from my clients whenever I ask them to describe their style to me.
What influences it? Is it any different to other European countries?
I believe that the influence comes from the reserved and modest Lithuanian character. In Lithuania, it's uncommon to stand out from the crowd, thus everyone tries to dress ordinarily. Comparing Lithuanian style to the rest of Europe, it might appear more neutral, in a sense that women avoid wearing flashy, bright and bold clothing, except on special occasions, like parties, and still that happens rarely.
In my opinion, a lot of Lithuanian women avoid wearing bright and colourful clothing; instead they choose minimal and neutral designs. Would you agree?
I do! The reason for that is the struggle to match colours and prints in an outfit. And bold clothing attracts a lot of attention, which Lithuanian women are trying to avoid. Personally, I belong to this group of women, who prefer neutral, uncomplicated outfits, because I stand for comfort and simplicity. This sort of ensemble gives a more solid and natural look.
What is the most common mistake that Lithuanian women make in terms of style?
There are quite a lot of mistakes that I notice, so it's hard to note the most common one. However, in my opinion, the worst one is buying the wrong clothing. It's when there was no consideration involved about the size, silhouette, how it's going to be worn and how it's going to be matched with. These sort of oversights can cause more issues: wardrobes full of clothing, which don't match and can't be worn together, as well as pieces that hide the beauty of the figure and brings out the flaws.
As a stylist and personal shopper, would you say that Lithuanian women follow trends or rather stick to their own authentic styles?
I would say that the majority intends to follow trends, but they do it irrationally and thus not everyone succeeds. In Lithuania, only a few women have a solid, firmly expressed style that is maintained throughout. Usually, Lithuanian women's style is undefined and incoherent.
What about the influence of fashion Instagramers in Lithuania? Do young women highly follow them to get inspiration and ideas regarding what to wear and what's in fashion?
Oh yes, influencers are very popular in Lithuania amongst different age women. There are a lot of reasons of this can vary and depends on the follower's age and languages. If they speak Lithuanian only, it's most likely that they'll follow only Lithuanian-speaking influencers. But if they know English and/or Russian, they'll have a bigger variety to choose from and accounts to follow.
Without a doubt, the most popular profiles would be those belonging to famous people and real-life celebrities, who are automatically considered to be fashion icons (even though most of them have personal stylists). Nonetheless, profiles with women just sharing stylish and inspiring outfits, advertising various clothing brands, are becoming more recognised by the public. They do influence the consumer of what and where to shop. I get clients asking me to create an exact same outfit that they saw on Instagram. But then I have to kindly explain to them that I can help them create that look, but it won't look the same, because of body shape, colour tones, skin type differences. So, not all clothing seen on an influencer will fit everyone else.
Also, influencers encourage wasteful product consumption, because when followers see a different outfit every day, they believe they can't be wearing the same clothing either and should shop for more. When the truth is that the clothing they use in the pictures is only for that, and after the photoshoot it's returned.
Amongst the most followed influencers in Lithuania, such as Agne Jagelaviciute and Karolina Meschino, my favourites are Inide Jasnauskaite, Irina Cybina, Kamile Dambrauskaite.
Since fashion is a response to any sort of events going on in the world, would you say that the Covid-19 pandemic influenced the way women in Lithuania dress now?
Definitely. I believe that the change in Lithuania was the same as anywhere else in the world — comfort became even more relevant and casual style took over everyone's wardrobes. The sales of fancy and dressy clothes declined for a very understandable reason: people stopped going out. They want to choose unrestricted silhouettes while staying at home.
Are there women, who would openly switch up their style? In other words, are willing to step out of their comfort zone?
There are only a few women like that. Changes in style are mostly connected with significant life events, like getting a new job or becoming a mother. I have noticed that after a certain time, women transition their dressy, sexy or chic style into a simpler, relaxed one. Because of that they refuse high heels, skinny fit dresses, miniskirts and deep cleavages. Instead, they choose joggers, sweatshirts and trainers.
Do Lithuanian women like to spend a lot for clothes? Is it popular to shop sustainably and second-hand?
It truly depends on the person and their point of view, as well as their financial status. I have noticed that with age and higher wage, women tend to invest more in themselves, shop less, but spend more on better quality garments. That's why the majority of fast fashion consumers are younger people or those, who can't afford more expensive brands. At the minute, sustainable fashion in Lithuania is not as recognised and appreciated like in other countries. I believe it's the fault in education and wrong values. However, second-hand shops or online platforms like Vinted, where you can buy and sell preloved items, are very popular. Although, not for its sustainable causes, but for cheap and low prices.
What is your advice to those women, who wish to develop their own personal style but don't know where to start?
Firstly, to find out exactly what they want and what is their goal. It's necessary to look for inspiration, an example, a style icon, which you would like to follow, and then do minimal adjustments to align with your own personality. And don't forget that a unique style is created by adding personal touch. That might be a certain shape or print clothing, one of a kind accessories, etc.
What is the future of fashion in Lithuania?
In Lithuania, fast fashion is very popular and there's an increase in retailers, who don't create exclusive clothing, instead, they recreate basic clothing by including prints on them, o copying famous designs. I really hope that in the future this will change and consumers will understand the value and quality of an actual designer's work.
Not a lot of people are familiar with sustainable fashion, that's why I try to inform them and spread the word about sustainability, which is my goal. Hopefully, people will start to care about not only the price and style of a garment, but also how and from what it was made.
I can tell you, Lithuanian fashion exists. We have amazing designers with unique taste and elegance, amongst the ones Monika didn't mention; my favourites are MÁS 924 by Monika Kazakeviciute-Kriksciuniene, and Acuamona, by a Dominican and Lithuanian designer duo.
Most of our women have a subtle, chic and minimalistic taste. However, majority of them is still on their way to find their own style. After talking with Monika, I can agree with a lot of her statements. Lithuanian women prefer to blend in, rather than stand out, in other words, playing safe. It's mostly the humble and reserved attitudes we have in our culture. It's choosing comfort over exploration.
Source: https://extrakind-me.medium.com/what-is-lithuanian-womens-fashion-537fd9e6bf64
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