Ruskiye Dyevushki (The Russians Girls)

Inspired by my own illustration of a pair of Russian village maids on a country walk that ends in tragedy, I hauled my cousin Amelia-Jane off on a real-life re-enactment. (Well as real as it gets without actually sauntering down a muddy road in Belarus.)

I had been collecting assorted printed garments for quite some time, sourcing them from all over the world via eBay and vintage boutiques. Some items even came out of my own closet. What fun we had mixing, matching and clashing – although the resulting outfits complement one another beautifully.

I wear a Forties cream silk blouse embroidered in red, while Amelia-Jane’s new embroidered blouse is much more rustic. Both aprons are vintage, and both are from England; the white lace apron is original 1920s. My white linen vintage kerchief, embroidered in red and trimmed with pompons matches the blouse delightfully.

My necklace is also made from pompoms. Despite the fact that it was filthy and looked like it had chocked a mouse hole for twenty years, I took a chance and bought it for $2 at a charity shop. I thought it would be perfect for this story. It is very fragile, the string threatening to disintegrate. Being far too lazy to restring it, I merely washed it very carefully (a tedious job), but my diligence was rewarded: the colours came up spanking new. You can read about A-J’s necklace here.

The skirts are by Obüs (the puce) and Obi (the red); Australian and New Zealand labels respectively. Amelia-Jane’s Cactus Jam boots were an expensive present from her husband; my beautiful suede boots topped with fur – from me. Fortunately the mud is entirely post-production!

You can see the original illustration that inspired it all below.

Thanks to Max Mitenkov for the background image of the forest. … And don't forget to keep an eye out for some additional Out-takes & Extras in the next few days.