How the famous Soviet model abandoned her career and found her happiness: Tatyana Chapygina

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the late 1970s, she was one of the most popular and sought-after models in the Soviet Union. Photos of Tatyana Chapygina adorned the covers of fashion magazines, she participated in many shows every day and traveled all over the world with Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who once offered the girl a job at the Model House. But could a career become a full-fledged substitute for simple female happiness? And once Tatyana Chapygina gave up everything in order to learn how to be a wife.

Failed surgeon

She was born and raised in the capital in 1954 and, unlike many of her peers, in her childhood dreamed of becoming not an actress or singer, but a doctor. Tanya Chapygina often imagined herself in the operating room and saw in her dreams how she stores people. After receiving a certificate of secondary education, Tatyana applied to the medical school and was able to enter the first time.

At first, the girl really liked her studies, but the very first visit to the operating room made Tatyana reconsider her attitude to the profession. A clear understanding has come: medicine is not her vocation at all. Dreams of surgery were over and Tatyana Chapygina got a job at the SES.

The girl did not have any special ambitions, and Tatyana went to the casting at the All-Union House of Fashion Models simply to support her friend who dreamed of working there. Tatiana Chapygina, probably, herself did not know how beautiful she was. They paid attention to her, but the girl herself hardly thought that her appearance would help her find a profession.

In 1977, at the Model House on Kuznetsky Most, Tatiana was noticed by Vyacheslav Zaitsev and offered her a job, outlining very good prospects. In SES, Tatiana did not really hold anything, and soon she was already trying on fashionable outfits for shows.

Successful model

Having become a clothing demonstrator, Tatyana Chapygina realized how unfair the attitude of society towards this profession was often. For some reason, the girls who took to the podium were often compared with representatives of the most ancient profession and were suspected of almost all mortal sins.

In fact, the girls who worked at the Model House during the Soviet era took their work very seriously. They did not just walk on the catwalk, but tried to feel the thing and show people how to wear it. At the same time, their schedule was very busy, they had to participate in about ten shows a day: three during the day, directly at the Model House, and in the evening the girls went to factories, plants, hospitals and institutes.

Tatyana Chapygina, like other models, most of all did not like to demonstrate work clothes. She felt uncomfortable in quilts and canvas jackets, overalls and overalls, but this was also part of her daily work, along with shows of evening and elegant dresses. The models did their makeup and hairstyles on their own, regardless of whether it was a show or participation in a photo shoot.

The busy work schedule was exhausting, but Tatyana Chapygina had her own beauty secret. She got up at eight in the morning and went to bed at half past nine in the evening to look fresh and rested in the morning. We were not even talking about any alcoholic beverages, and all meetings with friends were postponed to the weekend. And even then, Tatyana preferred to give up alcohol, although some of her colleagues allowed themselves a couple of glasses of champagne, and sometimes something stronger. But Tatyana did not study in medicine for nothing: she knew exactly what harmful consequences all this could lead to.

The girl very quickly became one of the most popular models. She was always collected and disciplined, she was not capricious and did not refuse to participate in shows at enterprises. Soon Tatyana's photographs were already adorning the covers of fashion magazines, as well as the most popular women's publications in Soviet times, Rabotnitsa and Krestyanka. But the most enjoyable part of the job was participating in international shows.

Foreign love

For the first time, Tatyana Chapygina visited abroad in 1979, it was a trip to the GDR, followed by business trips to the USA, Mexico, Japan and other countries. It is clear that personal contacts of Soviet fashion models with foreigners were prohibited. Once Tatiana and her friend allowed two Americans to escort them to the hotel, and then both of them had a serious conversation with the management. In the future, the girl did not allow herself such "liberties". And yet, a foreign love awaited her ahead.

It was already at that time when the models were no longer strictly controlled, and indeed many prohibitions in the late 1980s had already lost their relevance. But Tatyana met her fate not at all abroad, but directly in Russia.

After another show, an imposing foreigner approached the girl and invited her to drink coffee. The Austrian businessman really liked Tatiana, and he began to look after her. True, the model herself was still afraid that they would not pat her on the head for a relationship with a foreigner, and for a long time kept the fan at a distance.

Finally, he won the heart of the beauty with his culinary talent. Against the background of the fact that Tatiana did not like and did not know how to cook, the fan's ability to create a real masterpiece out of nothing made her heart tremble. Tatyana Chapygina was already 35 when she decided to leave her career and devote herself entirely to her family. At that time, the age of the model was not considered critical, and she could go on the catwalk for more than one year.

But family happiness seemed to her much more important than work. Moreover, she did not have to leave her beloved capital. Tatyana's husband did business in Moscow, and soon the newlyweds began to make repairs in their apartment on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. The most important thing is that the model's mother lived nearby, and Tatiana could visit her at any time.

The former model enthusiastically guided the builders, independently developed a redevelopment project, looked for furniture and textiles, and acquired everything she needed for her family nest. As Tatyana Chapygina admits, she hammers all the nails in the apartment, because her husband works tirelessly. And he is still preparing delights for his beloved wife.

And the former model periodically starred in commercials, worked as a beauty salon administrator, and took part in television shows. Tatyana Chapygina admits: she has nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to regret. Each age and age has its own priorities, her desire to have a family outweighed her career ambitions.

Today, the profession of a model is considered prestigious and highly paid, and in Soviet times, models received a salary at the level of a low-skilled worker. It was almost indecent to be a fashion model or a clothing demonstrator, and it never occurred to anyone to be proud of their fame in the West. The fate of Soviet models was often difficult, even tragic. Although there were, of course, those to whom fortune gave a lucky ticket.