Celebrating the End of School

I mentioned in a previous post the ceremony of Last Bell for the end of school in Eastern Siberia. The shot above is of some girls in Irkutsk wearing the colourful costumes they don for this event. Except for the red sashes and the lenfth of their skirts, I was reminded of the traditonal costumes of black and lace worn by Bretons in France.

There was, particularly before the 1917 Revolution, a strong French influence in Russia. Many members of the upper class spoke French (or English or German) better than Russian. Could the costume have actually originated in France? An interesting speculation.