Dress Code

When we traveled in the summer of 2002, we wore dressy casual clothes. We did not wear jeans or shorts. All the Russians we met were dressed very nicely. We had also heard about wearing darker colored clothes, so we wore mainly black pants with a colored shirt; however, we saw many people wearing bright colors, so I wouldn't worry about that. When you meet the Minister of Education (we had to meet him on our first trip to get permission to see our child), I wore a dress and my husband wore a nice outfit, but not a suit or tie. The most important advice I can offer is to pack lightly and plan to wear clothes more than once. Probably the biggest mistake we made was packing too many clothes. Liz Daughter Natalya adopted 7/02 Just began adoption #2

When I was doing anything official - orphanage visits, office visits etc. I wore dark pants and a sweater or blouse. I also wore shoes or boots, no sneakers. For court, I wore business attire - skirt, heels, blazer, stockings etc. For downtime, I did wear my jeans and even my sneakers. I also was glad that I brought sweats or pajamas to hang out in in the hotel room. That way when we got back to the room, I could lounge in more comfortable clothes and save my nicer clothes to rewear.

We dressed business casual pretty much all the time. We never really knew where we were going to be until that morning so we figured it couldn't hurt. We wore darker colors because it was fall and because they dont show stains so quickly. I packed lightly and mixed and matched a lot to keep the luggage light (and keep room for those gifts you will want to bring home!) Best of Luck! Christina

Just repeating, but yes, we wore dark colored casual dress, ( casual business attire) for any official meeting, MOE, or orphanage visits, etc. We wore jeans and sweats in the hotel room, to be more comfortable, and to lighten the load, I brought older sweats and sneakers, that I left there, when we left for home. It lightened the load in our suitcase. Plan to repeat outfits and layer, mix and match. They don't care if you repeat outfits. Our facilitator wore the same sweater, 3 days in a row!! Good luck to you!

I'd agree that "business casual" is appropriate. That was our choice for our first trip and we were comfortable, yet not too sloppy. We just wanted to show the orphanage staff some respect by not dressing down too much. Mike

I saw someone's note about leaving clothing behind. I did the same thing. I brought old shirts for under sweaters (stained etc) and then threw them out along the way. I did the same thing with sleepwear and even shoes for court. I figured every little think helped.

I wore a lot of black since most of the time at the orphanage we were playing on the rug and floor and it would cover the dirt best. We went in the middle of the hot, unairconditioned russian summer so I did wear shorts although I got plenty of looks from other russians (it seems like only children wear shorts in russia) someone mentioned that those first meeting pictures you'll want to wear something nice since those are pictures that you'll treasure always! alli

First of all, if you look well put together, you can't hardly go wrong. Second of all, bring less than you think you need. OK...that being said: business casual on the days when you have official appointments. Fall is a great time of year for sweaters...but don't be tempted to bring big bulky ones, the rooms are too hot indoors. Twin sets would be a better choice. Your coat is almost as important as your outfit. Russians dress very nice out of doors. A dressy rain/shine coat with a removable liner will carry you from rain to snow. Or, a lighter weight wool pea coat. I wouldnt advise bringing ski jackets or ғparkas, except for the very young, almost everyone in Russia wore dressier coats. Especially the women. Men seemed to be in more casual coats instead of long dress coats. Bring gloves and a dressy scarf to accessorize. You can also buy beautiful woolen pashmina like scarves in Russia that dress up a coat. Dressing in dark colors: well, I do think that dark ԓkhakis look a little bit more dressy than khaki colored khakis. But I wouldnԒt advise you to wear dark tops on the days you are visiting your child, especially not the first days. Most of the women in your childrens lives will have been caretakers, dressed in nurses uniforms, or wearing white lab coats over their street clothes. You dressed in dark from head to toe might be a little scary for a little one. You might want to throw in a few lighter colored tops. Also, I really didnҒt notice that Russian women wore that much more black than we do. If anything, they probably wear less. We have an urban pallet here: black and grey. They dont seem to have that: jewel tones abound. Our first trip was seven days. I did it with three different bottoms, and four tops and two pair of shoes. I had to wash on pair of pants while I was there. I wore dressy cords, a matching top, and a black wool coat on the plane with a scarf that matched the pants. I changed my top in Moscow, and flew overnight to our region. I washed the cords the first day I got there so they would be ready to fly home in. I wore brown stacked heel loafers. I wore black pants and a cream colored twin set on our visit to the MoE and Orphanage director, which was also the day we met our daughter. I wore them with black dress boots. I wore jeans (with the loafers) and a tan t neck on the second day, when all we had was a visit to our daughter. I wore the black pants (with the boots) with the first shirt I flew in on the third day. On the fourth day, I wore the jeans with the second top I flew in, covered with the cream cardigan from my twin set. On the fifth day (last day before we flew home), I wore the black pants (yes҅day three of the black pants), with the tan t neck (from day two) with a scarf. The next day, we flew home, and I was back in my cords and the matching top. I had one set of house clothes to change into at nightlounging pajama bottoms and a t shirt. I also had a pair of shorts, in case the radiator wouldnŒt turn off. Everything I had was mix and matchthe same cream/tan pallet on top that worked with either the tan cords, the black dress pants, or the blue jeans. That meant I could pack fewer accessories, like earrings, belts, etc. Make sure you like what you bring, you are going to be looking at pictures of yourself in it for the rest of your life. Look well put together, but donŒt go so dressy that you feel awkward crawling along on the floor with your baby. Bring things that will help you feel freshӔpanty liners, dress shields, perfume, febreeze, etc. Whatever you think will help you be able to tolerate re wearing unwashed clothes. My husband travelled with even less...he wore dark jeans on the plane, and had a pair of dress slacks packed. He just alternated between those. He brought solid colored long sleeve t-shirts and mock turtle necks for travel and non appointment days, and a sweater over the top of one of them for our day of appointments. He brought one pair of shoes...rockports, and wore them throughout. Despite having so few clothes, we did bring over a big suitcase. We filled it with donations for the orphanage and gifts to our hosts, etc. on the way over, and brought it home filled with souveniers. Best of luck to you! Have fun packing! This is a very fun/hectic/exciting time!

We were told we could wear jeans, so we did. The happiest 21 days of our lives and we were dressed as if we were going to a funeral everyday dressed in black or dark Navy Blue. We were in Russia in the "dead of winter", so we wore dark clothes: black and dark navy. Anything to blend in with the crowd. We took black-blue jeans as well as blue jeans that were in good condition. Fleece tops and in downtime, sweats. Again, anything to blend in.

In Angarsk, (Siberia) there is no need to wear dark colors. As our translator explained, after years of oppression, people are thrilled to have choices and one way they love to express themselves is through their clothing. We wore jeans all the time, except for official business. Buildings are stifling hot in the winter, and we wore short sleeves and tank tops while inside. The one thing we didn't see much of in public in August/September during our last trip, was shorts(on adults), despite the fact it was 80-90 most days! The days of black and dark colors are rapidly disappearing in most regions.

Our experience last week in Moscow and Krasnodar is that the Russian people dress very well. Most of the time I felt like I had stumbled onto a fashion shoot. Women were always wll dressed in either very tight dark jeans or slacks or miniskirts and very high heels with very, very pointy toes. Men were in dark slacks and black leather jackets. Our coordinators, while more casual than those on the streets, still dressed stylish for all of our official business. DH and I wore business casual - but still felt 'frumpy American' most of the time. Rather than heels, skirts, blouses or suit and tie or slacks and jacket - next trip we're planning dark pants and nice fitted sweaters for DH, long straight skirts or dark slacks for me, with layered sweater sets (in neutral colors) and my new pointy toed boots purchased on trip 1! We did wear jeans the second day at the orphanage. We dressed up for the first day when we first met the physician and director - and of course the baby! Inside Russian buildings tend to be HOT!! So best to layer so you can peel off while indoors. I do think every region is different, and even within region there is variety - so best to go in what you are comfortable in. I did not, however, see any bright colors in Moscow or Krasnodar, so the pink sweater I brought remained in the suitcase... ENJOY your trip!!!:)

I usually dress up casually but recently I have purchased a new tuxedo suit from for my friend party, I hope it will be look decent after wearing.