Funny story from the early 1970s. My husband was sent to one of the small countries of West Africa for 3 years. Then for such a long period of time Soviet citizens were sent with families, along with my husband, I flew with a small child. The flight was quite difficult. From Moscow they flew on IL-18 to Lagos (then the capital of Nigeria) with an intermediate landing in Tripoli, and in Lagos they were transferred to a local airline aircraft.
The capital of the country in which we lived was built from the time of existence of the French colony with one- and two-storey villas, in some of them there were still ground floors. The more modern were the quarters of the houses in European style, the further they were located from the center of the city.
Soviet citizens dispatched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lived mostly in the embassy house on the street adjacent to the embassy. Employees of the trade office, the TASS, the consul, the counselor of the embassy, the correspondent of the newspaper "Pravda" lived in the city at different distances from the embassy. The entire Soviet colony did not exceed 50 people.
The climate in the country is equatorial, the temperature depending on the season (dry or humid) ranges from 25 to 32 degrees Celsius. You want to dress in something natural and easy. Before leaving, I bought a satin costume at Tsume: trousers (not shorts, God put it) and a shirt under the throat, shoulders covered, in front of the shirt reached the hips, but the back ended a centimeter below the shutdown of the shirt, i.e. Part of my back, horror, was naked. At the time, I was 27 years old, no folds on my back and protruding abdomen, my skin smooth. I could not offend the eyes of others because local ladies, not working with Europeans, walked topless, simply wrapping their thighs with a piece of fabric, rather brightly painted. A second piece of cloth was rolled into a burn, a ring of this cloth was placed on the head, and a enameled pelvis was wrapped on it, replacing the local sailors and a women’s bag, and plastic bags, which in those years were not widespread. But the attitude of the African women was royal.
One day, a senior official from the Old Square came to this African country with an inspection. He checked how Soviet citizens live and work so far from the borders of the Motherland. The event is not ordinary, so when visiting the places of residence, the visitor's employees were accompanied personally by the Ambassador of the Soviet Union and high-ranking diplomats. Because it was working time, only we and the baby were in the house. All the explanations to the high person was given by the Ambassador, everything in the house was okay, there were no comments. My participation in the conversation was reduced to “Hello, please pass!” and “Goodbye.”
Approximately half an hour later (the time of the commission to get to the embassy and settle in an air-conditioned room with refrigerated drinks) a roofed husband calls: "Start gathering, we are sent to Moscow at 48 o'clock, the head - an excuse." Soon the husband and head of the unit come and explain that, in the opinion of the inspector, I am unnecessarily dressed, disgrace the high rank of a Soviet man, submitted to the corrupt influence of the West, etc., etc. The expulsion meant the complete collapse of my husband's career and an indelible spot on reputation.
To the sewing products is usually attached a cardboard with indication of the details. Such a card from the shocking inspector costume I, fortunately, did not have time to throw away. And on the cardboard in addition to the article it was printed that this product was sewn by the Soviet factory in accordance with GOST, therefore recommended to Soviet women. A piece of fabric with a button was always sewn to such a cardboard, so that her belonging to the scandalous suit did not cause any doubt.
The testimony of the origin of the costume was immediately presented to the light of the eyes, to which was complacently spoken: “Go, work.”