Vyatka mod has reached the federal level. Vyatka mod lit up in China

In Kirov there lives a man worthy of his fame reaching the federal scale. His name is Viktor Sergeevich Kazakovtsev. Not intending to be bored in retirement, he decided to do something interesting for himself. Being an accordion player in the past, today Viktor Sergeevich is the most fashionable Russian pensioner, inventing his own images and outfits on his own.

The pensioner creates his collection of clothes from clothes that he buys for little money in "second hand" stores. Everyone treats him differently: someone twists his finger at his temple, someone considers him an excellent role model - and not only for pensioners. However, everyone is united by one thing - no one can help smiling at the sight of a new extravagant outfit of a pensioner: he looks so unusual and incredibly positive in his images.

1. Fashion designer-enthusiast in the form of a daring sailor.

2. Viktor Sergeevich Kazakovtsev in the image of a millionaire - the outfit is called "Bourgeois".

3. Viktor Kazakovtsev as a cowboy.

4. Attire of a foreign tourist.

5. Polar suit - for winter cold.

6. Grandmaster suit.

7. This is how Antoshka appears to the pensioner: this is his summer suit.

8. And this is how, according to Viktor Sergeevich, a person going to Karaganda should look like.

9. An amateur fashion designer in the fictitious image of "Baron Tilzenhausen".

10. According to the pensioner, he came up with this unusual name in a dream.

11. Here, according to the Vyatka mod, he looks like Gagarin and Titov.

12. In this image, according to the pensioner, he was awarded the Order of Jazz, III degree.

13. In this image, Viktor Sergeevich supported the Russian team at the World Championships.

Vyatka mod- about television filming, love for contemporary art and loneliness.

Vyatka fashionista in Kirov is known, perhaps, by everyone. An elderly man in extravagant costumes is even called a living monument: it is impossible not to notice his appearance on the street. Mostly, passers-by smile and ask to be photographed. But there are those who take him for a madman. In a conversation with Viktor Sergeevich Kazakovtsev - that is the name of the Vyatka fashionista - we tried to find out what is behind his image and why the creation of costumes has become his life's work.

About childhood dreams, favorite work and first experiments

Viktor Sergeyevich, you are known in the city for your extravagant costumes, but few people know your biography. Where was your childhood?

I grew up in Arbage. My parents separated very early, so I spent my childhood and youth with my mother. She was a labor veteran, awarded medals for labor prowess during the Great Patriotic War. My father worked as a blacksmith all his life. Although the family is working, but as far as I can remember, I have always been drawn to creativity. The fact is that my mother and her three sisters sang very well. By patronymic they are Fedorovna, and in the village they were nicknamed the Fedorov sisters - by analogy with the well-known group of the same name. In pre-war times, he was very famous. When the four sisters got together, after the feast they always sang songs. I really liked it and my soul was drawn to it. In addition, my mother was very fond of embroidering, I still keep her work at home. Perhaps some of this passion passed to me.

Who did you dream of becoming?

Bayanist. Even before school, I saw a film with the participation of the actor Nikolai Kryuchkov. This was the hero of our time. In that film, he played the role of a tractor driver and played the button accordion. Everyone was delighted with him, and I also wanted to play the button accordion. I also loved to draw and had an interest in technology. From an early age, I was always among tractor drivers and drivers. First, I learned all the obscene ditties from them, and then “mother” learned to speak (laughs). Apparently, for this reason, in the future I was sent to culture as a connoisseur of folk epos and folklore. I went to the House of Pioneers and learned to play the button accordion with a friend.

It turns out that a childhood dream came true?

You can say so. I have two diplomas, and both say: leader of the orchestra of folk instruments. But when I arrived in Tuzha on distribution, it turned out that there was no orchestra and was not expected. They told me: you will work as an accordion player. Well, I worked for 20 years. He was also the director of the House of Culture in Tuzha, and then - at the music school and houses of culture in Sovetsk and Shabalino. Since I was a cultural enlightener and supervised amateur performances, I selected costumes for performances.

And in Everyday life Want to stand out somehow?

I stood out as a child. Since I was the only child in the family, my mother spoiled me a lot. I always had the best outfits, a bicycle ... It seems that in 1956, when I was in the third grade, a new school uniform appeared, similar to the uniform of high school students - with a tunic and a uniform cap. I don’t know how, but my mother bought it for me with great difficulty. I was the only one in the whole school who wore this uniform. Immediately there were many envious people. Three days after I put on this uniform, a kitten disappeared from my house. I come home, I look for it, but it is nowhere to be found. In the morning I came to school, sat down at my desk, looked out the window, and saw my kitten hanging on the horizontal bar.

How did your relationship with your classmates develop?

I shed tears for three weeks. My tears subsided, but this bitter feeling still remains. The case of envy - it's an earthly matter ... It has two sides. One person will envy the bird and make a plane, and the other will also envy - and kill the bird.

In the years of your youth, as far as I know, the party fought with dudes, and in general with those who did not look like everyone else.

We, cultural enlightenment workers, under the Soviet regime, on the contrary, were not supposed to walk like everyone else. Although there were great restrictions in terms of elegance, we definitely had to dress elegantly, harmoniously, but at the same time modestly. There is, of course, a fine line here. If someone allowed a bust with smartness, they were immediately recorded as dudes, expelled from the Komsomol, then from work, and a year later it was possible to go to prison for parasitism, for example. We have half of the winners Nobel Prize in Russia she was imprisoned for parasitism. And then they went to the West and received bonuses there. We, rural people, did not compare ourselves with such figures. But the outlook is the same: art is art.

Once I went to the Sverdlovsk region. Yeltsin was then the secretary, he supplied his territory with goods, including foreign ones. I did not know this, I just came to visit my brother. I go to a local store, and there are things that I have not seen either in Leningrad or in the capital. I immediately bought a Polish suit - a classic tuxedo with white spots. With a white shirt and a red tie, I looked like a foreigner in it. He returned to Tuja in it. And everyone looks at me like I'm an English spy. Three times I came to work in it, and on the fourth I was asked to make room. I was not sad, I came to Kirov and explained the situation. First, I was offered to work in the House of Culture "Rodina" as an accordion player. They say: “We would gladly accept you, but we are already tired of drunkards!”. And I'm a non-drinker. “For no reason,” they say, “we will not believe that a person was fired from his job and he is not a drunkard. That doesn't happen." I went to the trade union department of culture, was sent as an accordion player to the Kirov timber depot. They appreciated me there and gave me a room in a communal apartment. Then I exchanged it for an uncomfortable apartment in Veresniki, where I still live. I don’t want to move: I am by nature a rural person, a peasant.

How did you feel about the party line? Did it match your beliefs?

We were all under the hood of the party organization. But cultural workers were not supposed to deal with political issues. Yes, we didn't go there. The party line was treated with respect, but with the advent of democracy, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. By that time, the communist ideology had exhausted itself and hindered the development of society. Although at first there was a lot of robbery and other things. As the great Sergei Yesenin wrote: “The law has not yet hardened, / The country is noisy, like bad weather. // Boldly whipped beyond the limit // Freedom that poisoned us." But now I am pleased to see that democracy is acquiring civilized forms, people are becoming more disciplined. That instead of slums and ruins, skyscrapers appeared. This, of course, is the success of democracy. Just remember Green's embankment, where I sometimes walk. Under Soviet rule, it was a mountain of garbage, but now it has acquired such charm! In terms of charm, it surpasses even Leningrad.

About popularity and art

Did you live in Leningrad?

Yes, diploma higher education I have Leningrad. I studied there by correspondence, I passed my exams in the building on Palace Square. True, he did not immediately, on the second attempt. For admission, you had to write an essay. I don’t even remember what topic I got, but I immediately realized that I was in it - “no boom-boom”. I looked out the window - and there the cruiser "Aurora", real, not painted. And behind the other window is the Peter and Paul Fortress. And to such an extent I felt ashamed that I, with my insignificant knowledge, was in such an honorable, holy place. I immediately ran out of the office. The teacher says to me: “Where are you going? Write! Whatever you write is fine." But I still ran away. A year later he came back. And there everything has already turned out well, I scored the required number of points. But this is not the main thing. The main thing was to live in the capital, breathe the Leningrad air. When you enter the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, you immediately find yourself in Europe. For this reason, I have been to the Hermitage many times.

You said that you yourself tried to draw. Has this passion continued?

When he retired, he tried to draw. I had mostly reproductions. But then I realized that I was drawing for a woodcutter. In general, I made several underpaintings (a version of the sketch in painting, First stage work on the painting - approx. ed.). And then people saw and began to ask: “Give me this picture! Give me that picture!" I gave everything away, and they think that they already have finished works.

Do you have favorite artists?

I like avant-garde painting, I began to understand it. I look at pictures on the Internet, in the library. Herzen. Now you can get to any museum by pressing a button. Of the Impressionists, I love Albert Marquet, Sisley Signac and Alfred Sisley. Of the Russian avant-garde artists - Goncharova and Larionov. I also like modern artists - Biro, Dufy and Bufy ... And I also appreciate our Vyatka ones. For example, Mochalov and sculptor Ledentsov. Sooner or later, their creations will end up in private collections of the Rothschilds and Rockefellers.

Do you know that the painting is also dedicated to you? It now hangs in the Vasnetsov Museum. You are depicted on it in several images.

Yes, they told me, I then went and looked. I liked it very much. Including the very direction in which this artist works - Nikolai Endaltsev. Now there is a whole direction - oil painting cartoons. Of course, I liked this work also because I became a popular figure. I'm flattered by the attention.

After filming in the program "Let's Get Married", did you get more attention?

On the street, people began to come up more often, asking about something. To be honest, I never thought that I would become so famous. Before filming, I had never really been in Moscow. And then they invited me to the Ostankino Tower for the whole country to see. I really enjoyed filming. I went at the invitation of journalist Vladislav Krysov. When we got off the train, we were greeted as if we were foreign consuls. They put me in the most expensive taxi, they said a lot of good words. Everything was simple and friendly. It feels like all my life I was on a business trip and suddenly came home.

About personal life

Did you find a bride on the show?

No, it's all a show! In general, I initially thought that I was being invited to a fashion show: to walk back and forth across the stage in my outfits - that's all. And when they arrived, they immediately told me: you will play the role of a dzhigit in love. I think: “How? What?". And they say to me: "Your turn to leave." And they push me onto the stage. With this woman, whom I kind of chose, Raisa, we only saw each other after the show. Everything was calculated in minutes. They put us in different cars and took us each in our own direction: she went to Sverdlovsk, and I went to Kirov.

Have you tried to find a life partner?

At the wedding, my father and mother told me the following: marry at least forty times, divorce at least forty times, but only on one. It is not supposed to go against the parental blessing, especially when it is one. This marriage did not work out for me. My wife and I fled many years ago, without screaming, without scandals. Even though we had love. We worked together at a music school in Sovetsk. When we first saw each other, we immediately understood everything. A year later we got married and had two sons. But we couldn't keep the love. This is the fate of half of our citizens. The second time I marry necessarily when I feel that the second time was born into the world or resurrected.

What about your children?

The kids are long gone. The eldest son has already retired, he is in Angarsk (a city in Eastern Siberia- approx. ed.) lives. Younger son somewhere in the area. I was told that he was a priest. We are very different. In order not to interfere with each other, we do not maintain relations. It `s naturally. This is the rule for most families. When parents are engaged in one profession, children - in another, worldviews are different.

I know you don't use your phone. Why?

Because I have nowhere to call. Classmates, of course, can, but they have their own lives and social status other. I don't want to disturb people. If someone is interested in me, I am always happy to answer any questions. Old people are almost all alone. Our business - to be engaged in the pensioner affairs. If I manage not to fall at the finish line, not to be a burden on society, then I will consider that my finish line was successful. Man is born for life, and life has one form - labor. After all, I don’t want to die at any age, so I find something to do, I do outfits.

About fashion and life

Why did you start making costumes when you retired?

Yeah, I just couldn't sit around doing nothing. Since I am a male, I would, of course, take up iron and technology. But I'm forbidden by psychiatry. I have a disability, something is wrong with my nerves. With our life and work, it is difficult to keep them ... And now I sit, and my head sometimes trembles. Both for health and for my wallet, the design of clothes approached me. When democracy was declared law and all restrictions on appearance were removed, I immediately thought: now I will wear such outfits that the horses will start to look around! At first I thought how the police would react to me? If not, then I will sew outfits even cooler. And now, I see, there are no complaints from the police. Only once, about 20 years ago, they checked my documents and wished me a good journey. Well, since the police are not against it, I began to wear clothes that I myself invented.

Did people react first?

The reaction, in general, is positive among people: both then and now. When people stop me on the street and want to take a picture with me, I always strike a pose and take a picture. Of course, I don't charge for it. It's kind of embarrassing (laughs). But, of course, fifth graders and children of that age who are more swashbuckling, they try to say their poisonous word. But I don't take offense at that. Because when I hear such words, I immediately say to myself: “Do you remember what you were like in the fifth or sixth grade. Remembered? Well, shut up". Misunderstanding is the norm. It's even good. We live in a state, all people have their own profession. And each of them requires its own worldview. And if, for example, a person who has worked all his life as a supply manager or a driver comes to a concert and sees bright artists, he considers this normal, but it is unusual for him on the street. It's for Soviet life completely uncharacteristic. And any democracy presupposes the presence of street performers, musicians, fashionistas and, in general, a lot of street stuff. I'm trying to match the spirit of democracy. This life makes me happy.

Where do you get clothes for unusual outfits? What are you inspired by?

I buy second hand. There is a box where all things are free. If that's the case, I think you should take it. For example, this is the coat I'm wearing right now. I look: such a high-quality drape, brand new, unworn, and the color is pleasant. I'm starting to think, what can I get out of this? When the image in my head has already taken shape, I pick up something else at home. Right now, I am in the image of the great French actor of the 50s, Jean Marais: a cross between the film "Fanfan Tulip" and "The Count of Monte Cristo". To revive some thing to life - this is my soul, especially now, at the age of 70.

How many outfits do you have?

Don't say exactly. If a person has 10-15 suits, then every day he can collect a new one for himself. I have both cupboards full, closet and porch. I'm enough to die on my own. And not only to me, but also to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

What is your favorite costume right now?

I like Soviet-themed outfits. For example, my pioneer suit. Then another one that resembles the uniform of Marshal Blucher - with a saber, pistol, belt. He also appears in the painting in the Vasnetsov Museum. When I began to disassemble my closet, I began to get whole ensembles. And if it appeared on television, now I think that I have a duty to the people and to the earth and sky - to be in different images.

How would you rate the appearance of the Kirovites?

Now everyone is trying to be fashionable. A lot of people are getting tattoos these days. I looked on TV. For some, it suits very well and fits into the beauty very much. I have always been captivated by the European direction: hats, trousers, coats... Of course, we, the pioneers, are not supposed to wear tattoos (smiles). This year I will definitely try to surprise the people of Kirov. But I don't know what yet. See what catches your eye.

Viktor Sergeevich, can you give us some useful fashion advice.

My advice is this: everyone needs to understand that democracy has come and you can dress freely and smartly. There is no need to be ashamed of this.

Once again, choosing a new hero for an interview, the editors of the "Pervoistochnik" stopped at the most outrageous resident of our city, Viktor Kazakovtsev. Someone calls him "Vyatsky fashionista", someone - "holiday man", and the neighbors simply refer to him - "Uncle Vitya". On Monday at 9 am, taking a camera and a voice recorder with us, we went to Veresniki - it is here, in a wooden one-story house, that our hero lives. Despite the fact that we arrived without a preliminary call, Uncle Vitya was delighted with unexpected guests and gladly invited us to his place. The room where Viktor Sergeevich lives turned out to be very small - a table, a chair, a bed and a bookcase. Most of the fashionista's home is occupied by his outfits.

- Come in, sit where you can.

- Hello, Viktor Sergeevich, we want to write an article about your life.
- Good. Then in order. I was born in the village of Verkhotulye, Arbazhsky District, in 1946. Our family was incomplete. Dad didn't live with us. I had no brothers and sisters, so I grew up alone.

- Did you communicate with your father?
- He worked as a blacksmith. As a child, in the workshop, I constantly revolved around him, but he did not like to talk to me. But I don't hold a grudge against him.



- And how did you get to Kirov?
- Here I studied at the cultural enlightenment school. Finished it in 1965. After that, he began working in Tuzha as the director of a music school. After working for 4 years, I simultaneously entered the correspondence department at the Institute of Culture in Leningrad, which was located 300 meters from the Winter Palace. I have always been drawn to the northern capital. In those days, this city was a piece of the free spirit of Russia. I didn't care what time educational institution act, if only to live in Leningrad. So I went there twice a year for a session. Among our teachers were famous composers, for example, Igor Tsvetkov, who wrote the song "Believe me, at least check ...". I graduated from the institute in 1974. He received a diploma of the head of the orchestra of folk instruments. In 1975 he came back to Kirov.


- And what did you start doing here?
- They called me to the lumber camp in the House of Culture as an accordion player. Six months later he became the manager. Engaged in amateur art. She was weak there, and when I started working, they told me that the club had revived. And even as a promising cultural worker, I was given an apartment a year and a half later. But I quickly exchanged it for this house, because it was 1984. There was a smell of perestroika and I realized that it was time to change my comfortable communal apartment for an apartment with land plot.

- Were you married?
- Was. Married in 69. After 4 years they broke up, but I don't like to talk about it. And I don't have children.

- Did you want children?
- On the one hand, yes. But on the other - scary life they would have, indefinite. After all, I have a gypsy lifestyle. Therefore, it would be a pity for the children. Although I am not a priest, but still a pioneer and a member of the Komsomol - we are not supposed to marry twice. The truth is, I'm still in love.

- As far as I remember, at the beginning of the year you participated in the Let's Get Married program. Did you go for the bride?
No, there was no such purpose. Before Let's Get Married, I went to Gennady Malakhov's for the Good Health program. How was it? Just once Vladislav Krysov, a journalist from Kirov, came to my house. He said that he should go to Channel One to show the costumes. I arrived there, but they told me that there would be no show, but I had to take part in the performance. It turned out that this was a transmission of "Good Health". It was unexpected, and therefore the performance, from my point of view, was chaotic. They didn’t explain anything, they just told me my role, I went out and began to improvise. And when the performance ended, the girls from other programs ran up to me and asked: “Could you still take part in the Let’s Get Married program?” Well, I thought, why not, at the public expense. I didn't spend a dime. And two weeks later I went back to Moscow.

- Did you like to communicate with the stars?
- Highly. And although, for example, we did not communicate with Malakhov for a long time, he is a benevolent person, in relation to us, to visitors. I didn't even expect that. And, of course, actress Larisa Guzeeva is a wonderful person.


- Tell me, when did you start to be fashionable?
I retired 7 years ago. There is nothing to do, so I began to create images. My soul has always longed for this. When I worked in cultural centers, there was a requirement for us that we, the workers, dress better than others. But then it was impossible to dress on your own. Only a classic suit, a beard could not be worn. Party instructions are the same for all. And when 1993 came and our society became oriented towards bourgeois development, I immediately thought that I would sew such outfits so that even horses would look back. And so it happened.

- Do you like the way they look at you?
- Of course, the reaction is pleasant. I walk down the street, and young people smile at me. And those who are older often have a displeased expression on their faces. But this is natural, since the laws, the system of life can be changed, but the human worldview will not change for a hundred years. The young are alone because they were born in democracy, they do not know what Soviet authority.

What else are you planning to make?
- For 800 years, I have enough costumes for sure, but I won’t live 900. Therefore, I have no plans. But there are blanks, for example, for an ichthyander costume. It would be necessary to do, but all the hands do not reach. Health is not the same: one disease will appear, then another. Although I don't drink or smoke. I try to walk, but I also ride the bus. There is a pension and it needs to be “disorganized”. I love spending money on clothes. I am a regular customer in second-hand stores, they even give me discounts there, and sometimes gifts. I recently received a shirt, so expect a new look.

“I was surprised after work to see a fellow countryman in the subway on TV at another point on the planet. It made my evening,” Konstantin Levin wrote in one of the social networks.

He attracts the attention of Vyatchans and guests of the city with his unusual extravagant costumes. When he walks down the street in Kirov, he immediately catches his eye: someone smiles after him, someone is indignant out loud, and someone asks to stop and take a picture with him. He is our Vyatka "sight"! The fashionista is happy to take pictures with both children and adults. I met Viktor Sergeevich Kazakovtsev about 15 years ago when I saw this man walking proudly through the streets of Kirov. I remember that at first I did not stop him, and only later, when I met him again, asked to talk to me. On this warm morning, he was wearing: a knitted vest, a jacket, a tie, black breeches, white stockings, shoes, a white cap on his head, and on top - an ordinary plastic cup, a handbag in his hands, plastic glasses from the times of the USSR in front of his eyes. Then his outfit shocked me.

Over the years, I became friends with Viktor Kazakovtsev, and every time I meet him in the city, I make sure to stop and talk to him. He never complains, does not talk about sores, but talks about life! So recently he surprised me with his new suit, which he called "Spring Bouquet". A dark green coat, a red waistcoat with white stripes over it, a hat with a brim, white gloves, and in the hands of a leather suitcase, on which it is written that 2 + 2 = 22. This image is completed by a smoking pipe, however, without tobacco, since Viktor Sergeevich does not smoke. But how could it be otherwise, it couldn’t be otherwise, this is our Vyatka fashionista or “White Crow”, as I call him! Each of his outfits is always dedicated to some event, and now, the coming spring! I once remembered the costume, which he called "Chess King" or "Mr. Twister".

Viktor Kazakovtsev is 72 years old. Born in the village of Arbazh Kirov region. He was a modest boy, and no one expected that years would pass and he would turn into famous person thanks to my hobby! All his life, Victor worked as an accordion player in houses of culture and music schools. Was even a director. His wife died about 15 years ago. At the age of 60, Viktor Sergeevich retired. “I stayed at home for a week, boredom tormented me,” Victor notes, “and then I decided to sew unusual costumes.” He was led to this idea by a random trip to a regular second-hand clothing store. There, Viktor Sergeevich bought two suits at once, came home, sat down at a simple Podolsk typewriter and sewed one suit out of two, but with "bells and whistles".

“I make these kits by investing my soul,” Viktor Sergeevich notes, “I have a small pension, so in these stores I find useful and cheap things for myself, but sometimes people also give me clothes that I reconstruct.”

Kazakovtsev lives in Veresniki in a wooden "shield" house, in one half - he, in the other - neighbors. There is also a small garden, which he gave away, since he does not have a soul to dig in the ground. Neighbors look at his hobby in different ways. But Viktor Sergeevich looks at these things without embarrassment. He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, loves to read and sometimes spends his entire pension on art books! I was visiting him, and together with cameraman Alexander Shekhirev I shot a film about him commissioned by one of the metropolitan Internet channels! Books, I remember, were laid out everywhere and clothes, of course, she lacks space in a cramped closet and closet in a small room! He categorically does not buy a cell phone, sincerely asking me: “Why do I need it”? The people of Kirov gave him a few "cells", but they are lying around on the windowsill doing nothing! His pride is Podolsk sewing machine from Mom.

Once, with my light hand, one of the Moscow TV channels showed a story about Viktor Sergeyevich. Then the students of Marina Razbezhkina and teacher Valeria Gai Germanika came to shoot him. And TV viewers of Russia met him for the first time. Then he was invited to Moscow to participate in the programs of the First Channel “Good Health”, later “ fashion sentence and "Let's get married." By the way, Viktor Sergeevich’s wardrobe also includes a groom’s suit: a white double-breasted shirt, a black jacket, a black cap with a varnished visor, and attached to it White Rose. True, he did not take this costume to the shooting (maybe that is why his relationship with his bride Raisa from Kazakhstan did not work out - approx. Aut.). Viktor Kazakovtsev did not become arrogant, feeling like a TV star!

Two years ago in the Vyatka Art Museum. V. and A. Vasnetsov had an exhibition of 100 Vyatka artists called “The Breath of Modernity”. But one triptych, occupying the entire wall, immediately attracted the attention of visitors. The canvas depicted our Vyatka fashionista in various outfits. The author of the picture is Nikolai Endaltsev. Our hero himself was satisfied with the work of the artist. I came to the museum many times and rejoiced.

Olga Demina. Photo by Olga Demina.

In search of unusual hats, the team of the round-the-world expedition "Hat Master" visited the "Vyatka dandy" Viktor Kazakovtsev, who is considered the most fashionable pensioner in Russia. Read about how it happened below:

In the midst of everyday bustle, we sometimes do not notice the amazing things happening around us, those people who make this world kinder, more beautiful, more perfect. To some, they will seem like eccentrics, to others - sick in the head, to others - just good wizards, designed to decorate this world with their presence on Earth. But they will definitely not leave you indifferent, you will at least take a quick glance at them and, for a moment, jumping out of the routine of your own affairs and worries, just smile back at them.

Such an unusual person lives in the city of Kirov, his name is Viktor Kazakovtsev. Many townspeople from time to time meet him in the central part of the Vyatka capital, looking at the unusually dressed pensioner in bewilderment. The team of the round-the-world expedition “Hat Master” during a business trip to Kirov decided to meet with Viktor to see firsthand a collection of unusual, designer headwear, created by his hands literally from improvised materials.

It is worth noting that Viktor Kazakovtsev has long established himself as a Vyatka fashionista, those around him kindly call him “Vitya Modny” among themselves, and central television channels invite an extraordinary Vyatka pensioner to talk shows, for example, “Let's Get Married”. Their interest is not accidental: Victor is considered the most fashionable pensioner in the country, who independently makes impeccable style suits from simple, affordable materials, the basis for them is the things he bought in second hand stores.

We meander for a long time along the lowest part of the city of Kirov, which occupies the floodplain of the Vyatka River, then we turn into a very narrow village street with old, outdated wooden "shield" houses built from the time of Tsar Pea, and immediately pay attention to an unusually decorated house: no doubt, in This is exactly how the hero of our story should live! On the wall of a four-apartment piece of wood there are slogans: “Drinking is the enemy, work is a friend!”, “We will achieve abundance by work!” etc. And in the corner, near the entrance - a wonderful inscription: "Citizens, save from this girl from home!". In the window opening, the Generalissimo squinted mysteriously, and meanwhile the owner of the unusual apartment was not visible. A horseshoe is nailed to the front door as a memento, and newspapers are in the cracks. We can’t get through, as Vlad Krysov, the director and host of the Channel 9 television company, which broadcasts on the STS channel, warned us about. Vlad at one time opened Viktor Kazakovtsev for central television, personally took him to three shootings in Moscow, where the pensioner visited for the first time in his life.

Vlad makes a ball of snow and throws it out the window, after which the owner looks out of it, smiles at us, not at all embarrassed by the camera lens aimed at him.

He has three doors at the entrance, sleeps in the only, distant room, so he often does not hear when there is a knock on the door. Usually I wake him up by knocking on the window, but now there is a lot of snow, you can’t get to him. Vlad explains.

The owner opens the door for us and invites us to walk along a very narrow corridor through which we get into a tiny kitchenette, from it - into a miniature room in which Victor lives, here is his impromptu workshop for making designer costumes. Apologies for not tidying up:

Don't blame me, I'm sick, I feel bad, I haven't gone outside for two days ... - He complains.

Oleg tells the owner about our expedition, about the House of Hats museum recently opened in Vyatskiye Polyany, about the interest in headdresses made by Viktor. He is not at all surprised by such unusual visitors, puts a ladle for tea infusion on an electric stove and slowly shows us wonderful hats own production. At the same time, he puts on a big, tall bowler hat just like the Magic Hatter in the movie Alice in Wonderland. Still, without a decent hat, it is not appropriate for a master to receive guests. Above front door several homemade hats and a construction helmet hang, hats are even on the chandelier, on walls, cabinets and shelves. Following Victor, we go out into the corridor, from where the doors lead to two tiny closets, in which numerous pensioner's outfits hang, some of them very intricate. On the floor are second-hand items that have not yet been used in the work. Places are terribly small, we have to make a lot of room to enter the four of us into a very narrow corridor. One can only guess how people manage to live their whole lives in such cramped conditions ...

We return to the house, thank the owner for the opportunity to see an unusual wardrobe, we are interested in how he came to this hobby.

Earlier, in Soviet times, I worked in culture, was an accordion player, even the head of the House of Culture. I have always been fond of fashionable, stylish clothes, as long as I can remember. And what could you get in those days? Everyone wore the same clothes, no variety, but I wanted a holiday, something unusual, and I began to create. But you understand that in Soviet time it was impossible to put on something out of hand and go out into the street in it, so I immediately started having problems at work. Of course, I did not fit into most people's idea of ​​how to look, so I suffered for my beliefs. But now I can create any image and freely walk the streets of the city. Freedom after all… – Viktor tells about his life.

What do you make your costumes from, where do you get the materials for their manufacture, - Valery is interested.

I am a pensioner, I don’t have enough money for this, of course, I can’t buy expensive fabrics and jewelry, so I fell in love with “second hand”, I go to such a store and choose something interesting for a long time to create the next image.

So after all, this image still needs to be invented, - asks Valery.

Of course, but first I look at what is on sale, then I put aside a few things I found and go out for a walk around the neighborhood for half an hour. During this time, an image of a new costume usually arrives, and if I can imagine it, then I return to the store and buy the things that I need to create it. I try to take what is cheaper, for example, white clothes are always cheap and there is more choice, few people buy white, as they say “marked” (it gets dirty quickly).

We thank Victor for the time devoted to us, take a photo with him as a keepsake, suggest thinking about which of his hats he would like to see in the exposition of the only Museum of Hats of the World's Peoples in Russia. Unfortunately, not having enough time for a detailed conversation with the owner - the break between our business meetings was very short - we say goodbye to him and hope to meet this outstanding person again to talk with him about style, fashion, self-expression.

And you, the next time you see this extraordinary person on the streets of Kirov, attracted by his extravagant appearance, just smile back. A person needs at least attention, understanding and acceptance. After all, the beauty of the world lies in the fact that we are all so different, therefore it is important to first of all accept yourself as you are, and allow others to be themselves. Without labeling, without the usual clichés and stereotypes.

And the mysterious inscription about “the girl from the house” turns out to be Victor's cry from the soul about the eternally drunk and rowdy neighbor. He does not approve of drinking ... Forms of self-expression, alas, are so different ...