Like a mother: Anastasia Bogomolova's Lookbook

29-year-old photographer Anastasia Bogomolova presents her Lookbook photo project: “Look into an old cosmetic bag to find my mother’s lipstick, shadows and blush that she used when she was a little older than me today. Randomly pull out a suitcase with shoes from the pantry and find a pair of her hard-to-find Yugoslav shoes, bought back in the 1980s. Rummaging through a bunch of boxes in the family shed to find all of my mother's old wardrobe and older sister's costumes. Mostly multi-colored dresses, once purchased in the Soviet military department and sewn in an atelier or at home. At the age of seven or eight, barely waiting for the apartment to be empty, I climbed into the closet in the same way, trying on each of the outfits in turn and nursing in front of the mirror, trying to find something adult in myself.

Now, approaching the age when my mother gave birth to me, I again take out these now useless things that I can wear now without fear of being caught off guard. I put on old lipstick that falls off my lips and burns my skin. I pull out bags with cuts of grandmother's fabric from the sewing machine, which she kept for so many years and from which she did not have time to sew anything. I leaf through the fashion magazines that came out in the 1970s and 1980s, and in the 1990s shaped my first ideas about beauty. I stand in front of the mirror, wanting to recall the images of all the women in my family at once in order to understand how they saw their sexuality. I repeat this ritual over and over again, trying to acknowledge my own transformation into a grown woman and simultaneously reject it.”

(Total 15 photos)

Summer silk dress with blue and white stripes, 1989. “Grandma gave it to my older sister for her birthday, but she never wore it. At first, the dress was not in time, then, when my sister grew up, she did not like the style.

Black and white silk dress, 1992. "It belonged to my older sister."

Dress made of thin silk of pale green color, year skirt, embroidery on the collar, 1983. “Mom ordered it in Kustanai (Kazakhstan) in an atelier of the highest category. But the embroidery was done by a seamstress who worked at home. There were no such good craftswomen in the studio itself. Many of my mother's custom-made outfits are for this year. Then she, working in the regional executive committee, went to the studio every two months.

Yugoslav-made genuine leather and suede sandals, 1983. "These shoes were purchased specifically for a green dress with embroidered collar."

Silk brown dress with white pattern, 1989. "His mother was a gift from his mother-in-law."

Yellow silk blouse with satin cuffs and collar, 1990. Black knitted skirt, 1993–1994. “Mom loved the blouse very much and wore it for a long time. The skirt belonged to my older sister, it is an ordinary Chinese consumer goods that appeared in Kazakhstan in the 1990s.”

Blue cotton dress with a white hussar inset on the chest, 1990. "This is a ready-made dress for the older sister."

Blue satin dress with white polka dots, 1987. “This dress is imported. He also had a belt with a white buckle.

Costume (skirt and blouse) made of pink cambric, 1984. “This outfit was also sewn in a Kustanai atelier. There was an experimental workshop there at that time.”

Bright green crepe de chine dress with red flowers pattern, 1983. “My mother was dissatisfied with this dress. She went to the atelier and got to another cutter, who did not cut the dress the way it was supposed to. Therefore, my mother rarely wore it, but I love it and still wear it. ”

Light summer dress in orange floral satin, 1980. “My mother sewed this dress before I was born on her own, at home.”

White silk blouse, blue denim skirt, 1995.

Jeans, jumper and mohair hood, 1993.

Dark green raincoat produced by the Abay garment factory (Karaganda), 1986. Orange takes his older sister, 1995

Pink satin dress, 1988. "It's a big sister dress that she never wore."