Staff profile

Current Research

Clothing, Society and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Russia

This project examines sumptuary and appearance regulations, related practices and visual and literary representations of dress, in order to explore the ways in which Russian sovereigns harnessed practical and ideological meanings of clothing and appearance to promote social and political changes and implement new normative expectations. The project also studies the ways in which the population of Russia received and responded to these changes, and the extent to which various social groups challenged, internalized and transformed these practices. As a part of the project, I look closely at the role of sartorial discourse in cultural debates around questions of identity and changing social and gender roles.

• 17th, 18th-, early 19th-, and early 20th-century Russian literature and culture
• Dress culture in imperial Russia
• Gender studies
• History of cultural import
• Material culture
• Peter I, Catherine II
• Pushkin, Nabokov

• 2024: The Association of Dress Historians: In-Between Textiles, 1400–1700: Weaving Subjectivities and Encounters, edited by Dr Beatriz Marín-Aguilera and Professor Stefan Hanß, has been shortlisted for the ADH Book of the Year Award 2024 https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463729086/in-between-textiles-1400-1800
• 2023: Nominated for the Durham University Global Curriculum Award:
• 2022: Nominated for Excellence in Student Academic Support Award:
• 2017: BASEES Women's Forum Article/ Chapter Prize: "Catherine II as Female Ruler: The Power of Enlightened Womanhood"
• 2014: Durham Students' Union 'Closing the Loop' Teaching Award:

Book review

• Ivleva, V. (online). Shchegoli i vertoprakhi: Geroi russkogo galantnogo veka
• Ivleva, V. (2017). Poetry and film: artistic kinship between Arsenii and Andrei Tarkovsky. Slavonica, 22(1-2), 95-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617427.2017.1382673
• Ivleva, V. (2014). St. Petersburg and the Russian Court, 1703-1761. Slavonica, 20(2), 135-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/13617427.2014.1148910

Chapter in book

• Ivleva, V. (2023). In Between the Global and the Local: Silk in Seventeenth- and Early Eighteenth-Century Russia. In B. Marín-Aguilera, & S. Hanß (Eds.), In-Between Textiles, 1400–1800: Weaving Subjectivities and Encounters. Amsterdam University Press
• Ivleva, V. (2020). Kleidung in der Körperpolitik des katharinäischen Russland: Von Regimentskleidern zu regionalen Uniformen. In B. Braun, J. Kusber, & M. Schnettger (Eds.), Weibliche Herrschaft im Vergleich: Maria Theresia und Katharina II (375-406). Bielefeld: Transcript
• Ivleva, V. (2014). Frills and Perils of Fashion: Politics and Culture of Eighteenth-Century Russian Court Through the Eyes of La Mode. In C. Ionescu, & I. Baird (Eds.), Eighteenth-Century Thing Theory in a Global Context: From Consumerism to Celebrity Culture (113-132). Ashgate Publishing

Edited book

• Ivleva, V., & Murphy, A. (Eds.). (2016). Dress Culture in Imperial Russia (Special issue: Clothing Cultures, 3:3). Intellect

Journal Article

• Ivleva, V. (2021). Production of Uniform Cloth and Military Uniforms in Russia (1698–1762). Textile History, 52(1-2), 101-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/00404969.2022.2041993
• Ivleva, V. (2020). From Catherine II's Coup to Alexander Pushkin's "The Captain's Daughter": A Reflection on Sartorial and Spiritual Searching in Russian Culture. Vivlīoḟika, 8, 85-128. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.vivliofika.v8.793
• Ivleva, V. (2019). Catherine II: Uniform Dresses and Regional Uniforms. Costume, 53(2), 207-230. https://doi.org/10.3366/cost.2019.0121
• Ivleva, V. (2016). Social Life of the Caftan in Eighteenth-Century Russia. Clothing cultures, 3(3), 171-189. https://doi.org/10.1386/cc.3.3.171_1
• Ivleva, V. (2015). Catherine II as Female Ruler: The Power of Enlightened Womanhood. Vivlīoḟika, 3, 20-46
• Ivleva, V. (2013). The Locus of the Fashion Shop in Russian Literature from 1764 to 1806. Eighteenth Century Studies, 46(3), 363-383. https://doi.org/10.1353/ecs.2013.0031
• Ivleva, V. (2009). A Vest Reinvested in Nabokov’s Gift. Russian Review, 68(2), 283-301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9434.2009.00525.x
• Ivleva, V. (2009). Functions of Textile and Sartorial Artifacts in Russian Folk Tales. Marvels and Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, 23(2), 268-299
• Ivleva, V. (2006). Literary Theory in Practice: Rethinking Tynjanov’s 'The Wax Figure.'. Russian Literature, 60(2), 127-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ruslit.2006.09.001

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Geoghegan, P., Basker, M., Pevear, R., Volokhonsky, L., Emerson, C., Smith, A., & Ivleva, V. (2021). Alexander Pushkin: A Life. [Podcast]. https://www.goloudnow.com/podcasts/talking-history-with-patrick-geoghegan-45/alexander-pushkin-a-life-270000
• Kendall, B., Dixon, S., Zorin, A., & Ivleva, V. (2018). Catherine the Great of Russia, The Forum, BBC World Service. [Discussion programme]

Other (Print)

• Ivleva, V. (2021). What did Catherine II wear during the coup and why did it matter?. https://wofecostumesociety.org/magazines/WECS-Wardrobe-2021-Autumn.pdf