What to wear

BE BRIGHT AND NOTICEABLE!

Visual effects are important in demonstrations. They attract attention and create the overall impression of the event. The easiest way to create an eye-catching effect is to take a T-shirt and paint it in bright colours. Specially made T-shirts and themed costumes also help.

T-shirt “Nyet, nyet, Soviet”

The “Nyet, nyet, Soviet” t-shirt was one of the most popular for exile demonstrations. They were also worn in daily life, drawing attention to the occupation of Latvia. The shirt’s original design was created in 1984 by Pēteris Elferts, Jerry Nicholson, and Juris Raiska for the American Latvian Youth Association congress. The shirts were in such demand that they were also printed by others around the world.

Slogan “Nyet, Nyet, Soviet”

One of the most popular slogans of political demonstrations in exile was “Nyet, Nyet, Soviet” – it was the shortest, loudest, and most easily heard. It became especially popular in the exile communities of Latvians and other Soviet-occupied countries after Hungarian-born Canadian musician BB Gabor released the song Nyet, Nyet, Soviet (Soviet Jewelery).
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T-shirts worn around the world from the early 1980s and early 1990s. Donated to Latvians Abroad Museum and Research Centre by Marianna Auliciems, Rolands Blezūrs, Verners Cinis, Baiba Bredovskis, Vanda Dauksts, Jānis Grāmatiņš, Zigrīda Francis, Ingrīda Mazutis, Solveiga Miezītis, Māra Newsome-Sātiņš, Lilita Zaļkalns and Lauma Zvidriņš

Latvian national dress in demonstrations

Ingrīda Zemītis’ (née Mukāne) national dress. One of the most popular forms of attire for exile demonstrators was Latvian national dress because it is beautiful, bright, different, and noticeable. This dress from Bārta was worn in 1980 during the ESCC Conference in Madrid, Spain when Ingrīda and three friends, also in Latvian national dress, drew the media’s attention to the issue of the occupation of Latvia.

We wore our national dress and walked in front of all the delegates, demonstratively taking the long way. Of course, the place was full of the press.Then we climbed up to the gallery. The press immediately ran after us! Who are you, what are you wearing, where are you from? Then, so we would not disrupt the session, we were told to leave. Our picture was on the front page of the Spanish newspapers.

Aija Abens

I remember that my national dress was ideal: we were colourful and highly visible amongst all the others in grey suits, so the journalists really wanted to interview us. I also remember that our brooches made the metal detectors go off, which also caused alarm and drew attention.

Ingrīda Zemītis