The First Russian Beauty Pageant

There were the Soviet Beauty Queens and then there were the Russian Beauty Queens. Photographs from the first Russian Beauty Pageant, 1989.

“The girls didn’t fully understand what they had to do. But they were so proud to be there.” First round of “Moscow Regent Beauty” below.

And this is Maria Kalinina, the winner. She now lives in Los Angeles and teaches yoga (she moved there to pursue an acting career but it didn’t work out.)