100 Years of Beauty - Poland

[POLSKIE TŁUMACZENIE PONIŻEJ] I’ve been waiting for someone to do it, but since no one volunteered, I shot it myself – here’s a video in the style of “100 Years of Beauty In…” – this time, a Polish edition. watching other videos like this, I felt like the Polish one would be different, because of our messy and difficult history. we never really had a chance to be very fashionable until the last three decades – with no access to modern fashion or make up brands, practically no fashion industry of our own, and lack of money to afford the fancy clothes, which were rarely even available. still, even amongst huge political conflicts and changes, women would style their hair, make their own clothes, and put a lot of effort into looking stylish.

I left the 2010s „blank”, because it’s a decade that still hasn’t closed, and it’s fresh enough for all of us Polish women to have different experiences and memories surrounding it. also, it’s up to us what it’s going to be remembered for anyway!

making this video was incredibly hard for me. not only because I had to transform myself 11 times, and not only because it was very emotional, but because it’s just so difficult to be “objective”, especially when talking about a period of history that is this broad. that’s why I’d like to apologize to anyone that feels the video misrepresents what actually happened, or focuses on things that are not considered historically important. I was doing my best to find one event or historical fact that affected women in each decade (and it so happens that a lot of these revolve around Polish political systems). my choices weren’t based on political sympathies, but rather on what I thought could be widely considered a thing that affected large numbers – but not always all - of women in Poland in the given era. for example, I am aware not everyone was imprisoned in the 1950s, or actively fought the government in the 1970s and the 1980s, and most of the people led quite ordinary lives. it’s also hard to portray a single look for one decade, especially after 1960s, where different people chose different styles and you could be equally fashionable sporting a punk leather jacket as you would be wearing a classy padded jacket and an elegant hat. I hope you understand that!

DISCLAIMER: I myself am not Jewish and obviously am far from understanding even a glimpse of what the Jews have been through and the trauma their ancestors are dealing with to this day. I was wearing the band as a character I chose to portray.

all looks are based on Polish photos and videos from the eras.

[POLISH]

czekałam na polską wersję tak długo, że aż zrobiłam ją sama. w internecie pojawiły się już różne „edycje” – amerykańska, hinduska, rosyjska, ale ja miałam wrażenie, że polska byłaby zupełnie inna – głównie dlatego, że przez ostatnie stulecie nie mieliśmy zbyt wiele okazji, by wyglądać modnie. i co jest absolutnie godne podziwu, mimo wszystkich przemian politycznych i zawirowań historii kobiety robiły wiele, żeby i tak być stylowymi. lata 10. XXI wieku zostawiłam “puste”, bo ta dekada jeszcze się nie skończyła i moim zdaniem jest za świeża, żeby można było podsumować ją jednym wydarzeniem. zresztą jestem pewna, że dla każdej Polki co innego zasługuje na wspomnienie.

praca nad tym filmikiem była dość ciężka – nie tylko ze względu na 11 przemian, jakie musiałam przemyśleć, przygotować i w końcu wyegzekwować na sobie w ciągu jednego dnia, i nie tylko dlatego, że było to dość emocjonalne przeżycie, ale głównie z tego powodu, że jest bardzo ciężko być obiektywnym, zwłaszcza biorąc się za temat tak szeroki. dlatego z góry przepraszam, jeśli ktoś uważa, że wybrałam nieznaczące wydarzenia lub błędnie podsumowałam dekady. starałam się znaleźć po jednym wydarzeniu historycznym, które wpłynęło na polskie kobiety w danej dekadzie (a tak się składa, że spora część z nich ma jakiś związek z sytuacją polityczną w danym okresie). nie kierowałam się własnymi sympatiami, ale starałam się wybrać te wydarzenia lub nastroje społeczne, które mogły w jakiś sposób wpłynąć na dużą liczbę kobiet w naszym kraju (choć oczywiście nie wszystkie!). zdaję sobie sprawę, że nie wszyscy lata 50. spędzili w więzieniu, a lata 70. na ulicznych protestach. poza tym, kolejną trudnością było wybranie jednej sylwetki na każdą dekadę, zwłaszcza po latach 60., kiedy ludzie zaczęli ubierać się w różnych stylach, i równie modne było założenie skórzanej kurtki co eleganckiego żakietu i kapelusza. mam nadzieję, że mimo to udało mi się sportretować choć ułamek tego, jak wyglądały Polki w ubiegłym stuleciu.

wszystkie stroje inspirowane były oryginalnymi polskimi fotografiami i filmami dokumentalnymi.
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[kates]

This isn’t just showing fashion this is showing the history of Poland and I think that’s great

[pivinne]

When I visited Poland I was shocked about how much dark history they have there. They don’t hide away from it. There are buildings that the Nazis built, places the communists ruled from, centuries of oppression. And between that? Beautiful folklore, traditions and respect for eachother.

[lisaharmon]

The true beauty of Poland: She doesn't just survive, but lives!

[M-cr]

It's shocking how poor knowledge I have about the history of our neighbors, Poles...And we even have similar history! Greetings from Czechia!

[layoverbear]

I knew it was going to get bad in 1940 but i didn’t expect to tear up. What a wonderful & educational video, well done x

[HMStrausser]

This... wasn't a beauty photoset... This was a history lesson!

[rachelmaksy]

You ABSOLUTELY KILLED THIS, BB! the poses, facts, sound effects, music EV-ER-Y-THING. 😭

[Soahi]

"After the communism falls, Poles can finally freely access foreign goods" - that reminds me when my dad told me when he first time drinked Pepsi as an adult man and got and got his first brainfreeze

[annath_ii]

To be honest, when I saw the girl look up in the sky and hear the planes I just paused it there.. and I watched it about 10 minutes later, when I was ready. You are doing a really good job and you're very pretty.
Long live historians.

[sammurphy]

This is by far the best 100 years of fashion I have ever seen. All others show the happy, perfect, idolized versions of the countries history, but you tell it exactly how it was. The struggle and horror of what history is. I would love to see more of these. Especially the facts were amazing. Please do Ireland. It also has endured many tough times over the years. Much love to you ❤❤

[wisedory]

I am from Poland, but i need to write this in English, so sorry for any mistakes. I literally wanna cry because of comments. You guys are really sweet, kind and empathic, so it is really beautiful. I want to hug you all for this. Kochamy was!

[jmuller]

Hello,
I am german and, as I watched this video, I felt the need to say:
We are sorry. I hope Poland can be proud and the people happy.

[joanna]

when i started getting into vintage fashion, one day my mum called me and said she's got an authentic dress sewn in the 50s from my great-gran. My first thought was all the puffy petticoats, plenty of skirt... First, I was disappointed. It was washed, fabric was very thin with orange and white geometric flowers, it had huge ugly metal zip in the back, it was short, plain, very modest. Then I realised that in 50s my gran wasn't Marilyn Monroe. She just came back from Siberia, where she watched her parents and siblings starve to death, she managed to get a factory job and a sewing course and she had two children when shops were empty.
Dzięki Karolina za ten film, dziękuję że pamiętasz o wszystkich naszych prababciach, które nie zastanawiały się jak przekonać męża, żeby kupił nową suknię wieczorową, tylko jak ugotować obiad dla 5 osób z kubka kaszy.

[gillianmurdock]

im not remotely polish but girl you best believe i cried

[kaya_yt]

I am from South Korea, and the fact that our histories from both countries are so surprisingly similar means so much to me. Both South Korea and Poland were literally destroyed during the WW2 (Poland by the Nazis, Korea by the Japanese Colonial period), and during the 1980s both nation struggled and fought agaist the government and its system for freedom and respect. Also the geological similarities between Korean peninsula and Poland (i.e. they are surrounded by both sea and land and are neighbouring a lot of other countries so it’s advantageous when considering trade, this is why both countries were attacked so much throughout the time) gets me to consider and love Poland as a close friend of my country. Our countries both have a prosperous, beautiful but also a sad history. Thank you so much for making this video, it meant a lot to me and gave me a chance to know more about Poland.
Love from South Korea🇰🇷🇵🇱

[АлісаДжостар]

Hi, I'm Jewish girl from Ukraine, and I was in awe from your video. I literally cried. My country, my people suffered as much as your, so I can understand what you feel. And I'm glad that now both of our countries, whom once were mortal enemies, after centuries of pain and blood finally got back their freedom and can be friendly neighbors. Thank you for your hard work, I wish you all good, dearest Carolina.

[deadlyNightshade]

These videos are my favorite on youtube but I think this one is probably my favorite out of all of them?! I love your approach on it, I love that you incorporated actual historical facts into it and combined it with accurate fashion (absolutely BEAUTIFUL pieces by the way). The music, the acting, the sound effects. GREAT JOB!!

[mikayla]

IM POLISH AND IVE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR ONE OF THESE!! I SEARCH ALMOST EVERY DAY THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

[kelsey]

I love how you don’t ignore the real history that tends to be forgotten with the 100 years videos.

[emilyf]

I'm polish and I knew this happened but this hit me hard, even though I was born and being raised in America. I am proud that I am polish and I hate that the American school system doesn't teach about history like this. Thank God that we have Polish schools here in America. I bardzo dziękuje że zrobiłaś to wideo. Pozdrawiam z Ameryki 👋