The Stalin tunic (Russian: сталинка, romanized: stalinka) is a colloquial term for a type of tunic or jacket associated with Joseph Stalin (1878-1953); from the 1920s until the 1950s and beyond, it was commonly worn as a political uniform by government officials in the Soviet Union (and, after World War II, by officials in the Soviet satellite states as well).[1]
Stalinka evolved from the french (френч), a tunic of the Imperial Russian Army, which had appeared in the First World War; the difference was that the Stalinka had a soft turn-down collar. Its simplistic style came from Stalin's refusal to wear clothing of a more complex nature, as well as eventual tweaks made by Soviet fashion designers that tried to create an image for the leader.[2]
This style of attire was chosen by Chinese, Vietnamese and North Korean Communist leaders.[1]