Fish fur
Russian-language ironic expression
title: "Fish fur" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["russian-clothing", "russian-words-and-phrases", "textiles"] description: "Russian-language ironic expression" topic_path: "geography/russia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_fur" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Russian-language ironic expression ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Soviet_soldier_DN-SC-92-04942.jpg" caption="Russian]] soldier wearing the winter [[Afghanka]] uniform and [[ushanka]] (January 1992). Both the Afghanka collar and ushanka are made from fish fur."] ::
Fish fur () is a Russian-language ironic expression used to describe poor quality of coats and other clothes worn for warmth. In modern times, it is also used for fake fur, especially of poor quality. The term traces back to a Russian proverb "A poor man's fur coat is of fish fur." (.)
The expression has often been used to describe the uniform of the Soviet Army. In particular, elements of winter uniform (ushanka, collars, mittens) of ordinary soldiers and lower ranks were made of wool pile, which has been a popular cheap material for civilian clothing as well.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his Gulag Archipelago records the expression "Stalin's fur" in the meaning of no fur of any kind, in reference to the dress of Gulag inmates, supposedly derived in an analogy with "fish fur".
References
References
- Lubensky, Sophia. (1995). "Random House Russian-English Dictionary of Idioms". Random House Reference.
- Zaloga, Steven J.. (1987). "Inside the Soviet Army". Bloomsbury USA.
- Solzhenitsyn, Alexander. (1974). "The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956". Harper & Row.
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