The study deals with the symbolic codes of the man’s suit jacket in Russian political communications of the 19 th–21 st centuries. The theoretical framework for the study was the concept of a semiotic situation, and the basic source was the ego-documents of contemporaries of semiotic situations. Analyzed three semiotic situations: administrative prosecution of I.S. Turgenev in 1852 for the publication of an obituary article in memory of N.V. Gogol; imperial reception of deputies of the State Duma and members of the State Council on April 27, 1906; the abdication of Nicholas II and the formation of the Provisional Government, the events that took place on March 2–3, 1917, at the very beginning of the Russian revolution of 1917–1921. The dynamics of the symbolic codes of the suit jacket in Russian political communication is associated with its features as a thing (functional versatility and comfort, adaptability to fashion trends, etc.), variety of situations in which the jacket gave rise to political meanings, and its visual and aesthetic authenticity to the era of modernity in general.
political history of Russia; suit jacket; political communication; semiotic situation; vestimentary sign.