Still, she wanted to create contrast between the “cute” side of her personality with the “gopnik” side. Tolokonnikova, who is vegan, juxtaposed her sweet look with an oversized black faux-leather Adidas jacket, which she purchased in London while in town for Abramović’s exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. She also wore a pair of velvet Doc Martens, though she changed into slides from—you guessed it—Adidas during the party. (“I think it’s the sexiest thing ever: a long lace white skirt with dark combat boots and platforms,” she says.) And while a purse may not be typical of a wedding look, she carried a black shoulder bag inscribed with the words “My Pussy My Riot” in red, from her friend Michele Pred.
Tolokonnikova also included the Orthodox cross in her ceremony: on a necklace, garter belt, and even the vegan Napoleon cake covered in black icing, which she baked herself. “I’m almost trying to steal [the symbol] from the Orthodox Christianity, honestly, because they stole two years of my life,” she says. “I was accused—besides going against Putin—of religious hatred, which I didn’t have. But they still accused me of it. So I was like, Well, I’m just going to be using your symbol and reclaim it as my own.” She and Caldwell were married by Father Nathan Monk, who was excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox church for his support of the LGBTQ+ community, underneath a giant neon Orthodox cross that Tolokonnikova used as a prop in Pussy Riot and Slayyyter’s music video “HATEFUCK.”
