His papakha made an unparalleled and very conspicuous presence on the floor of the Soviet legislature.

The papakha was the peaked hat with the oversize top that is worn by Soviet colonels and above.

If he volunteered to move, it was only because he knew he would never get the papakha in the KG13."

Makhmud was known for always wearing his papakha hat, calling it "my crown" and not even removing it when meeting with a head of state.

Meanwhile, the shape of the papakha (a tall hat of Astrakhan fur), which was reinstated for colonels and generals in 2005, may very well change.

Also like his old friend Borodov, he cut a dashing figure in his country's distinctive papakha, soft leather boots, and maroon Fleet Cloak.

After signing the peace initiative with the Chechens, he draped himself for a celebratory moment in the traditional coat and high sheepskin papakha hat of the Chechen people.

The taller was clearly a Sodeskayan Bear, splendidly dressed in his country's distinctive papakha (a tall black hat shaped like a woolly pillbox), high boots made of black leather so soft they bagged at the ankles, and a long, deep maroon Fleet Cloak cut on the lines of its Imperial counterpart.