The Alexander Palace Time Machine Discussion Forum

Day 3 : Favorite Tiara/Jewelry.

I guess I'll have to go with the headdresses that went with the court dresses. I can't remember the real name, but it's one of these:

Kokoshnik!

Judging by Tatiana's expressions, I'd say yes!

I'm trying to organize all my pictures of OTMAA in court dress from 1910/1911 and I have a question:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/OTMAA_1910_in_court_dress.3.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/393/oaf7226yp.jpg/

Anyone else notice that Anastasia doesn't change her pose at all between the two photographs?  Is there anyway this was photo shopped?  I don't see any obvious signs of it, other than that she doesn't move.

Her hands are just the tiniest bit closer together in the second photo, IMO.

I wonder f that profile photo of Alexei was used for the Faberge egg (wrong direction, but maybe...)

I don't think so. The other Faberge reference photos I've seen have the subject positioned *exactly* the way they'll be painted.

One wonders just how many never-before-seen pictures of the IF there must still be out there.

Probably hundreds.

Alexandra's diary says:

"Marie comes with us, Olga will look after Baby, Tatiana the household & Anastasia will cheer all up."

That's actually how I used to sort my collection of Romanov photos. The only problem was that some albums got so big it was nearly impossible to find photos when I needed them.

I remember that. It was kind of amazing the first time I saw your photobucket.

Here's one more:



I've noticed just now that there are also very few photos of T&A together. Tatiana is much more likely to be found with adults (particularly her mother) than with any of her younger siblings. She's also frequently absent from group snapshots of her sisters. There are not many pictures of Tatiana and Aleksei, either. We know Tatiana was devoted to her mother, and she also had a very adult personality. My guess is that she simply preferred the company of the adults in her family over her younger siblings.

I don't know whether T&M were emotionally distant from each other, but it is interesting how few photographs show the two of them together. The O&M/O&A pairings are much much more common than T&M. So far I've only been able to find four in my collection:

Was the Tobolsk bedroom the first one all the grand duchesses shared, or did any of their palaces/yachts/trains also have just one for the four of them?

At Livadia the four girls had two bedrooms (one for each pair), with an adjoining bath between.

I believe Charlotte Zeepvat's Romanov Autumn is where I first came across evidence that challenged Vyrubova's portrayal of Derevenko's post-revolutionary behavior.

Pictures and discussions about the girls' clothes are scattered here and there, but none of the threads are quite the same as yours. You may find these topics interesting nonetheless:

The Dresses
OTMA's "classic" dresses
Tatiana's gowns
OTMA's fashion styles

Are you sure that's Alexandra? I don't see much resemblance, except for the earrings. Even the cut and style of her dress seems atypical.

Sednev was a local boy, not somebody who voluntarily left Tsarskoe Selo to accompany the Imperial Family.  He only started to work for them when they got to Ekaterinburg. 

On the contrary, Leonid Sednev did work for the imperial family in Tsarskoe Selo. He was an orphan living under the care of his uncle, Ivan Sednev, the grand duchesses' footman. According to statements made by Kobylinsky, Gilliard, and Volkov, Leonid Sednev accompanied the IF to Tobolsk, and was part of the retinue that was transferred with OTAA to Ekaterinburg aboard the Rus.

To my knowledge, no locals (aside from guards and clergy) were permitted inside the Ipatiev house.

Loads of rare pictures: http://www.kp.ru/photo/gallery/48186/

WOW. Some of the captions are way off, but the photos are great.