Re: The Empress Alexandra Fights Back #3

[Never let us being parted!]

Reply #279 : Photo of Grand Duchesses was taken in 1914, at Alexander Palace, in early spring, before leaving to Livadia Palace in May. Tatiana began to wear her wig in 1914, during 1913 she didn't, or even not in 1913 Formal Photos. Yes, Maria had her hair up in 1914. (before turning 16, as OTA did after 16).

Best regards,

N.

[onset]

Griff, you've done 99.99999999% of the work here, so please don't feel guilty! Checking a date is the least I can do, isn't it?  Besides, I'm free today and still have an hour before I have to rush off to choir practice.

I think the date you may be interested in is not so much the last day of Lent - it ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday, if I'm not mistaken -  but the onset of Lent, the day ending the Winter Season. Orthodox Easter fell on 6/19 April in 1914. That means Orthodox Lent began on Monday 17 February/2 March; the Emperor even made a note of it in his diary.

Helen you are so intuitive!!  You are absolutely correct as it was the onset of Lent that I was inquiring about as I was trying to establish the actual date of the Folle-Journee which was always held the last day before Lent, so it was that would have been Sunday, 16 February/1 March, 1914. 

It appears from my research that the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna gave a Ball for the older daughters of the Empress early in the Winter Season, just as did the Empress Dowager.  Then during Carnival week it appears that the Grand Duchess also invited Olga and Tatiana to see the rehearsals for Countess Kleinmichel’s famous Persian/Poiret Ball that were being held at the Grand Duchess' palace. 

It also appears that on the last day before Lent the Grand Duchess Vladimir also invited Olga and Tatiana to a Folle-Journée, Sunday February 17/1 March, 1914 [thanks Helen] along with the entire Imperial Family.  Folle-Journée’s commenced in the afternoon and lasted until the stroke of midnight which signaled the beginning of Lent.  The Tsar and the Empress Dowager accompanied the girls. 

It seems that the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna invitation had ulterior motives.  Miechen's social rival, Countess Schouvalov, had systematically omitted to invite the Maria Pavlovna Sr. to either of her magnificent Winter Season receptions because of their ongoing feud.  Of course this meant that the Grand Duchess’ social set had to refuse to attend as well. 

The Grand Duchess Vladimir had said nothing about the slight and instead had waited until Countess Schouvalov issued invitations to a Folle-Journée to be held on Sunday February 17/1 March, 1914.  The event promised to be an enormous success as Countess Schouvalov had secured the Empress Dowager’s promise that she and the Tsar’s two older daughters would attend. 

It was only after the Countess had issued her invitations that the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Sr. sent hers for a Folle-Journée to be held on the same day, Sunday February 17/1 March, 1914; knowing full well that she had trumped the Countess as the Imperial family would be forced to attend her Folle-Journée.  It was difficult for the Empress Dowager to leave Maria Pavlovna’s party but she had promised her friend, Countess Schouvalov that she would attend her Folle-Journée with her Imperial granddaughters. 

Drawing on her legendary social skills the Empress Dowager did manage to show up at the Countess Schouvalov’s Folle-Journée with her two older granddaughters, albeit their arrival was quite late.  However Countess Schouvalov’s most impressive reception of the season had been less than the spectacular social success that she had hoped for thanks the cunning plot of her social rival, the Grand Duchess Vladimir.   

That Maria Pavlovna Sr. would knowingly created a social intrigue would embroil the young Grand Duchesses, who were enjoying their first social season, was not only typical of the Miechen’s self-absorption and mad ambition, but it also gives credibility to the Empress’s concerns about her daughters exposure to the machinations of Court Society.   

Reply #279 : Photo of Grand Duchesses was taken in 1914, at Alexander Palace, in early spring, before leaving to Livadia Palace in May. Tatiana began to wear her wig in 1914, during 1913 she didn't, or even not in 1913 Formal Photos. Yes, Maria had her hair up in 1914. (before turning 16, as OTA did after 16).

Best regards,

N.

Thanks so much Nena and stay with us!!!

Glorious pictures.  I see that Marie has her hair up in the last small picture with Ella in the background taken approx 1914?

Summer of August picture with Alix and Nicholas smiling at each other is fabulous!

I have never seen any of these before.

Doesn't Maria look so grown-up and beautiful!  She resembles Olga, in this photo.

I so agree with you Historyfan, Maria was turning out to be beautiful and it was such a fresh and wholesomeness beauty.

Well I have been delayed again by the holidays here in the States but hope to have the 1914 season finished in a day or so.  One of the delays is always double checking sources.  For instance Countess Nostitz puts two event in the 1914 season that did not occur at that time.  One was the Ballet in which Nijinsky appeared without his dancer's belt in Giselle which had occured in the 1911 Winter Season.  The other event that the Countess recalled was a Ball held for the King and Queen of Bulgaria [in which the Countess fell while dancing with her partner landing on top of her right in front of the King, causing a great deal of hilarity for the entire evening] which had occured not in 1914 but during the 1910 Winter Season.  Because of the series of Balkan Wars during which the King had played a bad part, he was something of a persona non grata at the Russian Court in 1914.   

Well thanks again for all the help Helen and Nena and all the wonderful insights Historyfan.  Just to say I have employed the services of a researcher for the identity of the author of My Empress who will begin his research into the John Lane Archive at the end of the current holiday.  So that is encouraging news and this way Janet won't have to look through those awful micro files. 

...I hope everyone is enjoying the day. 
 

Miechen...I do not like that woman!  Reminds me too much of people I used to work with, all sweety-nice to your face and then sending cuttingly sarcastic emails behind your back.  Good thing Miechen didn't have email. 

  Just to say I have employed the services of a researcher for the identity of the author of My Empress who will begin his research into the John Lane Archive at the end of the current holiday.  So that is encouraging news and this way Janet won't have to look through those awful micro files. 

I feel bad that you have had to employ a researcher to do this - I have been all over the place this last week or two - London, Leeds and Liverpool (which topically enough sounds like the words of that First World war song: "Take me back to dear old Blighty") and not had a chance to go anywhere near Manuscripts....and I fear I am away two weeks after this too! I am still following your wonderful thread when I can though!

Hi Janet,

Wow!!!  London, Leeds and Liverpool - sounds like a great travelogue chapter title!!!
Next, you can do the "M's" - Maidstone, Manchester and Marlborough.....

Larry

I feel bad that you have had to employ a researcher to do this - I have been all over the place this last week or two - London, Leeds and Liverpool (which topically enough sounds like the words of that First World war song: "Take me back to dear old Blighty") and not had a chance to go anywhere near Manuscripts....and I fear I am away two weeks after this too! I am still following your wonderful thread when I can though!

Janet, you are such a riot and have such a great sense of humour!!  I just love it!!  I PMed you about the latest news from Texas U and the John Lane Archive.  This particular theme is really fun and I am just about finished with the last two bits.  That last Winter Season was really quite amazingly modern.  I think the terrible war losses and then the dreadful choas from the social revolutions destroyed the modern impulse and advances to the point that by mid-century memory loss was so great that even Pathe Film Company had no idea that they had filmed the outdoor segments of the Tsar's Coronation in 1896.  I think someone found the film shortly after that had been lost in their archive.   

Well anyway I am just about to post the last part of our glimpse of Russia's social history during our period of study.  It helps me gain more context for the Empress' correspondence. 

Just to say, Janet be well and be safe and don't worry about the researcher and please don't think of even going near those manuscripts with all you are doing, as your theme-song, presently, has to be "It's a long way to Tipperary."   Griff
   

Hi Janet,

Wow!!!  London, Leeds and Liverpool - sounds like a great travelogue chapter title!!!
Next, you can do the "M's" - Maidstone, Manchester and Marlborough.....

Larry

Spot on Larry. 

Miechen...I do not like that woman!  Reminds me too much of people I used to work with, all sweety-nice to your face and then sending cuttingly sarcastic emails behind your back.  Good thing Miechen didn't have email.  

I couldn't agree more Historyfan.  The Grand Duchess Vladimir was capable of any intrigue if it suited her social and political ambitions.  I was doing a search for photos of her during 1914-1915 for my upcoming post on the Winter Season 1914 and her face had become so coarse and unrefined and it was not just her age, and there was something so hard and unforgiving about her face, that I decided not to use any of the photos.  I almost wanted to protect her as she had reached the age where she could no longer mask her character underneath her once beautiful features.  

Griffh

I really have no input on what you use as you are a genius in this thread, but I think that you should use the photos of Grand Duchess Vladimir.  If she had changed so much, and so much of her inner self is showing in those pictures, I think it would be interesting to see them and the changes.

Griffh

I really have no input on what you use as you are a genius in this thread, but I think that you should use the photos of Grand Duchess Vladimir.  If she had changed so much, and so much of her inner self is showing in those pictures, I think it would be interesting to see them and the changes.

You know Alixz first off you have a very important role with this thread and your imput is vital.  I totally agree with you as I have been putting the finishing touches on the posting.  I realized that I can't shield the Grand Duchess and it is important to see the changes she went through.  She actually looks like Catherine The Great, except Catherine managed to keep the illusion of a waist line.  I have included a painting of Meichen in her regimental uniform which I believe was painted around 1913 and I have then followed the idealistic painting with a photograph of Meichen in her palace hosting a dinner for her regiment which I also believe was around 1913. 

Thanks so much for your important observation and we all look forward to more imput.  I have been sitting here all day scanning pictures and uploading them on my Fotobucket account so I am a bit too tired to post today but I shall post first thing tomorrow.  Again Alixz thanks again for all you have done for this thread....Griff   

[LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914 ST. PETERSBURG]

I have tried very diligently to include photographs that were taken in the Teens and I believe that there are only two or three exceptions which were taken in 1908 or 1909.  In this manner I hope that I have conveyed an accurate picture of the sartorial modes and the festive spirit of the Winter Season of 1914.  I have had such a fun time putting this post together and hope that it will bring as much joy to others.

LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914  ST. PETERSBURG

DECEMBER 1913


•   The Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna’s Charity Bazaar, St. Petersburg, Early December 1913,    

According to Muriel Buchanan:

Officially the Russian season began with the big Bazaar, held by the Grand Duchess Vladimir just before Christmas, and from New Year’s Day until Lent there were balls nearly every night.  [Ref: Muriel Buchanan, Ambassador’s Daughter, (1958), p. 96]



Grand Duchess Vladimir in Regimental Dress, painting, St. Petersburg, 1913


Grand Duchess Vladimir, Regimental Dinner, Vladimir Palace, St. Petersburg, 1913


•    Former Court Ball Calendar

In Greg King’s extremely informative work, The Court of the Last Tsar, the author explains that beginning with the Winter Season of 1904 Court Balls had been suspended.  He then provides us with the Court schedule for the Opening of the Winger Season prior to 1904, stating that originally:

...a dozen imperial balls were given, and the guest list changed with each occasion, allowing most of St. Petersburg society to attend at least one.  Although, in theory, the guest lists were the sole domain of the empress, the man who held the real power was the minister of the imperial court, Count Vladimir de Freedericksz, and St. Petersburg society stood in awe of him, fearful of alienating the source of imperial favor.  By the time of the Grand Duchess Vladimir’s Charity Bazaar a fortnight before Christmas, arrangements for the imperial balls were being finalized...

The Nicholas Ball was the first event of the season, unusually held on January 10 or 11.  Only people in the first four levels of the Table of Ranks possessed the right of attendance.  The guest list, drawn up by Count de Freedericksz, included members of the court, government ministers, senators, members of the State Council, and representatives of the provincial nobility, who could be accompanied by their wives and unmarried daughters only if the women had already been presented to the empress.  Members of the Diplomatic Corps and their families also received invitations.  Foreign visitors of distinguished birth could sometimes secure an invitation by applying in person to the grand marshal of the imperial court.  Typically, between five and eight thousand guests would attend.

Representatives from the various guards regiments also received invitations.  The grand marshal requested a number of officers from each regiment, who were selected by lottery.  Before the ball, their commander instructed, “It is not an amusement.  You must not think about having a good time.  You are detached on duty, and you will be busy to keep them amused.  You are strictly forbidden to keep in a compact group...scatter, scatter!”  Officers sent to imperial balls were forbidden to drink, to avoid any hint of alcohol on their breath.  [Ref: Greg King, , The Court of the Last Tsar, (2006), pp. 405-406]



Jordan Staircase, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

    
 King continues to explain:

Over the next six weeks, the brilliant rooms of the Winter Palace were regularly filled with thousands of guests.  “Invitations to t he other Court balls followed immediately after [the January 10 Nicholas Ball],” noted one diplomatic wife, “decreasing in size and increasing in importance, and one’s position could be easily ascertained by knowing which of these balls they attended.”  Three Concert Balls followed the Nicholas Ball, to which up to eight hundred guests received invitations.  These were always held in the Concert Hall, followed by an elaborate sit-down dinner in the adjoining Nicholas Hall, during which the guests were serenaded with selections performed by the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra...

During any season, five or six Hermitage Balls might be given as January slipped into February.  Limited to a thousand  guests each, these exclusive balls took place in elaborate rooms hung with Catherine the Great’s priceless collection of paintings and decorated with Siberian marble...The evening’s entertainment began with a single act from an opera, performance in the Hermitage Theater by members of the Bolshoi or Mariinsky Company, followed by a short theatrical, and finally a ballet...A ball, held in one of the Hermitage Galleries, was followed by a midnight supper in an adjoining hall.  Dancing continued until two in the morning when, by tradition, a final polonaise signaled the end of the evening.

The most exclusive of all imperial entertainments was the Palm Ball, given at the end of the Season.  Only five hundred guest received invitations, and competition among St. Petersburg’s aristocracy ran high for this sign of imperial favor.  After the usual polonaise and round of waltzes, guests at the Palm Ball moved into the Nicholas Hall for supper.  Tubs held palm trees, brought from the imperial conservatories, and were ringed by circular tables for twelve covered with white damask embroidered with double-headed eagles and the emperor’s monogram.   [Ref: Greg King, , The Court of the Last Tsar, (2006), pp. 413-414]

[LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914 ST. PETERSBURG]

LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914  ST. PETERSBURG

•    Former Court Ball Calendar continued


Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, who attended the Opening of the Winter Season in 1902, along with her close friend, Milly, Duchess of Sutherland, had been invited to three Court Balls including the elite Palm Ball [ Bal des Palmiers].  

The American born Duchess tells us:

At the more select Bal des Palmiers, so named because of the palms around which the supper tables were built, I had a chance to talk with the Czar.  Count Mensdorff, who had been told that I was to be the Emperor’s supper companion, bade me wear my prettiest dress and seemed satisfied when I appeared in blue satin with the turquoise dog collar to match.  As one entertainment had succeeded another Milly Sutherland and I were somewhat chagrined to notice that Russian women had a parure of jewels [sets of necklace, bracelets, brooches, stomachers, and tiara fashioned from the same gem] to match each dress, so it was with some satisfaction that I could produce a blue necklace.  
The Bal des Palmiers was much smaller and seemed gayer and more intimate that the first court ball.  Flirting mildly with my cavaliers I awaited the moment of my meeting with the man in whose hands lay the fate of millions.

Supper was served to the Imperial family and the ambassadors on the dais.  The general company was seated at tables of eight.  At my right was a vacant seat which, so my escort whispered, was destined for the Czar who, with his staff, was making a tour of the room.  In a moment he was there and unobtrusively took his place.  My first reaction was to notice the extraordinary likeness that he bore to his cousin, the Prince of Wales, later George V.  He had the same kindly smile, half hidden by a beard, the same gentle blue eyes and a great simplicity of speech and manner.  I was also struck by his youthful appearance, for he was only thirty-two, having come to the throne at the age of twenty-six.  As he talked I began to realize the enormous difficulties he had to face.  There was the constant and increasing agitation for reforms that he contended could not be granted without danger.  When I asked him why he had hesitated to give Russia the democratic government that was so successful in England, he answered gravely, “There is nothing I would like better, but Russia is not ready for democratic government.  We are two hundred years behind Europe in the development of our national political institutions.    

...When he left me to return to the Empress he asked for my photograph and promised me his which I duly received.  I never saw him again, but I am firmly convinced that he was fundamentally good; that it was his desire to make his people happy...  [Ref: Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold, (1952),  pp. 157-159]

I wanted to include one more memory of the Duchess of Marlborough’s stay in Russia during the Winter Season of 1902 as it bears somewhat on our sartorial theme.  One is reminded of the importance attached to such an seemingly insignificant thing as the color choice of a gown worn to a social event.  

The Duchess recalled that:

The Austrian Ambassador, Freiherr Alois Lexa von Aehrehthal, a typically suave and polished diplomat, also gave a dinner in our honor at which he greeted the English duchesses, by expressing his thanks for the compliment we were paying his country in wearing the Austrian national colors.  It was only then that we observed that the Duchess of Sutherland’s black satin and my yellow velvet did in fact represent the Austrian colors, and I realized that diplomats sometimes read more than is meant into a fortuitous circumstance.   [Ref: Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold, (1952),  pp. 155-156]  



Leonardo Room, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg


•    The Empress’ future plans for Her Daughters

Miss Buchanan states:

In the winter of 1913-1914...by then the Emperor’s daughters Olga and Tatiana Nicholaievna were aged respectively eighteen and seventeen, and it was time, people said, that balls and entertainments should be given for them...Why were they never seen, except at Te Deums, or Reviews, or on some State occasion.

But the Empress was already making plans for entertainments to be given during the following season and was discussing with certain intimate friends the impossibility of including the whole of society at one big ball [the traditional Nicholas Ball] to which the members of the Duma and their wives would have to be invited.  She was arranging to give several smaller balls, and concerts, and perhaps some informal dances as well.  [Ref: Muriel Buchanan, Queen Victoria’s Relations, (1954),  p. 212]



The Imperial Daughters, 1915

[LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914 ST. PETERSBURG]

LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914  ST. PETERSBURG

JANUARY 1914


•   The Imperial Itinerary: Winter Season, St. Petersburg, 1914

Baroness Buxhoeveden tells us that the Imperial Family:

...stayed only a short time at Tsarskoe Selo in the winter of 1913-1914.  They returned from the Crimea on January 3rd, 1914, and left again for Livadia on April 5th, 1914.  [Ref: Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, The  Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia, (1930), p. 181]


•   The Black and White Ball  Countess Schouvalov,  St. Petersburg,  January 1914

Muriel Buchanan states:

Every year there were also a few balls to which everybody was invited, those given by Countess Betsy Shouvaloff being perhaps the most magnificent.  A widow with an enormous fortune, she owned the Shouvaloff Palace with its beautiful marble staircase, its series of huge reception rooms, and its private stage.  [Ref: Muriel Buchanan, Ambassador’s Daughter, (1958), p. 97]

Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough recalled that it was not until she was invited to Countess Schouvalov’s:

...great palace, with its private theatre and endless reception rooms, and were entertained by the Orloffs and Belosolskys that we penetrated into Russian houses.  However, these families were, in fact, cosmopolitan rather than Slav.  [Ref: Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan, The Glitter and the Gold, (1952),  p. 156]   

And as we know, having a Black and White Ball in the Teens was a very cosmopolitan thing to do.  I had spent some time in a previous post on the fascination the Teens had with geometric black and white patterns and below are a few more examples. 



French Society women at Races, Auteuil, 1912 © Jacques Henri Lartigue, Diary Of A Century, (1970). 


Lucile, Evening Gown of white duchesse satin and black velvet, 1914 


Fashion Illustration of Poriet’s “Lampshade Gown,” Gazette du Bon Ton, 1914


All the society ladies that attended Countess Schouvalov’s Ball:

...had to be dressed in either black or white, or in a combination of the two.  All the flowers for the cotillion were pure white, and the other items, such as scarves, tulle bows, etc., were in black and white.  The whole of Petrograd society was at the ball—over six hundred guests.  The members of foreign diplomatic corps were present, several members of the Imperial Family graced the occasion by their presence, but the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna senior had not been invited, and no one of her particular set dared to appear.  [Ref: anonymous, Russian Court Memoirs, 1914-16, (1917), p. 262]



Countess Schouvaloff in her magnificent diamonds, and wearing a square-cut décolleté evening gown with draped over bodice of
spangled black Point d'Espirit lace. Black and White Ball,  January 1914 St. Petersburg
 

[detail]   Square-cut décolleté Redfern evening gown with draped over bodice of spangled lace. Gazette du Bon Ton, 1914, Paris


•   Grand Duchess’ Ball, The Empress Dowager, Anitchkov Palace, St. Petersburg, January 13, 1914

Coryne Hall states that the Winter Season of 1914 was especially brilliant as a:

...glittering series of parties and dances were given but the social event of the Season was undoubtedly the ball give by the Dowager Empress for her granddaughters Olga and Tatiana.  This was the first ball she had given for twenty years and the last ever held at Anitchkov.  The two girls danced until four-thirty in the morning.  [Ref: Coryne Hall, Little Mother of Russia, (2001),  p. 247] 



The Empress Dowager, Anitchkov Palace, St. Petersburg, 1908 


The Grand Duchess Olga and her sister, the Grand Duchess Tatiana, 1914.


Baroness Buxhoeveden explains that: 

During the winter the Empress was present at a ball that the Dowager-Empress gave at her Antichkoff palace in honour of her granddaughters.  This was the event of the season, and was one of the few public appearances that the Empress made with her daughters.  The Emperor took them to the theater and to one of two afternoon dances; and at the Antichkoff  ball he had to stay till 4.30 in the morning (the Empress Alexandra had gone home at midnight), as the Grand Duchesses refused to be torn away any earlier.  When we were all having a cup of tea in the train that took us back to Tsarskoe Selo, I said to the Emperor that I was glad that Her Majesty had no receptions before luncheon, which would have meant early rising for me.  “Yes,” he said, “you can sleep.  As for me, I have X. at 9.30, and as I did no work to-night I must look through some reports from the Ministers before that.  So I shall have to get up at 7!”  Every late outing with his daughters meant so many hours taken from his rest.  It is not surprising that the Grand Duchesses were taken to very few balls by their father!  [Ref: Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, The  Life & Tragedy of Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia, (1930), p. 181]

[LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914 ST. PETERSBURG]

LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914  ST. PETERSBURG

•   Grand Duchess Vladimir’s Dance for Olga and Tatiana, January 16, 1914

Muriel Buchanan briefly refers to this dance by telling us that:

Early in the season the Grand Duchess Vladimir gave a dance for the two eldest daughters of the Emperor...  [Ref: Muriel Buchanan, Ambassador’s Daughter, (1958), p. 116]



The Grand Duchess Vladimir, in mourning for her husband, 1909, St. Petersburg


Helen stated that:

As regards Miechen's ball, the Emperor wrote that he went to Miechen's with all of his daughters, and that Maria and Anastasia returned to Tsarskoe Selo after dinner at Aunt Olga's, whereas the Emperor himself and Olga and Tatiana stayed in town and went to the theatre to see "Spyashaya Krasavitsa" (Sleeping Beauty).


•   Grand Duchess Kyrill’s Entertainments for Empress’ young cousin, Prince Alexander Battenberg, St. Petersburg, Winter Season, 1914

In recalling the visit of the Empress’ young cousin, Alexander Battenberg, Princess Cantacuzène, who was just out of mourning, recalled that:

I had meant to continue in the quiet habits of life which I had formed during my two years of mourning, but St. Petersburg’s celebrations for our set continued for some time around Prince Alexander of Battenberg, who came out to stay with the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Kyril.  Perforce entertainments given to amuse this guest, whom we had all known and liked during a previous visit, drew us back to the ways of youth again. Fête followed fête, and the season culminated in a carnival week such as St. Petersburg had not seen since before the Japanese War.  We enjoyed it and forgot to be old.  [Ref: Princess Cantacuzène Countess Spéransky née Grant, My Life Here and There, (1921), p. 319]



Prince Alexander Battenberg, the Empress’ young cousin in regimental dress, circa 1914, England


Grand Duchess Victoria Melita in a Fortuny (?) gold stenciled velvet reception gown, St. Petersburg, circa 1913


Detail, Fortuny stenciled velvet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC


•   Countess Nostitz Winter Ball,  St. Petersburg , January 1914
   
Countess Nostitz tells us:

In the January of 1914, Gricha and I gave a big dinner in honor of the Grand Duchess Wladimir, followed by a ball at our house in Petersburg, and as an innovation I organized a performance of character dances by several young people in society.  One feature was an Italian “tartanella” danced by Countess Mimi Ignatieff with Prince Constantin, the son of the Grand Duke Constantin...

Marianne, Countess Zarnekau, a daughter of the Princess Paley, was a lovely “Carmencita” in Spanish dress.  But the success of the evening was Miss Meriel Buchanan, the daughter of the English Ambassador, who danced exquisitely the “Valse Triste” of the Finnish composer Sibelius.  She was a very ethereal, blond beauty, tall and willowy.  She was dressed in gray satin and mauve diaphanous veils which she manipulated in an expert manner à la Loie Fuller.  My friend, the Duke Alexander of Leuchenberg [step son of the Grand Duchess Anastasia by her first marriage], who stood near me during the dance, found her so enchanting that he said: “I feel as if I could throw myself at her feet and ask her to be my wife.”  To make Muriel happy, I had the imprudence to repeat this to her.  The consequence was that she, already attracted to him, fell violently in love.   [Ref: Countess Nostitz, The Countess from Iowa, (1936) p. 141]



Prince Konstantin, St. Petersburg, 1914


Princess Nataliia Kleinmichel and partner, “Character Dance,” St. Petersburg


The anonymous author of Russian Court Memoirs, 1914-16, explains:

The Countess was the first hostess in Petrograd to introduce at her parties character dances performed by society ladies...she had several such entertainments, one of them specially devoted to “Furlana,” which found such favour in the eyes of the late Pope Pius X.  An Italian from Venice, a master in this art of graceful national dancing, was invited to show the assembled ladies and gentlemen the intricacies of the step.  The Countess Nostitz is a very handsome woman with a queenly figure and very graceful movements.  She is always beautifully gowned.  One of the most sympathetic traits in her character is her amiability, which is not artificial or put on for the occasion, but is the outcome of real kind-heartedness and the wish to please and give pleasure.  She is staunch in her friendships and counts many sincere Russian friends.  [Ref: anonymous, Russian Court Memoirs, 1914-16, (1917), pp. 294-295]
   

[LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914 ST. PETERSBURG]

LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914  ST. PETERSBURG

•   •   The Grand Duchess Olga’s informal entertainments for Her Nieces, Winter Season 1914, St. Petersburg [/b]


Ian Vorres, biographer of the Imperial children’s Aunt Olga, stated that:

Beginning with the end of 1906, every Sunday in the winter meant a day with Tyotya Olga, who spent the Saturday night at Tsarskoe Selo.  In the morning, four excited girls and their equally excited aunt boarded the train for St. Petersburg.  There they had first to go to Anitchkov Palace for an early lunch with their grandmother, the Dowager Empress.  For a couple of hours, the Grand Duchesses, even the otherwise irrepressible Anastasia, looked and behaved in the manner becoming to their rank.  They were so prim that their aunt could hardly recognize them.

“Those luncheons were most irksomely formal.  Fortunately it would all be over in a couple of hours, and weren’t we relieved to leave the Anitchkov!”

The glory of the day broke upon the young people once they were under their aunt’s roof.  Tea was followed by games and dancing, the Grand Duchess having collected quite a number of equally youthful “eligibles” to share her nieces’ fun. 

“Intoxicating drinks, of course, were never served—even for the grown-ups in the party.  In those days gaiety did not depend on vodka or cocktails.  I remember the girls enjoyed every minute of it—especially my dear god-daughter [Anastasia].  Why, I can still hear her laughter rippling all over the room.  Dancing, music, games—she threw herself wholeheartedly into them all...”

At about ten in the evening one of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting came to fetch the girls and take them back to Tsarskoe Selo.  [Ref: Ian Vorres, The Last Grand Duchess, (1964), p. 105]



The Grand Duchess Olga, [Aunt Olga], 1914, Oldenburg Palace, St. Petersburg 


Helen states that the Tsar noted in his diary during the Winter Season of 1914, that:

...he took Olga & Tatiana to town to the theatre or that the girls spent the afternoon and/or evening with their Aunt Olga several times, though, for example on 19 January, 24 January, 26 January, 29 January...

Though the Empress Dowager used those Sunday luncheons at Anitchkov Palace as social training sessions for her Imperial granddaughters, there was nothing staid about her behaviour on her semi-annual visits to the French Rivera.  Minnie’s son-in-law, the Grand Duke Alexander who had become a habitué of the Rivera’s Café Society from 1906-1914, expressed his concern that the Empress Dowager would be offended the social set he ran with. 

The Grand Duke relates:

Our friends wondered whether she would deign to accept their company but I do not think even King Edward could have outdone my mother-in-law in willingness to participate in a bit of fun.  Although I caller her “mother” and was well aware of her age, I considered her as my pal and associate when it came to going out to a party or to arranging a party.  [Ref: Alexander Grand Duke of Russia, Once A Grand Duke, (1932), p. 234]
 


Imperial Daughters, 1915 (?)


Opera Star, Geraldine Ferrar’s fashion choices for young women, 1914


FEBRUARY 1914


•   Countess Schouvalov’s The Pastel Wig Ball,  Winter Season, 1914 St. Petersburg

The anonymous author of Russian Court Memoirs, 1914-16, tells that Countess Schouvalov’s:

...second ball was even more brilliant than the first, though the guests were less numerous they were more select.  All the ladies were in coloured wigs—it was the first introduction in Petrograd of this new fashion, and the effect created was marvelous.

The Schouvalov mansion was graced by numerous members of the Imperial Family, eager to witness the novel sight of elegant women in evening attire wearing their hair in all the colours of the rainbow.  The Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna was not present—the Countess had omitted to invite her.  [Ref: anonymous, Russian Court Memoirs, 1914-16, (1917), p. 262]

Somewhere hiding from me is a photograph taken during the Countess’ Pastel Wig Ball but I cannot find it for the life of me.  It might be in Prince Sergei Obolensky’s memoirs but I am not sure [it wasn’t as I just found his memoir among my millions of boxes.]

I found out quite by accident the other night that Lady Duff Gordon created the fashion rage for pastel wigs.  The couturier relates that shortly after opening her Paris branch of Maision Lucile , she launched:

...a folly, an extravagance in keeping with all the extravagances and exaggerations of the pre-War Paris basking in the sunshine of its last few seasons of brilliance, was the fashion of wearing colored wigs.  Every smart woman wanted one of these têtes de couleurs, as they are called, to wear in the evening.  It was a queer, exotic caprice of mine, but it caught on.  The wigs matched the dresses, a rose pink with a dress of deeper pink, a jade green with a dress of emerald.  The colored heads bobbing about a dance floor made it look like a flower garden, but it was a charming fashion for those it suited.  [Ref: Lady Duff Gordon, Discretions and Indiscretions, (1932), p. 214]   



Lord and Lady Duff Gordon, Garden of Elsie de Wolf (Lady Mendl), Villa Trianon at Versailles, 1913


I am always taken by surprise remembering how small this international social set was, as Lady Duff Gordon goes on to tell us that it was the Empress’ young cousin, Prince Alexander Battenberg, who:

...gave me the idea of going over to Paris and opening a branch there, to challenge the French dressmakers on their own field.  The Prince (it was in the days before the War, and consequently before he took the title of Lord Carisbrooke) was a frequent visitor to the house which Cosmo and I had taken in Lennox Gardens.  He was a very simple and lovable person, as he is now, and had a great dislike for formalities.  He generally came to supper every Sunday night, “to take potluck” with us, and he used to be quite annoyed if we made any special preparation for him.  [Ref: Lady Duff Gordon, Discretions and Indiscretions, (1932), p. 214]   



Prince Alexander Battenberg, the Empress’ young cousin, informal attire, circa 1912, England

 
I would never have ever connected Prince Alexander Battenberg with Lady Duff Gordon or that it was he who encouraged her to open a branch of her couture house in Paris that led to this fashion craze for pastel wigs and matching evening gowns, which in turn lead to the theme of Countess Schouvalov’s second Ball during the Winter Season of 1914. Though such connections appear superficial, still they point to the international flavor of Russia’s Court Society, and the international cosmopolitan atmosphere of that period.  Again it is helpful to be able to see Russia’s social history just prior to the War; culturally so far in advance of its own future.       

[LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914 ST. PETERSBURG]

LA SAISON D'HIVER 1914  ST. PETERSBURG

•    Countess Kleinmichel’s  Fancy Dress Ball Carnival Week, February 7, 1914 St. Petersburg  

If Countess Schouvalov’s Pastel Wig Ball was endowed with a modern international flair, the Persian Quadrille headed by the Grand Duke Boris and the Grand Duchess Kyrill at Countess Kleinmichel’s Fancy Dress Ball can only be described as global-chic.  

Without doubt the Countess Kleinmichel had used the famous ‘1002d Night’ or Persian Celebration. of the French Couturier, Paul Poiret, as the inspiration for her Persian Quadrille, and had employed the perfect individual, the ever fashionable Grand Duchess Kyrill, to make it a success.  

Before we explore the Persian Quadrille for Countess Kleinmichel’s Fancy Dress Ball, lets us review the source of it’s inspiration, Poiret’s ‘1002d Night’ or Persian Celebration.

Poiret’s biographer, Palmer White tells us:

In June 1911 Poiret gave his most outstanding party yet, the ‘1002d Night’ or ‘Persian Celebration’, to publicize his Oriental ideas.  The 300 guests were invited to come dressed as ancient Persians, and, in case they happened to or not, Poiret prepared a supply of costumes for them to choose from.  Upon arriving, they were conducted by bare-chested blacks wearing silk trousers and holding torches.  As the Sultan, Poiret received them on a green and gold throne...



Paul and Denise Poiret, ‘1002n Night,’ Persian Celebration June 24, 1911 Paris


Mme. Poiret in original ‘Lampshade Gown,’ ‘1002n Night,’ Persian Celebration June 24, 1911 Paris


Palmer White continues to explain that at his Persian Celebration, Poiret’s:

...‘favorite’, Madame Poiret, was confined to a huge gold cage along with several lovely attendants.  When the guests had all assembled, the Sultan flung open the door to the cage and released his favorite, wearing harem pantaloons beneath a short hoop skirt that swayed like the corolla of a poppy as she moved.  The day after the party, women were asking for copies of it, and Poiret developed it into the ‘lampshade tunic.’  



Fashion Illustration of Poiret’s “Lampshade Tunic,” Georges Lapape, Gazette du Bon Ton, September, 1913  

...The ‘lampshade tunic’ was not the only fashion point made that night.  The party was also intended to condition Poiret’s customers to a style he had launched in his January collection and was intending to repeat in August...the ‘pantaloon gown,’ also referred to as the ‘harem skirt’ and the ‘trouser skirt’, an ankle-length pantaloon under a half-or quarter-length tunic.  In one version the pantaloons gathered at the ankles and billowed into large puffs.  In a second, falling straight, it resembled men’s trousers, even to having cuffs.  The third was looped between the legs.  Some tunics were only slit just enough to show the hems of the pantaloons.  Others were opened high each side to show the whole of the pantaloons.  Poiret worked with satins and light, softly colored silks, anticipating the trousers and lounging pajamas of the ‘thirties.’  The pantaloons freed women to walk again and run allowed a fashionable lady to indulge her new passion, dancing the tango.  



French Society Lady wearing Tunic with pantaloons, Paris, 1912 © Jacques Henri Lartigue, Diary Of A Century, (1970).  


The first appearance in public was at the Auteuil Race Track where Poiret escorted his mannequins.  Many onlookers, scandalized and infuriated [by seeing women in pantaloons, or as they perceived, men’s pants], threatened to forcibly remove the girls.  In a comic scene, the girls became frightened and fled before furious women who, fettered by the same couturier’s hobble skirts, could only scuttle or hop after them...When a year later, on 22 July 1912, Poiret showed a collection featuring pantaloon gowns again, he noted orders for over a million francs before the day was out, and in the next five months received orders exceeding twelve million francs.  No other couturier had ever achieved such a record.  [Ref: Palmer White, Poiret, (1973), pp. 86-93]  

Having reviewed Poiret’s Persian innovations and their impact on fashion we can understand how Countess Kleinmichel’s Persian Quadrille made her Fancy Dress Ball extremely au courant , allowing many women in the name of fancy dress to wear such innovative modes as harem pants that they might not have been allowed to wear otherwise.            

Muriel Buchanan recalled that:

...the biggest event of the season was the fancy-dress ball given by Countess Kleinmichel, with several set quadrilles in the costumes of different periods, the most spectacular being the Persian Quadrille led by the Grand Duchess Cyril and the Grand Duke Boris.  Only young married women had been invited to take part in this, but the Grand Duchess Cyril insisted that I should be included, and as Alexander [Stana’s stepson] was also taking part, and the rehearsals at Princess Orloff’s palace were generally followed by a supper and dancing, my mother could no longer object to my meeting him.  Most of the women and some of the men, Alexander included, had their costumes designed by Bakst, and the colouring and grouping of the Persian Quadrille were so much admired that we were asked to repeat it a few days later at the Palace of the Grand Duchess Vladimir, the Dowager Empress and the Emperor’s two eldest daughters being invited to watch.  Unable to afford the richness of the other women’s costumes, with their wealth of colour and blaze of jewels, my mother had rather cleverly decided that I should be dressed all in white and silver, and Bakst himself, watching me pass with Alexander, in his gorgeous gold and scarlet tunic, complimented her on her choice, pleasing her so much that she forgot to be angry with me for dancing so often with a man she had forbidden me to meet.  [Ref: Muriel Buchanan, Ambassador’s Daughter, (1958), p. 116-117]



Miss Muriel Buchanan, nicknamed Fluffy Ruffles by Grand Duke Alexander, 1908


Prince Alexander Leuchtenberg, St. Petersburg, 1914