The curved diamond ornaments on the kokoschnik are very similar to a suite of dress ornaments that had belonged to Empress Catherine - I wonder if they are the same ones?
it's possible. i keep thinking i've seen them before on one of the long ribbons that grand duchesses wore down the front of their court gowns. i mean, the ornaments look like decorative buttons, don't they? and,
i think[/i], when ladies wore a cloth (stiff felt?) kokoshnik, it was pretty common for them to use very grand buttons or button-type pins to decorate them. it would have been possible for Ella to borrow them from the treasury, wouldn't it?
maybe someone knows for sure?
and yes, i do think it was used as a sort of hat-pin to secure her veil. but who knows, maybe it was a liitle 'token' given to her by Serge, or her sister or something like that.....