Tatiana's Physical Appearance

[Kalafrana]

The 'chest piece' (plastron) on uhlan uniforms was removeable, and not worn with certain orders of dress, in the same way that hussars did not always wear the pelisse).

Also, the ornament on officers' uniforms is often a different colour, or different shade of the same colour, from that on other ranks' uniforms. For instance, the officers of HM Life Guard Hussars had gold seam stripes on their breeches, while other ranks had yellow.

Ann

[blessOTMA]

So TN could of had a number of uniforms....with variations? The mistake is thinking what is behind a case today is what she was wearing in the photos we have  ....it's a variation...I don't see why she couldn't have a number of them .....and we have photos of one and have the actual uniform that is another.  Her   "chest piece " and cuffs was not yellow in the photos of her wearing her uniform . Also she had tasseled shoulder boards and today's uniform does not... just as the young man in the historical photo doesn't have them either .

[Sarushka]

The 'chest piece' (plastron) on uhlan uniforms was removeable, and not worn with certain orders of dress, in the same way that hussars did not always wear the pelisse).

Also, the ornament on officers' uniforms is often a different colour, or different shade of the same colour, from that on other ranks' uniforms. For instance, the officers of HM Life Guard Hussars had gold seam stripes on their breeches, while other ranks had yellow.

Makes me wonder how many she had, and under what circumstances each would be worn.

And of course this begs the question -- what color plastron and cuffs is TN wearing in the b&w photos?


Thanks, Ann.

[blessOTMA]

I would say black since they are clearly  darker than the navy

[Kalafrana]

A regiment in those days would have several different orders of dress for officers, with only minor differences between some of them. For instance, in the British Army you would have 'mess dress', worn with miniature medals, and 'mess undress', worn with miniature medal ribbons. In a recent biography of Marshal Mannerheim, there is a reference to his having to equip himself with no fewer than 14 different orders of dress on joining the Chevalier Guards.

Even in the modern British Army there are pitfalls. I was once told that my turnout in 'shirtsleeve order' was excellent, but that I was wearing the wrong size pips!

Ann

[blessOTMA]

So basically TN could have had uniforms she never had occasion to wear...but it would make sense to supply her with  every variation of course.
At least we no longer have to try and make  two different uniforms be one by  saying   b/w photography  makes yellow look dark! lol!

[Lochlanach]

I think we discussed it a lot of times. I've read she had an "Eastern exotic beauty", very Russian...But in fact, most of us noticed that she had a distinct ressemblance to her paternal Grandmother, the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II. Of course, she was not Russian, nor an exotic Eastern lady , but a German princess. She was born as Marie of Hesse , and if you look at hger closely, you'll see Tatiana's physical features on her.

RealAnastasia.

The girls had just 0.4 % Russian ancestry and around 98-99% German-Danish ancestry (mainly German). It would be highly improbable, if not impossible, for the girls to look  'Russian'.  I agree that if Tatiana looks like any relative it is her Danish grandmother, and she does have that highly 'Nordicised' look (which her sisters don't have) , and that accounts for her 'exotic' looks .Yet the subject of OTMA'S looks , and those of Tatiana in particular , are an area where common sense and logic appear to be jettisoned in favour of the romance , exoticism , mysticism and sense of 'otherness' that revolves around the Romanov story. Describing them as Germanic looking doesn't fit this narrative ; describing them as 'Slavic' , 'Asiatic', etc,  does.  A reading of Helen Rappaports descriptions of  OTMA's appearance in 'Ekaterinburg' and 'Four Sisters' is  disappointing in this respect , as surely we ought to be de-mythologizing the Romanovs  as much as we can - goodness knows there are enough myths surrounding the family already.