Imperial Women's, Men's and Children's Clothing & Accessories #1

[Annie]

Practice, Practice and Practice again.

How could the knights wear the 50kg iron armours?
Ladies in 18th ciecle were in more difficult position: their jupes reached 6 meters sometimes.

This reminds me of when we toured Boone Hall plantation and the guide pointed out that the doors of the mens' studies and gambling areas were very narrow- so that no women (who in those days wore the large hoop skirts) couldn't have fit through!   Of course, I suppose if they didn't have any dress on they didn't mind

[moonlight_tsarina]

Lol, nice Annie#2! hehe
That's funny i also went to a historic village like that,and they had an original hoopskirt hanging on the wall, and it took up the entire space!  

[Arleen_Ristau]

Sorry off subject but:  Boone Hall in Charleston??  That is to my way of feeling is the lovliest town in the South. (even tho I lived in Savannah for a while) I have often dreamed of JUST ONCE going to a real ball with one of THOSE dresses on and dancing the night away.  Like Marie the Dowager Empress wrote in her diary..."I danced and danced and just gave myself up to it" when she was in her late 40ties.          ..Arleen

[hikaru]

When I went to the real ball , all of us realized at that moment  that our dresses and jewels are OK but nobody can dance waltz etc. So the dancing place was empty. It was real tragedy!
(It was New Year Eve in Mariinsky)
I recommend all of you , if you have chance to do it ( it is not so expensive) please come to Petersburg and go to the ball in Mariinsky Theater or Yusupov Palace on New Year Eve.

[ashanti01]

Thank you for the beautiful photos. Indeed, many of these I had never seen such as the one with Victoria Melita.

Please post any other photos you may have.

Here is a question: I noticed some families that made up the Russian Court weared these gowns for "official" purposes but did they wear them for weddings too?

[PucknDC]

  Can you just imagine walking into a ballroom with a sea of these dresses under candle light?? it must have been breathtaking, and any pictures we have probably don't compare toi actually seeing it!! I guess this is just one more example of why we all find pre-revolutionary Russia so fascinating....completely unique!

[lostfan]

I was going to put this in the Alexei thread, but I think it might refer to the Imperial Family on a whole. I was watching the Lost Prince and I noticed the little boy who played Young Alexei wore the type of sailor suit I usually connected with the British royal family's children (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/queenscover/royalty/GDA.jpg). In all the photos I've seen of Alexei wearing a sailor suit, his is usually a different style (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/queenscover/royalty/nicky_alexei1912.gif)

I was looking through photos of Sandro and Xenia's sons and I noticed that they sometimes wore the "British" style sailor suits, and other times wore the "Russian" style. I've also seen a picture with Marie Feodorovna and her children where Nicholas and George wear the "Russian" style, while Michael is wearing the "British" style. Did the Russian Navy have two different types of sailor suit, or was it a fashion thing, or is there some other reason?

[RissiaSunbeam1918]

I read on this one website that it was more of an english or german style, and not as much about russian, and that Alexandra had him wear them. I was also wondering this, so I'm glad you brought it up. I was also wondering, did he like them? I imagine he was a bit neutral, but does anyone know for sure?

[RealAnastasia]

 I don't know what to think about it, for sailor suits were common all over the West World in those times. I live in Argentina, and my grandpa and great-grandpa, all two of them appears in old family snapshots wearing them. In the 1880-1940's years, however, high and middle class Argentine people, used to wear english-type clothes. Perhaps, sailors suit are an England outfit.Nevertheless, I saw many French boys photos where they were wearing sailors suits. This is true also for German boys.

  And you may notice this in the girls, too. Sailor suits are common to them too, but only with skirts inestead of trousers.

             RealAnastasia

[etonexile]

I think it was about the tastes of upper class mothers and nannies....I have some super pics of a great uncle wearing an Italian sailor suit in the early 20th century....He was also dressed in kilts when they traveled to Scotland....

[nerdycool]

It was fashionable back then, as well as functional. Functional because they were dressy and classy enough to be photographed in, and sturdy enough to be used as play clothes. As for the styles, I think for royals, it was more of a replication of their navy as to what style of suit they wore. For instance, there are pictures of OTMAA in sailor suits that have ties/sashes about the neck, and there are other pics of them wearing sailors suits without them (especially Alexei). I'm not totally sure, but I think the children generally wore what the sailors wore when on the Standart, and I think the ones with the sashes were considered dressier than the ones without (you wouldn't want that sash getting in your way while you try to do your job).

I had a random question that actually fits quite perfectly here re: sailor suits. How old were the girls when they stopped wearing them? I noticed that once Olga and Tatiana stopped wearing them, Maria and Anastasia did too...probably so they could still dress alike. I think the last pic I saw of one of the girls wearing one was of Tatiana when she was about 12-13. I'm not sure if they wore them after that since they weren't photographed.

[Annie]

I've always noticed that most any kid in latter Victorian-Edwardian times wore those, even kids of average means in the US.

From what I've seen of the royals in dated pics, the kids wore them up until age 16, when they got 'real' clothes.

[RealAnastasia]

Annie es right. 16 years old was the age where children were not children any more to become young men and young woman. It was the age for girls to start being part of the society, and to attend balls, social parties, etc...

  OTMA wore sailor suits in the "Standart", yes, but I noticed that Alexis wore also in Livadia and Tsarkoe Selo.

   And yes; average children wore sailor suits back then. I have photographies of my relatives (both, girls and boys) wearing them in the 1920-1930 and 1940's.

       Real Anatasia.

[DanielB]

Did the Russian Navy have two different types of sailor suit, or was it a fashion thing, or is there some other reason?

No, the Russian Navy didn’t have two different types of sailor suit. All sailors wore a dark blue middy blouse in winter and a white one in summer, but both had the same pattern (without a tie like the British). Uniforms for the Guards’ Equipage (which included crews of the imperial yachts) were slightly different than the « regular » Navy, but they basically looked alike.

Technically, no one was allowed to wear a Navy (or Army) uniform without being formally enrolled in a Navy crew or a regiment. But there seems to have been some exceptions for young members of the Imperial Family… as I have seen photos of young Michael Alexandrovich, Boris & André Vladimirovich wearing a uniform from the Naval Guards Equipage (which provided crews for the Imperial yachts).

Some young grand dukes were enrolled in the Guards Equipage at a very young age though, and were legally entitled to wear its uniform. For instance, Emperor Nicholas II was enrolled in the Guards Equipage at birth. George never was but he did actual service in the Navy, so I guess the picture you are refering to is from that time. Tsarevich Alexis was enrolled in the Guard Equipage on the day he was baptised and did wear their uniform from a very young age. I don’t recall having seen him in a « British » style uniform.

As for Sandro & Xenia’s sons, none of them were enrolled in the Navy (or Army) as young children (as they weren’t grand dukes but only princes of the Imperial Blood). But the older boys – if not all of them – were later enrolled in the Naval Cadet School, whose uniform looks pretty much like the Navy one, and some Mikhailovichi can indeed be seen on photos wearing it. Then again…the exception seems to apply, as I have seen a photo showing Feodor & André in their official Naval Cadet School uniform, Dimitri, Rostislav & Vassili in a « British-style » uniform...but young Nikita in a Russian Navy uniform (with a cap from the « Tamara » on which his father once served). So…go figure!

[Cambria_Coheed]

does anyone have any good pictures of the little dresses that the children wore when they were younger?