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

[Steph]

 

I don't know if it was the same in Russia by the time of Felix's birth but in France and most European countries, boys were dressed as girls until their 3rd birthday.  Unfornately, I don't possess the picture showing LouisXIV and his descendants but the young duke of Brittany, elder brother of Louis XV is shown wearing a dress and so is the Prince Imperial son of Napoleon III.

It was not considered either ridiculous or ambigous at those times.

[Lisa]

most of them are at the Hermitage complex museum...

[Lisa]

Personnaly, I can see Olga in rose, Tatiana in yellow, Maria in mauve and Anastasia in blue-violet...

[Cambria_Coheed]

Thanks for all the pictures...I wanted to make my little neice a dress like one of those so now i can thanks again soooooo much!

[Annie]

I think it was a tradition in Victorian times and right up until WWI all through Europe. There are pics of Alexei in dresses and ruffles!

In the case of Felix, he said in his memoirs that his mother had hoped for a girl, already having had 3 sons (Nikolai and 2 who had not survived ) She was so sure she was having a daughter she bought all kinds of fancy girls' clothes and shoes to have on hand, and when she had a boy (Felix called it 'my mother's disappointment) she dressed him as a girl anyway until he was 5. He said he didn't mind, he yelled out 'isn't baby pretty!' to those who saw him dressed up in his carriage! Was this the beginning of his love for cross dressing? I wonder what she thought of his dressing in ladies' clothes when he was older! His brother and his girlfriend loved dressing him up, saying he made a pretty girl!

[La_Mashka]

Ok Lisa

Do you know if the fabrics receive any treatment? or are kept under certain humidity and temperature conditions?

[lostfan]

Are there photos of the little dresses that OTMA & Alexei would wear? There is a series of phtos they did in those dresses, they're the ones with the little sashes on the arms.

Like the one in this picture, from the MN thread: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v477/MMPC/zzzm1902.jpg

[otmafan]

I don't think those dresses are the ones pictured above. They are their summer dresses, not from the 1906 series.

[ashanti01]

I think Felix later said his mother's caprice was to have a lasting effect on his character. Perhaps it did.

[Ortino]

They're completely different dresses. The ones shown above are summer dresses.

[casketkitten]

You know, I look at these dresses and once more I am amazed that the same people who took such great lengths to kill an entire family also took such great care in preserving their effects!  

[Lisa]

The fabric is the MOST FRAGILE thing you could preserve in museums. The ideals conditions are about 50% of humidity and 18-20° C. I suppose the Hermiatge have special reserves for its costumes. The ideal is to preserve them lying flat in  large drawers, in the dark (to presrve the colors).You can  pad them a little with some neutral paper without chlorine: it's  against the folds .The folds break literaly the fabric.
Of course some chimical treatments or sewing restoration could be done, but it depends of the museum views. Generally, museum try to avoid most of "big" operations.

[lostfan]

You know, I look at these dresses and once more I am amazed that the same people who took such great lengths to kill an entire family also took such great care in preserving their effects!  

I agree, although I think the Communists preserved them so well because after the Revolution, they opened Ts. S. to visitors to show the people how well the Romanovs lived while their people were starving and homeless.

BTW, I meant are there photos of those dresses for real? Like the one in the picture of Maria, have they been preserved and are there photos of them, or are they on display anywhere? In lots of the photos of the children when they were young, they seemed to be wearing those dresses.

[clockworkgirl21]

I think it was a bit terrible for Nikolai and Aleksandra to dress their children so nice while others didn't have food. But OTMAA really didn't have anything to do with it. Well, preserving the clothes was one good thing the Communists did after the revolution.  :-/

[glitterbuggybye]

i agree it was extremely sad to think of all those kids dieing while they were living it up but what else would they wear?