Boudoir – Haute Couture with Russian Empresses


Welcome to Boudoir (which is late by one day thanks to my lazyness).

As the gala-season is coming, I was thinking about presenting the dresses worn by actresses and other celebrities at awards ceremonies, but instead of this I rather have a look around in the wardrobe of Empresses Mariya and Alexandra Fyodorovna of Russia.


Both ladies had a great sense in fashion – of course, they had different styles and preferences. Empress Mariya Fyodorovna was a relatively small woman. Ancient rule, that if not your tallness, then the vivid colours and grandiouse patterns will catch the crowd’s attention. Therefore Empress Mariya’s gowns often operated with vivid colours and beautiful, dominant patterns. She followed the Parisian fashion and most of her dresses were made in France or by French tailors. Her most beautiful gowns were designed by the House of Worth. The founder of the House was Charles Frederick Worth, the father of the Haute Couture and who also worked for Empress Eugenie of France and Empress-Queen Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary. The Russian Brisac also created gowns for her and for Empress Alexandra as well.


Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, quite the contrary, was a tall and elegant lady and, on top of that, extremly shy, so she could afford herself to wear less glaring colours. Usually her dresses were pastel and since she was fond of Art Nouveau, the patterns often followed the Art Nouveau-style as they were floral ornaments. In private, the Empress liked to wear loose, comfortable and simple clothes – in fact, she was not that interested in fashion, but because she was an empress, she had to be stylish and elegant. Her opinion on dresses and specially on the neckline was rather conservative; she did not wear low-necked pieces. One of her designer was the young and talented Russian Nadezhda Lamanova.

by Alla

Links:
·         The Alexander Palace Forums

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