Boudoir – Winter fashion with empresses and queens

It’s December, winter and that’s time for snow – and winter fashion! After this lazy week, welcome to Boudoir! Today Queens, Empresses and Princesses from the 19th century will present their sense of fashion by showing their winter garments.

Empress Mariya Fyodorovna of Russia and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom

These ladies were Danish princesses, but by their marriage they both became consort to a ruler. Despite the distance between their countries, they maintained their strong sister-bond. Both Empress Mariya and Queen Alexandra had beautiful dresses from the best and most famous designers, and they chose their attire really carefully. Sometimes, when they were younger, they wore siblind-dresses, as in this picture too. I love the hats and the double row of buttons on their coats.

Grand Duchess Mariya Pavlovna of Russia, Duchess of Södermanland

I have always loved the simply, yet elegant style of the Grand Duchess. The photo speaks for itself – do you see the ornaments on her coat? And the hat would be ridiculous if she weren’t the one who is wearing; her bun and the hat complete each other.

Empress and Queen Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary

She was considered as the most beautiful woman of her time (I know, she rivalized for the title with Empress Eugenie of France), but she deserved the ’most elegant woman’ title too. She was ideal rather in nowadays terms, as she was extremly slim and relatively tall. She was proud – with real reason, I have to admit – of her long, silky hair. What I love about this picture is her hat, the fur and the tail of the skirt. Tails give a huge ’boom’ to the appearance, don’t you think?

Empress and Queen Zita of Austria-Hungary

Does the coat look elegant? I think no – it seems to me a little cumbersome and unwieldy, and it doesn’t emphasize the shape of a woman. I know, those were war times, and the Queen had more serious problems than her coat. However, the reason I selected this picture is not because of the cloth, but its wearer itself. I have never ever seen a late 19th – early 20th century royalty smiling like she. And honestly, her smile makes her the most beautiful among todays’ ladies, doesn’t it? I hate when when someone thinks that clothes are everything – like in K-dramas, when the main girl character is always criticized because of her not-so-expensive-and-stylish dresses, but when she wears a thousand dollar-dress, every man falls for her. Yes, dressing is important, but what is more important is to be clean and well-groomed. And the most important is the personality. There is no dress, no matter how expensive and stylish it is, that can hide a fox’s face.

by Alla