#Empress Maria of Russia

[empress-alexandra]

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Dagmar of Denmark), mother of the last Russian Tsar, early 1880s.

[7pleiades7]

Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1857),(detail), by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (German, 1805–1873), oil on canvas, 120 × 95 cm, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

[adini-nikolaevna]

“I took off my slippers and my silver embroidered robe and felt the body of my beloved next to mine… How I felt then, I do not wish to describe here.”

- from the diary of the future Emperor Alexander III of Russia, following his wedding night.

[imperial-russia]

Emperor Alexander II, his wife, sons and two daughters-in-law

[postcard-from-the-past]

Duchess Sophie Marie Dorothea Auguste Luise of Württemberg, later Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

Russian vintage postcard, illustrated by S. Solomko

[mote-historie]

1857 Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna wife of Tsar Alexander II (Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (Marie of Hesse)), detail. 

Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. 

[babyboywinchester]

Let us take a moment to remember our Tsar Martyr Nicholas II who 106 years ago, on the night of July 16-17, was murdered along with his immediate family and four of their faithful retinue in a dismal basement in Yekaterinburg.

May you rest in peace, Tsar Nicholas, and your beloved wife and beautiful children. The burdens you had to bear were too heavy for an earthly crown, but now you have a heavenly kingdom to inherit.

Forgive them father for they know not what they do.

[dreamconsumer]

Portrait of María Feodorovna by Johann Gottlieb Pullman.

[kaiserrreich]

I have to share this fic... it's really good. Alexei II by Cribman // link

Summary: Instead of abdicating for his younger brother, Nicholas II is instead pressured to abdicate in favour of his underage and haemophiliac son, Alexei. With Russia in the midst of a revolution during a war against the brutal onslaught of the Central Powers. The new provisional government must work with the new Tsar and his regent to heal the fractured empire before more damage can be done. With their popularity damaged almost to the point beyond repair. The senior members of the House of Romanov must begin to embrace political reforms to survive the turbulence that is surely to come.

[krasivaa]

Blood is thicker than water

~☆~royal lookalikes~☆~

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia and her grandmother, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. -@abigaaal 💝🎀

@krasivaa's royal series

[alexandminnie]

Another peek into Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's closet

When it comes to Empress Maria Feodorovna's clothing, finding out the details is easy. She had a long history with the House of Worth in Paris (although she was patron to others on occasion.)

I have always wanted to know why Minnie did not like her daughter-in-law's (Empress Alexandra) taste in attire (statements about this come up everywhere; Minnie tried to advise, but Alexandra dug in her heels and that was that.) It is easy to figure out. They were two very different women and their tastes in clothing showed it. As a young Empress, Minnie was all about strong colors and enjoyed working with the designers at Worth and participating in her own clothing design. Her dresses usually had interesting details. She enjoyed dressing the part of the Empress.

As you will see in this sampling of dresses that belonged to Alexandra Feodorovna, her preferred color palette was different....there is a lot of silver, lilac, pink, and beige. Her dresses' lines are simpler but equally sumptuous and elegant as those Minnie wore. They are just different.

I was trying to find out what couture house Alexandra predominantly used...she did use Worth on occasion, as well as Brizac (a house in Saint Petersburg) but I was very surprised to read something else.

Many of  Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's gowns were designed by one Nadezhda Lamanova. Interestingly, Nadezhda Lamanova was female. While almost all of the labor force making Haute Couture dresses at the time was female, it was rare to find a female designer. And Nadezhda designed the Empress's dresses.

Nadezhda Lamanova underwent training as a seamstress at the Moscow School of Sewing. Two years later, she went to work for a fashion house. In 1885, she opened her own dressmaking shop in Moscow and successfully built up her business until it became Moscow's most popular dressmaking establishment. Eventually, her work came to the attention of the Imperial Court and she was designated as “Supplier of the Court of Her Imperial Majesty” with her designs worn by the ladies of the Court and the Empress herself.  Finally,  starting around 1901, Lamanova also designed costumes for theatrical productions.

The last dress above is a dress designed by Lamanova

[empress-alexandra]

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (Princess Dagmar of Denmark), mother of the last Russian Tsar, early 1880s.

[loiladadiani]

Photographs: 1. Empress Maria Feodorovna holding her great-grandaughter Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova (Bebe); sitting net to her are her granddaughter Princess Irina Alexandrovna and her daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna; 2. Beautiful photo of Xenia with her grandaughter Bebe; 3. Bebe and her father, Prince Felix Yusupov; 4. Bebe and her paternal grandmother, Princess Zenaida Yusupova; 5. Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova (Bebe)

Princess Irina Felixovna Yusupova (Bebe) (1915 - 1983)

Irina Felixovna (Bebe), was the only daughter of Princess Irina Alexandrovna, niece of Tsar Nicholas II, and Prince Felix Yousupov. She was born on May 21, 1915. She lived with Felix's parents until the age of nine. Later, Felix would say that his daughter was difficult to control because she was raised by nannies, and his mother Zenaida spoilt her. Most people said that Irina Felixovna was difficult to control because she had a personality very similar to that of her father. Bebe was closer to her father than to her mother.

Princess Irina Felixovna married Count Nikolai Dmitrievich Sheremetev. They had one daughter, Countess Xenia Nikolaevna Sheremeteva. Bebe died in 1983 in France where she is buried alongside her paternal grandparents and her parents.

[adini-nikolaevna]

“In the morning at 11 o’clock we went with Papa and Mama to St. Petersburg and attended a memorial service in the fortress for dear An-Papa and An-Mama. I approached the grave of our little angel Alexander, which was… beautifully decorated with flowers. I prayed and thought a lot about you, my darling Minnie, and I was so sad to be alone at that moment… Mama noticed this and came up to me to hug me, and it touched me very much, because she is the only one who understands and does not forget our terrible grief. Others forget and constantly ask why I don’t go to the theater, why I don’t want to attend balls at Peterhof, and it’s very difficult and unpleasant for me to answer everyone. I felt so sad when I prayed at the sweet grave of the little angel; Why is he not with us and why did the Lord take him from us?”

- the future Emperor Alexander III of Russia in a letter to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on his grief at the death of their infant son, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich.

[rwpohl]

malá mořská víla, karel kachyňa 1976

[postcard-from-the-past]

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

British vintage postcard