How Empress Maria Feodorovna arranged colorful fancy-dress balls (PICS)
Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III, was a passionate lover of fancy-dress balls. She knew how to organize receptions that were then talked about not only in St. Petersburg, but also abroad.
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich wrote about them with rapture: “They spun and went wild endlessly. Towards the end, they ran and then fell exhausted onto chairs, only to jump around the hall again a little while later.” The fancy-dress balls were distinguished not only by luxury, but also by the creativity with which the empress approached them.
In the Winter of 1888, a ‘Green Ball’ was held in the Winter Palace. The guests were dressed in white, yellow, red and pink dresses and exclusively in emeralds. The ladies, resembling beautiful exotic birds, twirled in dances in the Nicholas Hall, filled with tubs of palm trees for the occasion.
A year later, people were talking about another ball hosted by Maria Feodorovna, not only in St. Petersburg. Ladies dressed exclusively in black outfits and diamonds gathered at the Anichkov Palace. The unusual dress code became known only a few days before the ball. Shortly before, a tragedy occurred: Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide. Contrary to tradition, the Russian imperial family did not cancel the ball – out of revenge. When Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich, the heir to the throne and whom Maria Feodorovna was supposed to marry, died in 1865, the Austrian court did not declare mourning and arranged a magnificent ball. A year later, she became the wife of his younger brother, Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Alexander III.
In 1914, Maria Feodorovna held a white ball for two debutantes – her granddaughters, grand duchesses Tatiana and Olga. For the first time in 20 years after her husband's death, she immersed herself in a pleasant bustle and recreated his last lifetime ball of 1894: couples twirled in the same dances, even the menu included the same dishes as then.
