Imperial picnics, circa 1913

This first group of pictures was apparently taken at Tsarskoe Selo in 1913 after a horse racing event.

A simple picnic for the Romanovs - in this case, mostly the Vladimir branch of the family - might seem a long ways off from our current understanding of the word "simple" or even the word "picnic". And I can't imagine it was all that we might expect of such a gathering in the way of comfort; I don't think military uniforms or corseted gowns and elaborate picture hats are quite what most of us would choose for a relaxing meal all'aperto.

(There may be other people in these pictures who might be identified with a bit of research, but I am so trying to be less self-indulgent with my time....)

Left to right: Prince Ioann Konstantinovich; Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich; his sister-in-law the Grand
Duchess Victoria Feodorovna; two unknown ladies. The Grand Duchess - granddaughter of Queen Victoria,
sister of Marie of Roumania, and wife of the eldest Vladimir son - was formerly married to the Grand Duke
Ernst Ludwig, brother of the Tsaritsa. She was therefore Alexandra's ex-sister-in-law, an awkward situation
that did nothing to aid the strained relationship between the resentful Tsaritsa and the fractious Vladimirichi.

Left to right: Her back to us, in the round hat, Grand Duchess Victoria; Prince Ioann
Konstantinovich, smiling; at far right, looking at the camera, Grand Duchess Vladimir.

Left to right: Again, the back of the Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna; Grand Duke Andrei
Vladimirovich; Prince Ioann Konstantinovich; at far right, Grand Duchess Vladimir.

The Grand Duchess Vladimir with her granddaughters, Princesses Kira and Maria Kirillovna.

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Left to right: Princess Nicholas of Greece, daughter of Grand Duchess Vladimir; Grand Duchess Victoria
Feodorovna; the latter's mother-in-law, Grand Duchess Vladimir; in the white coat, the Grand Duchess
Vladimir's eldest son, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich; Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich.

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At left, facing the camera, Princess Olga Orlova; Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich; unknown; Prince Ioann Konstantinovich.

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At center, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich; at far right, Prince Ioann Konstantinovich.

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The Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna - called "Ducky" in the family - and her daughters, Princesses Kira and Maria Kirillovna.

Ladies' shoes, mid to late eighteenth century

There are a lot of similarities between these shoes - well over than two hundred years old - and those worn by women today. High heels. Cramped, pointed toes. After the French Revolution, with the advent of what were considered "Grecian" styles, and through the Empire and beyond, entirely flat, heelless, slipper-like shoes were the vogue. This style persisted for the first half of the nineteenth century. It wasn't until the 1850s that the heel made a return, and shoes resumed a form very like what had been worn a century before. And today, save for a general paring down - less actual coverage of the foot, a much narrower heel - the form of a lady's dress shoe isn't all that much different.

(I have to say that I'm suspicious of this pair; they may be nineteenth-century.)

Almost all of the shoes from this period were made on straight lasts, meaning that there was no differentiation between the left and right foot; the shoes would come to be known as "straights". This method was the common practice until as late as the 1850s. 

Most of these surviving shoes do so without their buckles, or have been given replacements. Shoe buckles were an important part of a person's attire - male or female - and said a lot about the owner's prestige or lack of it. Some were very plain while others were quite elaborate. For dress shoes, most were of silver set with paste stones. The shoe buckles of the most fortunate were often quite costly, were actually proper jewelry and, when they went out of usage, would have been broken up and used to make some other fine adornment. They certainly wouldn't have been left to moulder along with an... old shoe.

These shoes from the 1790s show the beginning of the transition to heelless footwear, which would be the mode for more than fifty years.

Shoes, shoe buckles, and stockings of the period.

Shoes with pattens. Pattens, worn from the Middle Ages and even into the early twentieth century, were a protective overshoe for outdoor use.

Shoes said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette.

Fred and Gene, beyond celluloid: rehearsal and real life

Rehearsing the "Babbitt and the Bromide" number from MGM's "Ziegfeld Follies", released in 1946. (Astaire and his sister Adele had originally performed the George and Ira Gershwin song in the Gershwin's "Funny Face" of 1927-28.) The two greatest of film dancers would perform together again thirty years later, in "That's Entertainment, Part II" but, though both were under contract at MGM during the late Forties and early Fifties, this was their only pairing while each was still at the peak of his career.

(I'm sorry that I couldn't find a better version of this, and that my skill with Photoshop - and I'm
really rather adept - is not equal to the easing out of that big crease right across Astaire's nose!)

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It was no secret that Fred Astaire wore a toupée, and only a little less so that Gene Kelly had a little "assistance" in that department, as well. But both gentlemen were very rarely photographed without their follicular camouflage, and until I recently came across these few casual images, I'd never seen them in their unimproved state. As I, myself, am in a recessional mode, I really do find these photographs most comforting.

With another Kelly. Grace, to be specific.