Amazing! I looked into the history of the costumes Nicholas II and Alexandra wore to the 1903 ball and discovered they were the robes worn by Alexei I and his bride Maria Miloslavskaya in 1648. Their story is astonishing and certain patterns were reprised by Nicholas and Alexandra: Both Alexei and Nicholas became Tsars when they were very young, married young and had many children, and died young. The marriage of Alexei I was a Cinderella type story: He had to choose from a contest of all the suitable brides in his Tsardom-(then 1/6th the world) The young beauties were lined up and Alexei picked Maria.
