The ball of metamorphoses, or Why Russian empresses dressed up gentlemen in ladies

Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was distinguished by a cheerful disposition and a stormy imagination. The daughter of Peter I adored enchanting shows and masquerades, willingly taking part in their organization. One of her favorite ideas was the so-called "metamorphosis balls". For these events, ladies dressed up as gentlemen and vice versa. The aristocrats did not like such holidays very much, but they were forced to participate in them.

Coco Chanel was not the first to suggest that women wear trousers. Two centuries before her, such an idea occurred to the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Starting in 1740, she spent ten years holding balls with disguises. Women came to them in men's clothes, and men in women's clothes.

Such an event looked more than strange. Ladies, awkwardly holding swords and broadswords tangled in their legs, trampled in the halls of the palace in the costumes of hussars and naval officers. Brave warriors, chained in corsets and surrounded by skirts with figmas, looked at them with amazement from behind fans.

Elizabeth herself shone at her balls in a man's dress, in which she felt great. The Empress invested in her balls not only her soul, but also considerable funds. No monarch before and after her has spent so much money on outfits and performances. The daughter of Peter Alekseevich, who was simple in everyday life and entertainment, amazed the courtyards of Europe on a grand scale. She never appeared in public twice in the same dress and forbade her guests to do so.

Tons of outfits, dozens of liters of perfume and whole caravans of luxury items were issued for Elizabeth from abroad. It was under her that the most magnificent monuments of Russia began to be built: the Winter Palace, Peterhof, ensembles of Tsarskoye Selo. It was Peter's daughter who founded Moscow University and launched the Enlightenment era in Russia.

Many historians explain such a stormy activity of the Empress by the fact that before her Russia was patriarchal. Elizabeth grew up at a court where soldiers, sailors, engineers and financiers ruled everything. Before Pyotr Alekseevich, everything was even worse and women did not play any role at all and were not even allowed to attend many events.

Then, starting with the reign of Catherine I, the power was in the hands of women. For several decades, the ladies seemed to be trying to prove to everyone that times had changed. Of course, the best way to declare this was balls, where luxury went off the scale, and ladies replaced the gentlemen.

If you think that the balls were held monthly, then you are very mistaken. Every week, the extravagant Elizabeth Petrovna arranged two balls. One was large-scale, for 700-800 guests, and the second was for the elite, with 150-200 participants. It was the ball for a narrow circle that was called the "metamorphosis ball" and required changing clothes.

An invitation to any imperial ball was a great honor. It was impossible to refuse, although the guests heartily hated meetings with changing clothes. They were especially unpleasant to men, many of whom were participants in glorious sea and land military battles and deserved people.

The couples at the metamorphosis ball looked extremely ridiculous. Tall, clumsy men in puffy dresses and wigs decorated with stones were trampling next to their short companions in military uniforms. The Empress was very amused by this contrast and she did not skimp on compliments that looked like mockery. However, Elizabeth did not want to offend anyone — she sincerely believed that her idea should amuse everyone.

The queen herself looked great in a man's dress, as she was a tall and stately lady. Over time, she was joined by another high-born lover of disguises. In a few years, everyone will know her as Empress Catherine II.

It also happened that just dressing up bothered the queen. Then she arranged an even more shocking ball of metamorphoses. People from the lower classes were invited to it, who were dressed up in the luxurious dresses of aristocrats. Elizabeth and her entourage were amused by the embarrassed appearance of the guests. Merchants who turned into counts for one evening or maids who became marquises clumsily waltzed and unsuccessfully tried to look natural. The Russian monarchs have always had a sense of humor.

However, even here Elizabeth Petrovna did not want to offend or humiliate anyone. Her plan was good - such a ball was supposed to destroy class inequality at least for the evening and free everyone from restrictions. The guests from the common people were relieved of the burden on the nobles. They did not buy fabulously expensive dresses and jewelry themselves, but received them before the ball from the inexhaustible palace reserves.

After coming to power, Catherine II continued the tradition of metamorphosis balls for some time, although not on such a scale. The Empress herself liked to disappear unexpectedly in the midst of fun and then appear in front of the guests in the uniform of an officer. But the dress-up events have gradually outlived themselves. More serious and state-oriented than her predecessor, the new Empress abolished such carnivals.