An invaluable collection of Russian pre-revolutionary outfits in old photographs

Natalia Leonidovna Shabelskaya, born in 1841 and completing her earthly journey in 1904 in Nice, was the wife of one of the most famous landowners in the Kharkov province. But she became famous and went down in history thanks to her hobby. The noble lady was passionate about fashion.

In the 60s of the XIX century, she became the owner of an atelier, which she arranged on the territory of her mansion. Here, over a dozen sewing and embroidery craftsmen worked on exquisite outfits. However, a special merit and pride of Shabelskaya was a huge collection of unique costumes, accessories and individual items of clothing that Natalya Leonidovna chose with special love and care when traveling through the territory of Russia.

By the end of Natalia's life, the number of items in her collection exceeded twenty thousand. It was a colossal selection of things in terms of variety and value. It is also surprising that most of the collection was photographed back in those ancient times, and the three daughters of Shabelskaya were models posing for pictures. By the way, after the death of their distinguished mother, they continued her work.