Perhaps no revolution in history brought so much misery and brutality to people’s lives than the Russian. Apart from the carnage, there was also a drabness to help crush the spirit. Here are a few pictures of the last ball thrown by the Czars: http://www.openculture.com/2019/07/the-romanovs-last-spectacular-ball-brought-to-life-in-color-photographs-1903.html
Another cost was fashion. How sad that no one in the world dresses like this anymore. If, like Dostoyevsky, one thinks beauty salvific, then all of us are worse off for the loss of such magnificence.
