hi! Approximately how long was OTMA’s hair when they died? I have heard something about them being able to part it but that’s it. Thank you!
Hi!
Off memory, it was about shoulder length. One source describes their hair as being "tumbled and disorderly" the day before their murder, seen by the washerwomen who came to clean the house. However, take that with a pinch of salt because it comes from Helen Rappaport's book, and she did not bother citing her sources :(
They shaved their heads in Spring 1917, so it had just over a year of growth from being completely shaved.
Here's what I could find:
The search of Ipatiev House revealed a number of hair pins (now owned by the Russian History Museum, Jordanville), indicating that the girls' hair was at least long enough to be pinned back, or perhaps pinned up, as this photo of Anastasia at Tobolsk in OTMA's bedroom suggests.
Most of the sources directly relating to their hair come from Tobolsk.
Here is a letter from Alix to Anna Vyrubova dated 15 December 1917:
'...Anastasia, to her despair, is now very fat, as Maria was, round and fat to the waist, with short legs. I do hope she will grow. Olga and Tatiana are both thin, but their hair grows beautifully so that they can go without scarfs...'
Funny story about her short hair from Anastasia sent during the journey to Tobolsk (I think that this was actually an English exercise set by her tutors, I've kept in her original spellings):
17 August 1917
My dear Friend. I will describe to you who [how] we travelled. We started in the morning and when we got in to the train I went to sleap , so did all of us. We were very tierd because we did not sleap the whole night. The first day was hot and very dusty. At the stations we had to shut out window curtanse than nobody should see us. Once in the evening I was looking out we stopped near a little house, but there was no staition so we could look out. A little boy came to my window and asked: "Uncle, please give me, if you have got, a newspaper." I said: "I am not an uncle but an anty and I have no newspaper." At the first moment I could not understand why did he call me "Uncle" but then I remembered that my hear is cut and I and the soldiers laught very much. On the way many funy things hapend, and if I shall have time I shall write to you our travell father on. Good by. Don’t forget me. Many kisses from us all to you my darling.
Your A.
And here are some photos for context...
Olga's hair in 1917, before being shaved off:
Two photos of Tatiana in Tobolsk, one with very noticeably shaved and short hair and one more full (featuring Olga). I would guess that the first photo is from when they just arrived (the sunny weather also gives this away) and the second is towards their end at the Governor's House.
We know that the photo of her with her head shaved is from Tobolsk, rather from 1913 when she had it shaved, as the same little child appears in this photo sat between Olga and Alexei:
Maria's hair in Tobolsk (middle, without hat)
Of course, they mostly wore hats in Tobolsk (it sounds absolutely freezing!!!) so it's hard to tell under their hats and shawls the exact length, especially considering they probably pinned their hair up as soon as it was long enough
But there is this photo, taken after Maria, Nicky, and Alix left for Ekaterinburg:
I'm sorry I couldn't answer more specifically about their hair at Ekaterinburg! I am 99% sure I have read in a book that their hair was shoulder length, I believe it might have been from the account of the Father Ivan Storozhev who gave service to the family shortly before they were killed, however I cannot remember which book... You can read more about Father Storozhev's testimony here and here. A number of Father Storozhev's personal items were auctioned in 2017, including items tied to the Imperial Family. You can view them here.
If I come across the quote I'm thinking of, I will add it here.
Also, unrelated, but there is a very interesting scientific paper you can read here (I think you might need library of uni access unfortunately) that describes how strands of hair found in a portrait of Alexei helped with DNA identification. It's far too scientific for me lol, but interesting at a glance.
This next bit is VERRRRRRY very very unlikely, but the whole family and their entourage had identification photos taken when they arrived in Tobolsk. I would assume that this would include photos of their hair uncovered as it was for ID. However, this are seemingly lost to time. They might turn up one day, but I'm not too hopeful unfortunately. But if they do, it would give us a lot more info, and some good quality close ups of the family.
