celebrity

This is an exquisite wedding gown. They just don't make them like this anymore. I know I'd where it if given the opportunity!

I wonder what she was a celebrity for?

Is that really a wedding gown? It looks more like she's an actress or possibly an opera star.

for me it look like more to the typical gown that women wore when they were presented to the queen of England. If i'm not wrong this were called court dresses...

The dress she is wearing is the official Imperial Russian Court dress. The long veil indicates that she is a married lady. This dress has the embroidery pattern seen on many of the court dresses worn by ladies in waiting to the Empress. Since she is a married lady in waiting, the dress is made of green velvet, embroidered in gold. It appears that she is wearing a brooch on her right shoulder which is probably the cipher of the Empress she serves. I cannot enlarge the photo clearly enough to identify it. There is a very good article about the history of these "Women's Uniforms" here: www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/ctCostume.html

see

There were at least 2 Mrs. Jancsi Rigo's. The first, the Princess of Chimay (née Clara Ward of Detroit) died in December, 1916.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Ward,_Princesse_de_Caraman-Ch...
The second was Catherine Emerson, the former Mrs. Caspar Emerson of Philadelphia, aka Catherine Hadley Rigo. Jancsi Rigo died in New York on February 3, 1927 and she survived him. The negative's date of 2/4/17 supports the possibility that this is the second (at least) Mrs. J. Rigo. A photo of her from a 1925 newspaper article also resembles the woman in this picture:
www.pulpartists.com/Bio%20Materials/Emerson/25-07-05,News...

She later remarried Edward Gordon, and died in 1934 in a Harlem charity ward. From findagrave:
"Kathryn Hadley Gordon
Birth: 1879, USA
Death: Aug. 5, 1934
New York, USA
Daughter of J. E. Hadley
First Husband: Casper E. Emerson, Jr. (1878-1948)
Second Husband: Jancsi Rigo
Third Husband: Edward Gordon - former Lieutenant Governor of Florida (d. 1931)"
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=141481109
Her New York Times obituary
query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940DEEDA153FE53AB...
query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=940DEEDA153FE53ABC4...
see

Art Siegel: Thank you for the interesting details about Mrs. Rigo and for the related photo of her husband. We will add some more information to the descriptions when we update.