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History of Fashion
History of Fashion
I,
THE
HISTORY OF FASHION
IN FRANCE.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2016
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THE
HISTORY OF FASHION
IN FRANCE;
M. AUGUSTIN CHALLAMEL.
BY
Eontlon :
INTRODUCTION.
PAGE
V arious definitions of fashion The grave side of its history Quotations from the
poets Character of Frenchwomen The refinement of their tastes and fancies
Paris the temple of fashion -The Mars yellow gown The
provinces Mdlle.
causes of fashion A saying of Mine, de Girardins A remark of Mrs. Trollopes
The dress of actresses Earliest theories of fashion The Gynaeceum of Amman
First appearance of the Journal des Dames et des Modes Lamesangere
Other publications An anecdote concerning dolls Plan of the History of
Fashion in France i
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
a
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
The States Languedoc A young French lady in the fourteenth and fifteenth
of
centuries Low dresses Saying of a mercer Damoiselles Garnaches and garde -
corps Le Parement des dames Social distinctions High character worth more is
than gilded belt Precious stones The castles and other dwellings of the Middle
Ages Splendid furniture Humble abodes of the poor Evening assemblies . 45
CHAPTER VII.
Taste in dress becomes purer Heart-shaped head-coverings, the cornette, and the
hennin in the reign of Charles VI. Husbands complain Preachers denounce
Thomas Connecte declaims against the diabolic invention Brother Richard
tries to reform it The hennin gains Costume of Jeanne de
the victory
Bourbon Escoffion An absurd figure Gravouere Isabeau de Baviere
Gorgiasetes Tripes Splendour of the court Agnes Sorel Coifife adournee ;
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER IX.
REIGN OF FRANCIS I.
PAGE
The court of Francis I. A speech of Charles V. The kings
Order of the liberality
Cordeliere Word-paintings of the fashions of the day, by Rabelais Costumes of
the seasons Feather-fans Sunshades The hoche-plis or vertugadin Mme.
de Tressan saves her cousins Satires and songs Mdlle. de Lacepede
life
Contenances Silk shoes with slashes Head-dress called a passe-filon '
Increase of love of dress The bean- flower Artistic head-dresses Twists of hair
fashions ..............
called ratraprenades Ferronieres Coaches in Paris their influence on the ;
7 1
CHAPTER X.
Fashions under Henri II. The ruff A satirical print of the time- Catherine de
Medicis eats soup The Regulations for dress Crimson Who
Italian taste
shall wear silk? Lines on velvet, by Ronsard Rotonde
Collet monte
Spring-water Style of gowns and head-dresses Wired sleeves Girdles Caps,
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.
The wars of religion The fashions of Italy are brought across the Alps, and are
welcomed in France Effects of the expeditions into Italy Articles from Venice
and Genoa are very fashionable A cloud of sugar-plums, and a shower of scents
Effeminate style of dress CharlesIX. and his Edicts against extravagant display
Fashion rebels against sumptuary laws Women of high rank, bourgeoises,
widows, and spinsters Wedding dresses Observations of a Venetian ambassador
Court dresses Arcelets .....
Corps pique Drawers Paint Cosmetics Breast mirrors, girdle mirrors
95
CHAPTER XIII.
Opposition to the laws of King Henri III. on dress The wife of President N .
How both sexes evaded the edicts Gowns from Milan Mixture of masculine
and feminine fashions Rage for perfumes Recognition of rank is demanded
Costumes worn at Cognac by Marguerite de Valois in presence of the Polish
ambassadors, and her costume at Blois Brantomes opinion Pointed bodices,
puffed-out sleeves, and bourrelets Remarks on hair
Ridiculous dress of
men Poucet, the preacher Satirical lines on Joyeuse Witty remark of Pierre
de lEstoile Starch used by Henri III. Cushions 103
a 2
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
REIGNS OF HENRI IV. AND LOUIS XIII.
PAGE
Universal mourning on the death of the Guises ;
intolerance of showy dress
CHAPTER XV.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV.
Louis XIV. commands Court luxury and pleasure; disguises The Temple jewellery
Fashion
and etiquette Successive fashions Royal edicts The Tombeau du
sens commun Dress of La Valliere
Of Mme. de Montespan Costume of a
ladyof rank in 1668 The echelles de Mme. de la Reynie Transparencies
Manufactures Champagne, the hair-dresser Female hair-dressers Hurlu-
berlus and Mme. de Sdvigne Moustaches for women; patches Palatines
Slippers; high heels Corsets; fans; sweet lemons Dog-muffs Hair dressed
a la Fontanges English style of dressing hair Esther Steinkerks
Cremonas Amadis and Jansenist sleeves Hair dressed a leffrontee
Dresses of the Duchesse de Bourgogne Mignardises 125
CHAPTER XVI.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. (CONTINUED).
Painted faces
Reply of a Turkish ambassador Ineffectual criticism Mme. Turcarets
pretintailles Mme. Bonnets law-suit Brocaded materials Andriennes
Criardes
Return of hoops and paniers
A sailors leap Actresses
paniers, and the Greek head-dress
Mme. de Letorieres DHele arrives frozen
at the Cafe Procope- Waterproofs
Finishing touches- Fans and fan-makers in
the seventeenth century What Mme. de Stael- Holstein thought of fans Transition 143
CHAPTER XVII.
REIGN OF LOUIS XV.
The Regency War is The Oratorian Duguet Opinion of
declared against paniers
the de Verdun Various publications against paniers Lines by
Journal
Voltaire Whale-fishery company Paragraph from the Journal de Barbier
Mines. Jaucourt, De Seine, Clairon.and Hus Lines
Delisle, praise of corsets in
New bodices Coloured prints are forbidden Perses or Persiennes
Bagnolette Adjuncts of dress necklaces, : andpoupottes Contents of a
ridicules,
patch-box A sermon by Massillon Les mouches de Massillon, or Massillons
patches de Mode, or Fashion-girls Some passing fashions Powder
Filles
remains fashion Monte-au-ciel Simply made gowns The
in cachemire first 151
CHAPTER XVIII.
worn low The queens puce -coloured gown ; shades of colour in dresses
Oberkampf and the Jouy prints Expensive satins Trimmings, their great number
and importance Gauze, blond, tulle, and ribbons Some kinds of shoes Venez-
y-voir The Archduchess ribbons A dress worn at the opera . . . 161
CHAPTER XIX.
REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. (CONTINUED).
Peasant dress is universal
Fashion a la Marlborough Caps Bonnets Mdlles.
Fredin and Quentin Ruches Low bodices ; postiches Costume of Contat-
Suzanne Fashions a la Figaro Literature and politics signified in dress; the
Princess de Monacos pouf Pouf a la circonstance the inoculation pouf
The innocence made manifest caraco The harpy costume Coats, cravats,
and waistcoats Sailor jackets and pierrots Deshabilles the lying fichu ;
CHAPTER XX.
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
The year 1789 Masculine
The double dress vanishes Caps a la
style of dress
grande pretresse, a
and a la laitiere The pouf bonnet Paint
la pierrot,
and powder disappear Prediction by the Cabinet des Modes Anonymous caps
Cap a la Charlotte Corday
Trinkets a la Bastille Mme. de Genlis
locket
Cap a la Bastille Federal
uniforms Claims to equality in dress
Reaction under the Directory Incroyables and merveilleuses
Coiffures
a la victime and a la Titus Blond wigs and black wigs The Hotel
Thelusson Which is the most ridiculous ? Mme. Talliens costume -Epigram
on bonnets a la folle Reticules Transparent dresses Lines by Despreaux. 179
CHAPTER XXI.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON I.
CHAPTER XXII.
REIGNS OF LOUIS XVIII. AND CHARLES X.
Importation of foreign fashions in 1815 White dresses, white feathers, and fleurs
de lys Emigrant ladies Russian toques Male and female dressmakers
Ruchings Short sleeves and long gloves Herbaults bonnets Chefs Anglo-
mania in 1815 Green
gauze veils; spencers The canezou Lacroix, the
stay-maker Dr. Pelletan and Charles X.
Wasps The Ourika fashions
The famous leg-of-mutton Fashions a llpsiboe, au Trocadero,
sleeves
and ala Dame Blanche Blonde caps and turbans Head-dresses Fashions
h la giraffe ; the last sigh of Jocko Female book-keepers shopwomen ;
CHAPTER XXIII.
REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE.
PAGE
The Revolution of July, 1830 Fashions in
Louis Philippes reign Microscopical
bonnets, called bibis, cabriolets Variety of caps Fashions of the Middle
Ages and of the Renaissancestage The
Historic costumes Influence of
Rachel, the actress Greek
and Roman fashions Colours Various designations
of materials
Bedouin sleeves Bonnets and head-dresses Pamela bonnets
Novel eccentricities Taglioni gowns, gathered k la Vierge, laced a la
Niobe, &c. The Sylvestrine Costumes to be worn on occasions of attempts
on the kings life Bouquets for balls 205
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SECOND REPUBLIC.
Tricoloured stuffs of 1848
Girondin mantles Open gowns Summer dresses Kasa-
wecks and their derivatives Beaver bonnets velvet bonnets, and satin or crape
;
drawn bonnets Cloches, Cornelie, Moldavian, and Josephine cloaks ; mantles
Isly green
Opera cloaks Numerous styles of dressing the hair ; a la Marie
Stuart, a la Valois, Leda, Proserpine, and Ceres Marquise parasols Jewellery
Straw bonnets Orleans and armure Work reticule or bag Chines
Pagoda sleeves Waistcoats; basque bodices New and economical canezous . 213
CHAPTER XXV.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III.
Four kinds of dress Opera dress in 1853-4 Bodices a la Vierge, Pompadour
bodices, and Watteau bodices Skirt trimmings A new colour, Theba
Light Social and The
tints
Mainnier bands End of the
theatrical
first
celebrities
period of Imperial fashions ....
Eugenie head-dress and
CHAPTER XXVI.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (CONTINUED).
The reign of
Crinoline inaugurates the second era of Imperial fashions crinoline
Starched petticoats Whaleboned
Steel hoops Two camps are
petticoats
formed, one favour
in and one inimical
of, Large to Marie
crinoline collars
Antoinette and mantles Exhibition of 1855 Cashmere shawls Pure
fichus
cashmeres Indian cashmere shawls Indian woollen shawds Mouzaia
shawls Algerian burnouses Pompadour parasols Straight parasols School for
fans The fan The Queen of Oudes The Charlotte Corday
drill fans fichu
CHAPTER XXVII.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (CONTINUED).
Sea-bathing
and watering-places Special costumes Travelling-bags Hoods and
woollen shawls Convenient style of dress Kid and satin boots
;
high heels
Introduction of the several and the Ristori Expensive pocket-handkerchiefs
Waists are worn shorter Zouave, Turkish, and Greek jackets Bonnet
Gold trimmings universally used Tarlatane, and lace tulle, .... fronts
CONTENTS. xi
CHAPTER XXVIII.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (CONTINUED).
PAGl
Fashions in i860 and 1861 Jewellery Shape of Russian bonnets Nomen-
clature of girdles Different styles of dressing the hairThe Ceres wreath
Prohibition of green materials Anecdotes from
Flowers and leaves for the hair
the Union Medicale and the Journal de Nievre Cloth and lamantles Braid silk
and astrakan Four types of bonnet Morning bonnet flowers Artificial . . 237
CHAPTER XXIX.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (CONTINUED).
Sunshades, en-tout-cas, metis, in 1862 Sailors jackets, jerseys, and pilot -jackets
Princess or demi-princess gowns; Lydia
S.wiss bodices; corset or postillion belts
Longchamps no more
and Lalla Rookh jackets Vespertina opera cloaks is
;
Bois de Boulogne
Russian or Garibaldi bodices -Paletot vest Empress belt
1885 patents for inventions regarding dress are taken out 1864 Victoria in
skeleton skirts, Indian stays, train-supporters Titian -coloured hair The
Peplum in 1866 Epicycloide steels ;
aquarium earrings Description of a court
The fashions of Louis XV., Louis
ball-dress
Sedan chairs Handkerchiefs prices at all .......
XVI., and the Empire are revived
241
CHAPTER XXX.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (END).
247
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE THIRD REPUBLIC.
The years 1870 and 1871 The General
mourning Simplicity and
siege of Paris
economy Parisian velvet and pekin A
costume A cloth costume
concert
Alsatian bows and costumes
Soirees at the Presidency Marie Stuart and
Michael Angelo bonnets Hunting stockings Rabagas hats The years 1872
and 1873 Fan parasols Leopold Robert bonnets The year 1873 Return
of luxury
Regent belts and sovereign dress-improvers Silks Mode-
rate costumes
The burning of the Opera House Sale on behalf of those made
orphans by the war The the Lyons weavers Cashmere tunics Dislike
ball for
to gloves Petticoats Charles IX. shoes Slippers The year 1874 Page
bonnets and Margot hats Hair the Swiss in hair The style
given ;
false ball
by the Chamber of Commerce Green Jet Various costumes Hair-dressing
Mercury bonnets ............ 251
CHAPTER XXXII.
FASHIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY.
Dinner, casino, and ball dresses in 1875 Importation of hair Manufacture in false
France Modification of waterproofs Estelle bonnets Tunic-aprons Cuirass-
bodices Montespan sleeves Sant-du-lit Shoes of past times Bonne-
femme pockets Henri plumes Inez
III. Ribbons and flowers veils
Heavy of dress
style
Pouf petticoats Composite fashions of 1876 Armenian
xii CONTENTS.
PAGE
toques Ophelia bonnets Danichef bonnets Mdlle. Bettina Rothschilds
wedding trousseau A splendid parasol Gondolier hair-nets Baby sashes
;
and Baby bonnets Fontanges fichus Platitudes Red, as a colour
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FASHIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY (CONTINUED).
The International Exhibition of 1878 Foreign countries Japanese fans The little
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Conclusion . 289
THE HISTORY
OF
FASHION IN FRANCE.
INTRODUCTION.
Various definitions of fashion The grave side of its history Quotations from the poets
Character of Frenchwomen The refinement of their tastes and fancies Paris the
temple of fashion The provinces Mile. 1 Jars Alow gown The causes of fashion
A saving of Mme. de Girardins A remark of Mrs. Trollopes The dress of actresses
Earliest theories of fash ion The Gynzeceum of Amman First appearance of the
Journal des Dames et des Modes
Lamesangere Other publications An anecdote
concerning dolls
Plan of the History of Fashion in France.
Numerous poets have defined Fashion, and for the most part
petulantly and disdainfully. One of them says,
1
Fashion is a tyrant, respected by mortals;
The fitting offspring of distaste and novelty.
2
Fashions are certain usages, invented by caprice, and approved by love,
which fools, and sometimes the wise, observe.
3 The wise man is never the first to follow, nor the last to abandon them.
INTRODUCTION. 3
women, which in every age has proved itself both powerful and
tyrannical.
and with jewels, and, if need be, with flowers, that she may be
irresistibly attractive.
woman Mrs. Trollope, and you see French fashions, but only in
Paris do you see how they should be worn. . . . The dome of the
Invalides, the towers of Notre-Dame, the column of the Place
Vendome, the windmills of Montmartre belong to Paris less
Mine, de Genlis, who does not possess at least one secret in the
It might be said that the poet we have just quoted was referring
to Parisian ladies in particular; but this would be a mistake; for a
great number of elegant women reside in the provinces, and have
quite as fervent a devotion to the inconstant goddess as their
Parisian sisters. In former times Fashion reserved its great effects
and its utmost brilliancy for the rich only ;
in the present day it
? France, as
Those nations who are least in sympathy with her accept and
c
observe her laws on elegance and ton.
There is new and new, just as, according to Moliere, there are
fagots and fagots. That which is new to-day may be but a
revival of what is old, a reminiscence of the past. The axiom,
There is nothing new under the sun, applies with special force
to Fashion.
dress ;
they hold their place now in a ladys wardrobe.
Fashion changes her idols at times with such rapidity, that one
might exclaim with reference to female dress,
cc
By accepting this piece of velvet.
So saying, he spread out on the table several yards of yellow
terry velvet. Mile. Mars began to think she was being inter-
viewed by a madman.
cc
Mon Dieu !
she exclaimed in an agitated voice, what do you
wish me to do with that velvet ?
To have a gown made of it, mademoiselle. When once you
INTRODUCTION. 7
have been seen in it, everybody will wear it, and my fortune will
be made.
But nobody has ever worn a yellow gown.
Exactly so ;
the point is to set the fashion. Do not refuse
me, I implore you.
No, monsieur, I will not refuse you, replied Mile. Mars.
And she moved towards a writing-table on which lay her purse.
Mademoiselle will not affront me by offering payment. All
I ask is that mademoiselle will have the goodness to give the
address of my factory, which I may say stands high in reputa-
tion.
On her return to Paris she saw her dressmaker, and in the course
of conversation said, By-the-bye, I must show you a piece of
terry velvet that I have brought back from Lyons ;
you must tell
done with it ?
It was given to me for a gown.
A yellow gown ! I never sent one out in my life !
The next day all Paris was ringing with Mile. Mars yellow
gown, and the week was hardly over before a similar one was to
be seen in every drawing-room. Dressmakers were overwhelmed
with work, and from that day yellow has held its own among the
their gestures, and their diction, confer on costume all the expres-
sion of which it is capable, and lend a significance all their own to
good child you shall wear your pretty pink frock on Sunday, or
your lovely green hat, or your blue socks, &c. The little girl
very long time inaugurated the fashions which every other nation
has adopted. Yet the first journal especially devoted to fashion
was not published in France. One Josse Amman, a painter, who
was born at Zurich, and who died at Nuremberg, brought out, in
treated with contempt, and admiration was reserved for fine court-
10 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
Our neighbours imitated our dress, after having visited our salons
or our promenades, or they consulted some desultory drawings of
costume.
In June 1797, Selleque, in partnership with Mme. Clement,
nee Hemery, founded the Journal des Dames et des Modes.
They were joined, in the matter of engraving only, by an eccle-
siastic named Pierre Lamesangere, a sober and grave personage,
country.
But while we restrict ourselves within proper limits, it is not
I 2 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
women.
We therefore ask permission to dwell for a short time on the
vestiaireor wardrobe-room of the period Shoes Jewels and ornaments The amber
and crystal ball Influence of the barbarians.
dyed her eyebrows with tallow, or with a juice taken from the
sea-pike, a fish found on the coast of Gaul. She made frequent use
at her toilet of chalk dissolved in vinegar, a mixture injurious to
enforced.
After the conquest of Gaul by Cassar, Roman civilization and
Roman corruption were introduced into our country.
It is difficult to resist the attractions of beautiful things, and
however great may have been the hatred of their husbands towards
the conquerors, the Gallic women, now become Gallo- Romans, were
the ground, and gathered by a girdle round the hips, while a band
adjusted it to the bosom, allowed only the tips of the feet to be seen.
It fell in numerous rich folds, and was as characteristic of the
matron as was the toga of a citizen of Rome.
One lady might be satisfied with a chemise, with the wide
drapery of the tunic scolloped at the edge, a short apron and
sandals ;
while another would load herself with tunics, the upper one
being sleeveless, sometimes embroidered and sometimes not,
without either clasps or pins, thrown across the left shoulder and
round the figure. Another would, like a Gallic woman, wear the
Phrygian cap, which allowed her beautiful hair to be seen and
1 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
admired. This was fastened back with the vitta, a ribbon or band
which only patricians had the right to use, crossed with narrow
bands or confined in a net, and arranged with much skill. The
hair was frequently dyed red or yellow ;
or brown plaits would be
concealed under the fair locks taken from some German slave, and
lightly sprinkled with gold-dust.
figure, and in which she could carry her letters. Ovid observes
that to equalize the shoulders, if one were rather higher than
the other, it was sufficient to drape lightly the lower of the two.
Thus did postiches and padding originate.
and myrrh, unguents made from the cock and from pure
spikenard. She delighted in waistbands and ribbons, in cushions,
furs, and felt, in one word, in all the luxuries that contribute to
robe.
Auvergne.
Whenever an elegant patrician lady left her home to take a
drive or pay visits, she changed her shoes. Sandals took the
place of the lancia, or house-slippers. She sometimes wore
the cothurnus, a walking-boot, unrivalled, except by the light
tc
shoes called campodes, habitually worn by the peasant women.
Shoes were marks of distinction. For instance, those called
<c
peribarides denoted that the Gallo-Roman lady, their wearer,
cc
tomed to the purple, and to tissues from the East ;
some few
combined Greek elegance with Latin wealth, and were covered
with valuable ornaments.
The Visigoths mingled with the peoples of Southern Gaul, and
the women were sufficiently civilized to be not unpleasing to the
vanquished.
At Toulouse, where the Gothic kings had fixed their abode,
a large and splendid court, which was destined to exercise an
c 2
CARLOVINGIAN
MEROVINGIAN
GALLO-ROMAN
GALLIC
CHAPTER II.
Modifications in female dress after the Invasion of the Franks Customs of the latter
The Merovingians Costumes of skins and felt ;
cloaks and camlets The coif, the veil,
the skull-cap, the
guimpe, the cape Fashionable Merovingian ladies adorn them-
selves with flowers
Various articles of dress The suint
Young girls dress their hair
without ornaments St. Radegonde The hair of married women.
influence.
The Frankish woman, who was large and coarsely built, wore a
long black gown, or a gown edged with scarlet, but her arms were
bare and her bosom was uncovered. She crowned her head with
flowering gorse, and would rush fully armed into the bloody fray.
her dreamy creed and gentle superstitions, and she possessed quiet
energy and comparative sociability which enabled her to triumph
over obstacles. While holding tenaciously to many primitive
customs she was not altogether averse to innovations, nor to art,
in the latter. The customs of the Franks took root among the
Gallo-Romans, and for a time the smaller details of dress dis-
Pier mantle is laced together across the breast, and her hair falls
arms ;
it covered the chest and shoulders, and was fastened by
strings round the loins. They wore two belts, one above and the
other below the bust. Their arms were bare, as it was the custom
of dwellers on the banks of the Rhine.
Sometimes an instance is supplied by Ultrogothe, the wife of
Childebert they made use of a large mantle, a sort of chlamys,
fastened at the throat or on the right shoulder by a clasp.
their hair with ribbons, and wear it parted in the middle and
falling in two wide plaits, like that of Swiss peasants at the present
day.
Numerous statues have preserved for us this Merovingian
fashion, which was not wanting in grace, while it conferred on
women an appearance of severe simplicity, less majestic than that
Reign of Charlemagne The women of the tenth century wear two tunics Judiths belt
A veil is Miniatures in the Mazarin Library Charles the Balds Bible
obligatory
Shoes Dress of Queen Lutgarde Dress of Rotrude and Bertha Gisla and other
kinswomen of the Emperor The successors of Charlemagne Cannes Adelaide of
Vermandois The dress of widows.
The reign of Charlemagne, and the passing away of the first race
however, that their skirts were extremely long, and that they
wore veils much resembling the veil of nuns, but thicker, and
hanging more closely round the figure.
Among women of noble rank the love of dress harmonized
with the taste for needlework displayed by the kinswomen of
Charlemagne, as recorded by the old chroniclers.
They worked with their own hands on silk and wool, but this
did not prevent them from loving and seeking to acquire magni-
ficent possessions, splendid ornaments and trimmings of excessive
richness. The Empress Judith, mother of Charles the Bald, was
considered to have great skill in embroidery. She gave to her
THE CARLOVINGIAN PERIOD. 27
shoes being for the most part black and embroidered in beads.
Were they already aware of the important part played by shoes in
the elegant appearance of a woman ?
racteristics.
toilet apparatus, plate, brushes, fine towels, and other articles were
often of very great value. The bath itself was of wood, marble,
or stone.
The public baths served as a place of meeting, where the
with each generation The dominical The bliaud Canes of apple-wood Women
in the twelfth century Head-dresses
Afiche Serpent-tails Pelisses The
thirteenth century
Greves and are fashion The couvre-chef
veils in the in
fourteenth century The or cotte-hardie, surcoat, or overall, or overskirt, cape,
skirt,
golden nets.
It is no exaggeration to say that each succeeding generation
saw greater attention paid to dress by both men and women, the
latter especially ;
that caprice began to show itself in those curious
eccentricities which still afford us food for laughter, and that
luxury reigned in consequence over all the population, in spite of
the efforts of those in authority, who endeavoured to regulate the
D
34 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
all kinds of ways, and with no little skill. They wore a veil, as
occurs :
surcoat.
D 2
36 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
that left the throat and neck uncovered, ending in two points.
The other figures wear gowns closed in front, and in some
instances with double sleeves. The upper sleeve is wide at the
preserved them from cold and fog, and was as useful as the
waterproof of the present day. An ancient writer speaks of a
count and countess whose poverty was so great that they had but
one chape between them. In the reign of Louis VII. only
virtuous women had the right to wear these garments in the streets.
hood came into existence, with its curtain or cape for the shoulders.
To this was generally added a roll on the top, and a veil hanging
down behind. The chaperon or hood was a sign of plebeian
estate, and remained in fashion for several centuries.
when great ladies and wealthy bourgeoises with their long tresses
and with something in their carriage not unlike the Greek priestess,
they placed their husbands coat of arms, on the left that of their
own family. They cut open their sleeves in an extraordinary way,
from elbow to wrist, whence hung a piece of the stuff.
wear very long gowns in order to hide them. This was surely a
pardonable piece of coquetry, and long skirts became the order of
the day. Similar causes have led to similar results in more recent
times.
When once the long skirt had been introduced, it resisted many
attempts to dislodge it. In the reign of Philip III. women hid
their busts under a guirnpe, and looked almost like our sisters of
Charity. The coat and the guirnpe seem to have been introduced
by Marie, the kings second wife, whose throat was too long,
while her bust was absolutely flat, and the wives of the courtiers in
this instance also copied the Queen of France. Imbued with the
religious spirit that exercised at that time so great a power over
the imaginations of mankind, or at any rate overmastered by it, the
ladies of the court, with few exceptions, were modest in their attire.
was folded with band beneath the chin, but not setting closely to
a
feminine attire. His fame was in every ones mouth, and his shop
always crowded with customers.
A large number of embroideresses obtained a living in Paris ;
there were also many who made up purses with beautiful em-
broidery, or elegantly worked These purses
borders. were
fastened to the waist-band, and were called aumonieres sarra-
sumptuary laws.
sous.
You should dress yourselves well and neatly, in order that your
wives may love you the more, and your people also will esteem
you the higher for it. Women of rank consequently dressed
with great splendour. They frequently wore a long train
kind of costume.
FASHION
OF
STORY
HI
CHAPTER VI.
1350 TO 1380.
Precious stones The and other dwellings of the middle ages Splendid
castles
furniture Humble abodes of the poor Evening assemblies.
the time, only a few learned writers who supply us with valuable
hints.
46 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
cambric, ruffs for the neck with gold buttons, the tressons or
tressoirs that they were fond of twisting in their hair, and gold or
pearl embroideries used for head-dresses, or for ornament generally,
the silken or velvet gown being even bordered with them
sometimes.
Lay figures, called damoiselles, were used for fitting on
ladies dresses and other garments.
A young Frenchwoman in the fourteenth century wore her hair
1
The mercers list includes so many articles of which the names are
obsolete, that it is not possible to translate it.
REIGNS OF JOHN AND OF CHARLES V. 47
elbows, and at the edge of the skirt with a fillet of gold. Small
sleeves reaching from elbow to wrist were in red and white
check, bordered with a double fillet of gold. Her shoes were
black.
married woman wore both her husbands and her own. Montfaucon,
in his Antiquites de la Couronne de France, gives us a drawing of
an emblazoned gown belonging to a noble lady ;
and in an ancient
Bible we find a picture of a woman on whose hair is a ribbon of
gold tissue, and above it a small yellow cap with gold buttons.
The upper dress is bordered on the bosom with ermine and gold
bands, the skirt is of silver cloth, bearing a lion rampant and three
red stars. The under garment, of a dull yellow, is confined by a
gold band. The National Library contains the miniature of a
French lady of the fifteenth century. She wears a head-dress of
silken material, the white upper gown is bordered with fur, the
Hoods or cc
aumusses protected the head in bad weather.
The chaperon or hood was much like a domino. It was made
during the reign of Philippe le Bel in a peak, which fell on the nape
of the neck, and was called a cornette there was an opening
or visagiere for the face. As for the aumusse, made either
2
nommee vaut mieux que ceinture doree This, whether true or
not, has passed into a proverb.
E
5 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER VII.
1380 TO I461.
Taste in dress becomes purer -Heart-shaped head-coverings, the cornette, and the
hennin in the reign of Charles VT. Husbands complain Preachers denounce
Thomas Connecte declaims against Brother
Richard tries to
the diabolic invention
reform it The hennin gains the victory Costume
de Bourbonof Jeanne
Escoffion An absurd figure Gravouere Isabeau de Baviere Gorgiasetes Tripes
Splendour of the court Agnes Sorel Coiffe adournee diamonds; the carcan
Walking-sticks.
It is a curious fact, of more frequent occurrence than might be
imagined, but the terrible Hundred Years War, which cost
From the time of the Capets there had been much variation in
dress and in luxury. The taste of the nation was stimulated and
improved by foreign importations. Emblazoned garments had
become a thing of the past.
head-gear, with two wide wings fastened to the head with wire
and bearing a strong resemblance to the sails of a windmill.
Next, the heart-shapes having been criticized by the clergy
tc
were transformed into hennins, the nec plus ultra of fashion,
and were of a most prodigious height.
Very from the masculine head-gear bearing the same
different
exaggerated size.
Yet it was far worse than all this in England, where eccen-
tricity and caprice reached a height never attained at the French
court.
of great ladies, and also against gamblers, calling upon the latter
streets ;
and if she failed to find a speedy refuge in some house she
was soon covered with mud, dragged in the gutter, and sometimes
severely wounded.
Connecte was looked upon by the people as an admirable
reformer, but he failed to reform the head-gear of women
victory remained with the hennin.
Another monk, a Franciscan, one Brother Richard, followed
in the steps of Connecte the Carmelite. On the 16th April,
Charles V., beauty had already asserted its claims, and coquetry
with horns, or pieces of stuff cut out and laid one upon the other
like the petals of a flower.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, scalloped sleeves were
attached to the corsets, or rather to the bodices, which were
separated from the skirt behind, ending in a horizontal fold on
the hips, while in front they were ungirdled, and reached down
to the feet. These bodices were cut very low in the neck : the
chapes
or copes, that is, mantles of gold or silk covered with
jewels. The wives of barons wore earrings, outrageous toes
to their shoes, and they seemed to be sewn up in their too
scanty garments.
The expression too scanty was probably applied to the
behind ;
in winter it was made of fur, and in summer of cloth
'
or of silk ;
it had a sort of busk covered with gold braid, and
matched in colour the borders of the surcoat, thus relieving the
monotony of the lines as well as the sameness of colouring.
Those ladies who wore trains to the skirts of their surcoats, used
to tuck them up for walking. The surcoat, in fact, was very
similar to a gown, and its dimensions soon became so enormous,
that, as we learn from Christine de Pisan, a man-milliner of Paris
made a cotte hardie for a lady in Gatinais, in which were five
quarters of a yard on the ground, and the sleeves fell to the feet.
there were long cuffs to their surcoats hanging to the elbows, and
their busts were raised high up.
The fashions of head-dresses changed from
bare heads to
crepines, and coifs with tow underneath, and stuffed u a lescof-
shape of a heart ;
on the reverse the Virgin and St. Catherine
are represented in mother-of-pearl. Enamelled gems were much
in vogue among the nobility during the reign of Charles VI.
There were also enamels of flowers, insects, domestic animals, and
small ornamented human figures, initials, and mottoes.
A little instrument was invented for parting the hair. It was a
sort of stiletto or bodkin called a gravouere, generally made of
ivory or crystal, and sometimes mounted in gold. It remained in
The cotte hardie was long and flowing, but was confined at
the parts visible to the public, the rest was in coarse stuff or
the edge, such as are worn at the present time. The hair was
covered with a kind of cap a la musulmane.
Such is the costume we find represented in the miniatures of the
latter period of the fourteenth century.
Every one knows what evil times had befallen our country
under Charles VI. The English were masters of a great part of
France, at the time that Charles VII. ascended the throne and was
called in mockery King of Bourges. That affront was wiped
out by Joan of Arc. At that period, Fashion was confined for a
ostrich plumes.
Agnes Sorel, famous both for wit and beauty, acted as it were
the part of a queen. All women were led by her in the matter of
dress, and this brilliant creature, surnamed the Lady of Beauty,
began to adorn herself in the most magnificent costumes. If we
may believe a chronicler of those times, her train was a third
1
1 he iron collar by which criminals were bound to the gibbet was called a
carcan. Translators note.
REIGNS OF CHARLES VI. AND CHARLES VII. 59
twenty livres the ell (about 400 francs of our coinage). Two ells
our custom.
Women made use of fans at church to disperse the flies. Their
fans .were ordinarily made of feathers, peacocks feathers in
particular.
During the whole of the Middle Ages fair hair alone was
considered beautiful. On this point the French and the ancient
6o THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
Greeks were of one mind. Homer has described the fair hair of
of false hair.
FASHION
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER VIII.
I46I TO 1515.
troussoire Allegorical and moral costumes Trains
Head-dresses Collets
rebrasses
Wigs and false hair Some results of the war in Italy Italian fashions
Sollerets and slippers Gorgets Garters Jean Marot writes against novelties
Anne of Brittany Pins Menot the golden-tongued A Parisian in the time of
Louis XII. Coat a lltalienne Manufacture of stuffs.
times he desired to see his palace filled with nobles richly attired,
and wearing magnificent stuffs, even of foreign manufacture.
The astute sovereign appreciated the influence of fashion on
commercial prosperity.
Then commenced a competition in dress between the bour-
geoisie of the towns and the nobility ;
as says the poet,
En Paris, y en a beaucoup
Qui nont dargent, vergier, ne terre,
Que vous jugeriez chascun
coup
Allies aux grands chefs de guerre.
Us se disent issus dAngleterre,
Dun comte, dun baron dAnjou,
62 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
in height some more, some less and fastened above these were
1
There may be seen in Paris many who possess neither money, house, nor
land, but whom you would take, at a glance, to be allied to the greatest chiefs
and warriors. They say that they come from England, and are the issue of a
count, or a baron of Anjou, and related to the seneschals of Auxerre, or the
lords of manors in Poitou. And for the most part they come from holes and
corners, out of the loft of a miller, perhaps, or of the lineage of a cabbage,
children of a gardener. mere clerk, or a doorkeeper, presumes
The wife of a
nowadays as much would be well there should be an end
as a duchess. It
of this ! You shall see a simple bourgeoise decked out with diamonds and
jewels, and talking gravely, in good sooth, in all the new phrases.
REIGN OF LOUIS XI. 63
long veils reaching to the ground behind, with silken girdles four
or five inches wide, with both the metal work and the tissue wide
woollen ;
they were bareheaded, the hair being confined by a band
on the forehead and hanging loosely behind. They imitated the
The ladies would no longer wear the hennin, which had been so
fashionable in the reign of Charles VI., and declared it was horrible.
For poulaines sollerets were substituted these were rounded
;
to the shape of the feet. Very light slippers were made in velvet
the knot of the girdle, and hung down in front of the gown.
We have already mentioned these rosaries.
F 2
68 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
even ;
they now began to outstrip the bounds of moderation in
dainty, who so often miss hearing the Word of God, though you
have only to step across the gutter to enter the church, I am
certain it would take less time to clean out a stable for forty-four
horses than to wait until all your pins are fastened in their places.
. . . When you are at your toilet you are like a cobbler, whose
1
business is to stop up, and to
rub, and to put to rights, and
who needs a thousand different articles for bits and patches. He
added :
A shoemakers wife wears a tunic like a duchess.
Vainly did the preacher thunder against pins. Fashion could
not be in the wrong. Presumptuous were they who attacked her,
time wore black. She wore a white silk cord round her waist,
and had a similar cord affixed to her coat-of-arms, knotted in four
5
places and twisted into four loops, forming the figure of 8, so as
O mon Dieu !
quelle estoit contente
De sa personne ce jour-lh.
Avecques la grace quelle a,
being curled at the side, and plaits wound round the head.
value were offered for sale. Bourges was so famous for its cloth,
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER IX.
REIGN OF FRANCIS I.
1515 to 1545.
the seasons
Feather-fans Sunshades The hoche-plis or vertugadin Mme. de
Tressan saves her cousins life Satires and songs Mdlle. de Lacepede Conte-
nances Silk shoes with slashes Head-dress called a passe filon Increase of love
of dress
The bean-flower Artistic head-dresses Twists of hair called ratraprenades
Ferronieres Coaches in Paris ;
their influence on the fashions.
Under the gallant knight, Francis I., the court of France shone
with a new and more refined splendour than that of the Middle
Ages, and to this was added all the magnificence of Italian art.
of which 70,000 are for the queen. The king wants 100,000
crowns for building abodes for himself. Hunting, including
provisions, chariots, nets, dogs, falcons, and other trifles, costs more
than 150,000 crowns. Lesser amusements and luxuries, such as
bouquets, masquerades, and other diversions, 100,000 crowns.
Dresses, tapestries, and private gifts cost as much more. The
lodgings of the kings household, of the Swiss, French, and
Scottish guards, more than 200,000. I am now speaking of men.
As for the ladies, their salaries, it is said, amount to nearly 300,000
crowns. Thus there is a firm belief that the kings person, his
their bracelets, and fitted tight both above and below the knee.
The shoes or slippers of crimson, red, or violet velvet, were
snipped like the edges of a crabs claw. Over the chemise they
wore a fine vasquine (corset) of rich silk camlet ;
on the vasquine
they placed the vertugade (hoop) of white, red, salmon-coloured,
or grey silk. Above this the cotte, in silver tissue, embroidered
in fine gold needlework, produced a charming effect. Or, if it
pleased them better, and was in accordance with the weather, their
cottes were of satin, or damask, or of velvet, orange-coloured,
salmon, green, grey, blue, light yellow, crimson, or white; or of
gold cloth, silver cloth, or embroidery, according to the festivals.
feathers.
that the fall of the year was included half in the summer and half
in the winter season, and that the ladies of the sixteenth century
were as yet unacquainted with that refinement of fashion at the
Louise bade him hide under her huge bell-shaped hoop, and thus
saved him from the vengeance that threatened him.
The fashion of wearing three gowns, one over the other, shows
Charles IX., Henri III., and Henri IV., all issued edicts against
the hoop. But far from disappearing, it became more and more
generally worn. Little shopkeepers imitated the great ladies ; and in
1
For one coat that the wife of a bourgeois wears
The great lady puts on three, one over the other ;
Silk and satin shoes were still in fashion, widely opened on the
But if there was little change in shoes, there was much in the
Silk and satin shoes were still in fashion, widely opened on the
But if there was little change in shoes, there was much in the
prosperity ;
and the third to a gentleman named Rene de Laval,
who could not mount on horseback on account of his enormous
size.
farmers, by which the latter were bound on the eves of the four
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER X.
1547 to 1558.
time of Henri II. was the amplitude of skirts and sleeves. Cos-
tumes were alternately either of extreme splendour, or of a grave,
nature :
ate her bouillie easily and without soiling her ruff, and then said,
You see, Monsieur de Fhesnes, that with a little intelligence
sance still prevailed, and art regulated the style of dress to a con-
siderable extent. There was little change in the actual shape of the
garments worn, more especially among the middle classes.
he was :
Le velours, trop commun en France,
Sous toi reprend son honneur
vieil ; w
Tellement que ta remontrance
Nous a fait voir la difference
Du de son seigneur,
valet et
Ft du muguet charge de soye,
Qui a tes princes sesgaloit,
Et, riche en drap de soye, alloit
Faisant flamber toute la voye.
Les tusques ingdnieuses
Jittrop de volouter susoyent
Pour nos femmes delicieuses,
Qui, en robes trop precieuses,
Du rang des nobles abusoyent.
G 2
84 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
up collar.
7
Velvet, grown too common in France,
Resumes, beneath your sway, its former honour;
So that your remonstrance
Has made us see the difference
Between the servant and his lord,
And the coxcomb, silk-bedecked,
Who equalled your princes,
And rich in cloth of silk went glittering
On his way, showing off the bravery of his attire.
I have more indulgence for our fair women
warm.
The sleeves harmonized perfectly with the gown, particularly
with the bodice. They were not wide, though ten years pre-
viously they had been puffed, but were slashed like the bodice.
They diminished in size from the shoulder to the wrist, and were
slashed from top to bottom. They were frequently trimmed with
beads, and still more frequently with silk riband.
and then the head-dress was put on. Cales remained in use
for a long time, and young girls of the class known as the
people were subsequently called by the name.
The cap was toque-shaped, and generally of velvet, with a white
feather over the right ear. The constant movement of the feather,
waving in every breeze, produced a charming effect, and conferred
on the fair wearers a little cavalier air that poets have frequently
We must add that ladies also wore capes with hoods in the
is one of the most important parts of dress, and the woman with
the prettiest shoes will generally be found the most graceful in
1559 TO 1560.
On the day of her marriage with Francis II., the beautiful queen
wore a gown of dark blue velvet, covered with jewels, and white
embroidery of beautiful workmanship, so that it was admirable to
see. Two young ladies, standing behind her, bore her long train.
yards in length ;
it was borne after her by a gentleman. Nothing
could be more majestic than the royal mantle thrown over the
gown on occasions of ceremony. Mezeray describes Mary Stuart
as wearing a ruff open in front and standing high behind. Her
hair is arranged in two curls that only cover part of the ear ;
her
crown is placed on a wide and starched coif, coming down on the
forehead, and widening at the sides. She was fond of jewels.
When, on the death of Francis, she was setting out for Scotland,
her uncle, the Cardinal de Guise, suggested that she should leave
her jewels behind, until he could send them to her by some safe
hand.
If I am not afraid for myself, said Mary Stuart, why should
I fear for my jewels ?
But we must now leave individual history, in order to continue
and white paint on their faces, and some of them adopted the
loup, or small black velvet mask, to preserve their complexion
which women imprisoned their hair, and above this they placed a
cap or toque with white feathers. They retained hoods also, or
else they wore coifs, generally of velvet, bent down over the fore-
and displaying their beautiful feet and legs. Beside this lady
stood one of her companions, who was very short and small, and
who also was admiring the tapestry. f
Ah, my dear, said her
friend,
if we were all dressed after that fashion, you would not
gain by it, for your high pattens would be seen. Be thankful to
the times and to the long skirts we wear that hide your legs so
neatly the which, with their great pattens, are more like clubs
than legs ;
for if any one had no weapon for fighting, he need but
to cut off your leg, and holding it at the knee, he would find your
foot and shoe and patten would strike right well.
May we not say the same thing at the present day ? Now that
like yourself.
Yes ;
for harmony is everything, or almost everything in dress ;
and their wives went to excessive expense for their gold and silver
stuffs, their embroideries, braids, borderings, goldsmiths work,
cords, cannetilles, velvets, satins, or silks striped with gold and
But of what avail are severe laws, when broken ? The stream
of fashion was in favour of splendid garments, and of all the aids
darker side of the picture, at the shadows cast by the religious wars,
with its grotesque and sanguinary incidents, and its fatal termina-
tion by the dagger of Jacques Clement. At the same time, both
reigns afford us matter of a highly interesting nature in connexion
to us ;
nor will the horrors of those times ever be repeated, but
the fashions of the sixteenth century have, on the contrary, already
reappeared in a certain measure, and at different periods. They
will revive completely, perhaps, at some future day. There is
German style, but from Italy they have frequently borrowed some
of her Southern graces, offspring of that sunny land and deep
blue sky !
But wherefore this love for the products of Italy, for the per-
I would remind them that little things may spring from great, as
well as great things from little, and I would enter upon a lengthy
historico-philosophic dissertation.
Let it suffice to state that the filagree- work of Genoa, and the
perfumed sachets of Venice, found their way into France as a
I need not dilate further on this subject, but I will add that we
may fix the period of which I am speaking as that of an invasion
of France, by fashions of Italian prodigality, and sudden and
striking effect.
<c
We forbid our subjects, whether men, women, or children,
to use on their clothes, whether silken or not, any bands of em-
broidery, stitching or pipings of silk, gimp, &c., with which their
H
98 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
who belong to the suite of our said sister, or other princesses and
all silken stuffs, except serge and silk camlet, taffety, damask,
Do they not feel that many women would prefer paying fines to
the mortification of not dressing according to their inclination ?
coffions
coifs of plaited gold or silk ribbons, often ornamented
with jewellery. They wore masks, and held them in their hands.
Bourgeoises, whose means did not allow them to run the risk of
them support ;
it is fastened behind, which is good for the chest.
head, neck, and arms are adorned with jewels. The hair is
order to give greater width to the forehead. For the most part
their hair is black, which contrasts with their pale complexions
for in France, pallor, if not from ill-health, is considered a
beauty.
Our Venetian performs his task admirably. There is nothing
omitted from his description of the French ladies of the time; he
is gallant, too, in the highest degree. He moved in the best
The corps pique mentioned by him was much like the corset
the more determined that the men, as we have said before, vied
with them in slenderness of waist. They compressed their waists in
But to proceed.
at the girdle, in order that women might see whether their head-
dress was in order, was of longer duration. The mirrors in
Her court imitated her, and many ill-made women dared not dress
otherwise than their sovereign, to whom also is to be attributed
the spread of the fashion of whaleboned bodices, so fraught with
evil to numberless generations of women. Opposition does not
exist among good courtiers.
Catherine de Medicis, says Brantome, was the first who
rode on a side-saddle.
Court dresses were made with immense trains ;
at balls these
102 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
lady threw over her shoulders, when a cool air made her tremble
for her delicate health ;
and the white kid gloves, so common now,
so rare at that time, and the lace ruffs ;
and those pretty white
hoods, whence fell a long white veil half concealing the figure,
and the arcelets, or wire circlets, by which the hair was raised
from the temples. And what better finish could there be to a
costume of a grave style than those deep red linings, that starched
1574 to 1589.
dress or display.
Those subjects of the king who felt offended by his edicts did
Louise de Lorraine ;
they had recourse to another expedient, and
Every one, on seeing a servant with all the seams of his coat
What right had Henri de Valois, asked the belles of the period,
what right had he who starched his wifes collars and curled her
hair, according to malicious reports, to show such severity
concerning other womens dress ?
they were gently fluttered in the breeze. The sexes vied with
each other in the use of perfumes. Every lady at the court wore
silk knitted gloves and scented gloves ;
and it has been asserted
that the good Jeanne dAlbret, mother of Henri IV., was
poisoned by gloves sent from Italy.
centuries again made its appearance, but the heart was now
constructed of the hair itself, instead of apiece of stuff as formerly.
c
Madame, here I wear out the gowns I brought with me from
court, because when I return thither, I shall not take them with
me. I shall take only scissors, and materials, in order to set myself
up again in whatever may be the reigning fashion.
The queen replied :
Why do you talk thus ? since you know that it is yourself
who invents all the pretty fashions we follow; and wherever you
may go, the court will copy you, and not you the court.
the same material adorned with jewels and bright feathers. Thus
attired, she looked so divinely beautiful that she had her portrait
painted in that costume. Marguerite had resolved not to be out-
done by the Polish envoys, who were attired in the semi-Oriental,
Much the same custom prevails at the present day, the hair-
market being supplied by peasant girls.
shoulders, and made a sort of hollow niche behind her head, could not
long retain their freshness, however carefully worn, and the padded
busts, somewhat like a piece of armour, must have greatly
impeded all natural movement ;
while the goffered ruff, separating
the head from the shoulders, was far from graceful, notwithstand-
ing the bichons, or rolls of hair, on the temples. All these
constituted an affected and ungraceful costume, and the wearers
were called poupins by the ill-natured wits of the time.
The courtiers and favourites of Henri III. imitated the
court ladies, not only by wearing pearl necklaces, earrings, and
rings of gold, silver, precious stones, enamel, &c., but also wore
their
<c
bourets of velvet, and their cc
bichons or rolled hair.
cc
They were fraises et frises, that is, they wore both ruffs and
curls. Their pourpoints were open, so as to display the point
lace, at that time recently imported from Venice. The fans of
<c
curled darlings were ornamented with
these also lace ;
and at
night they wore masks and gloves saturated with various cosmetics
and unguents to preserve the whiteness of their skin.
often heard of you, and how you make the people laugh by your
sermons. It is right that I shouldmake them laugh, the
preacher coldly replied; since you make them weep over the
Ce petit popeliret,
Frisd, fraisd, blondelet,
Dont la reluisante face
Et la delicate peau
Au plus beau teint dun tableau ;
kings own wear. This was in i 578. The king appeared wearing
a ruff made of fifteen breadths of cambric, and half a yard in
depth. To see his head against that ruff, said Pierre de
PEstoile, put one in the mind of St. John the Baptists head on
a charger.
1589 TO 1643.
Universal mourning on the death of the Guises intolerance of showy dress Vertugadins,
;
espoitrement, corps espagnole Diversity of colours The pearls, jewels, and
diamonds belonging to Gabrielle dEstrees and to the queen Dress of Marguerite de
France Low-cut bodices Head-dresses of hair -Various styles Venetian slippers
Edicts of Louis XII.
Caricatures Pompe funebre de la Mode Words and fashions
:
Ribbons or galants Dress of widows Demi-ceint girdles Gloves of all sorts
Patches Masks; their use
Cache-laid The Frondeuses Mme. de Longueville.
goddess.
A remarkable exception to this rule is worthy of note. It
people would attack her, drag off her rufF, and even tear her
clothes.
His court followed his example. Men still wore the curls and
ringlets of preceding reigns ;
ladies continued to use masks, so
conducive to tricks and adventures of all kinds. Nor did they
give up their perfumes, whether ambergris, musk, or cordial
dEstrees was so loaded with pearls and sparkling gems that she
outshone the light of the torches. She possessed a cotte of
Turkish cloth of gold, with flowers embroidered in carnation,
Gowns were made not only of satin but of velvet, damask, and
silk of every colour. There were dresses a collets debordes, or
with collars falling over the shoulders and upper part of the arm ;
placed at the back of the head, with the hair in curls all round the
front. In addition, there were several plaits intermingled with
ribbons and jewels, which fell lightly on the neck and floated in
to make the best of their evil fortune, and brandishing, after the
fashion of banners, wands laden with lace and finery. In the back-
ground is a sarcophagus bearing the following epitaph :
1
What is it that is published ? what do we hear?
Here lieth Fashion ! The ladies of the day must have laughed
heartily in their sleeve at the notion of the death of Fashion ;
for
they with their daughters would be taken for noble ladies rather
than for bourgeoises and shopkeepers.
Great ladies also condescended to wear hoods, but only in
winter.
garcettes, which took the place of the padded wigs. The hair
chignon.
Widows were never seen without a little coif on their heads.
modern writer, widows were restricted for the rest of their lives,
unless they married again, to black and white made in the simplest
Yet she did not throw aside the hood, which remained in existence
scent.
placed on the face, which looked all the fairer for the contrast.
Each lady placed the patch to suit the expression of her coun-
ache had originally suggested these black spots, and what had been
at first prescribed for healths sake, was retained as an aid and acces-
sory to the beauty of ladies who wished for artificial attractions.
wearer could hold her mask in its place. Moreover, the tone of
the voice was so altered by a mask, that many persons, anxious to
avoid satirical remark, kept on their masks in public promenades,
at balls, and even in church.
conceal the face of the wearer. Some ladies thus concealed their
cc
plainness, and the loup was also called cache-laid," or hide-ugly.
After the death of Louis XIII., when the minority of Louis XIV.
afforded an excuse for the troubles of the Fronde, when the great
ladies meddled with politics, directed insurrectionary movements,
and acquired the name of belles frondeuses, masks played a
Louis XIV. commands Court luxury and pleasure ; disguises The Temple jewellery
Fashion and etiquette Successive fashions Royal edicts The Tombeau du sens
commun Dress ofLa Valliere OfMme. deMontespan Costume of a ladyof rank in
1668 The echelles de Mme. de la Reynie Transparencies Manufactures
Champagne, the hair-dresser Female hair-dressers Hurluberlus and Mme. de
S6vigne Moustaches for women patches Palatines Slippers high heels Corsets
; ; ;
stomachers trimmed with gold and silver lace. Our dresses were
cut like those of the Bresse peasants, with collars and cuffs of
yellow cloth in the same style, but of somewhat finer quality than
is used by them, and edged with Venetian lace. We had black
velvet hats entirely covered with flame-coloured, pink, and white
feathers. My bodice was laced up with pearls and fastened with
diamonds, and had diamonds all about it. Monsieur and Mdlle.
de Villeroy also wore diamonds, and Mdlle. de Gourdon emeralds.
Our black hair was dressed in the Bresse peasant style, and we
carried flame-coloured crooks ornamented with silver. For
shepherds we had the Due de Roquelaure, the Comte de Guiche,
Pequilain, and the Marquis de Villeroy, &c.
In 1662, pleasure and plenty were reigning at court; the
courtiers lived high and played high. Money was abundant,
every purse open, and young men got as much cash as they chose
from the notaries. There was a constant succession of feasts,
dances, and entertainments.
liked. After he had built the pavilion at Marly, every court lady
found a complete costume, and a quantity of the most exquisite
As I am aware, madame, that your country neighbours are
much interested in the new fashions, I paid a visit lately to one of
those ladies who can only talk of skirts and finery. . . .
Dresses painted with figures and flowers are still worn, but
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. 127
beginning to paint the finest linen, and this is quite a novelty, for
was replaced by some still newer fashion, not by any means the
last. Never had the refinements of Fashion been pushed so far.
The poverty of a great part of the population in the time of the
Fronde has been admitted. But Dubosc-Montandre, the author
of a pamphlet called Le Tombeau du Sens Commun, is of a
different opinion, and exclaims in 1650 :
If the people were poor,
should we see neckerchiefs worth twenty or thirty crowns on the
wives of cooks ? or liveried lacqueys carrying a cushion behind their
mistress, a mere shopkeepers wife ? Should we see milliners and
butchers daughters wearing dresses worth 300 or 400 francs ?
128 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
1
Mourning wife has joyful husband,
And the purse a truce until a new fashion arrives.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. 129
Law and criticism were alike in vain, and the history of dress,
both masculine and feminine, from the minority of Louis XIV.
to the year 1715, presents a variety of phases that reflect the
successive changes at his court.
When Marie Therese arrived in Paris in August, 1660, she was
attired in a gown enriched with gold, pearls, and precious stones,
and was adorned with the most splendid of the crown jewels.
A year afterwards, at a fete at Vaux, Mdlle. de la Valliere wore
a white gown, with gold stars and leaves in Persian stitch, and a
pale blue sash tied in a large knot below the bosom. In her fair
2
No longer are our ladies to be distinguished
From the women of the people ;
as the mask, the coif, and the gown, with which they can express
respect; for it is reckoned uncivil for a lady to enter the room of
a person deserving of consideration with dress tucked up, face
masked, and coif on head, unless the coif be transparent. It is an
incivility also to keep on her mask in any place where a person of
eminent rank is present, by whom she might be perceived, except
when in a coach with such person. It is uncivil to keep on the
mask when curtseying to any one, unless from afar off ;
and even
then it must be removed for a royal personage.
The above rules show how greatly the mask had been in use.
In 1668, women of rank always wore an under-skirt of watered
or glace satin, with an over-skirt trailing behind, and carried over
the left arm. Sleeves were puffed, and trimmed with lace and
ribbon, and scarcely covered half the arm. They were not slashed.
The bodice reaching to the hips, and fitting tightly to the waist,
ended in a point. The under-skirt had a double border of gold
and silk embroidery, while the upper one had but a single border,
like the Greek and Roman tunics.
somewhat maliciously :
I wonder she does not wear a gibbet as
fashion.
lustrous finish ;
the process is called donner eau.
The silkworm whose silk is a perfect white was now about to
Jenrage quand je vois Champagne
3
Porter la main a vos cheveux .
very becoming to some faces. The hair on each side was cut
in graduated lengths, and hung in thick curls, the longest not
falling much lower than the ear. Ribbons were fixed into it in
4
Hurly-burly.
134 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
curls waving loose, while all the rest of the hair was drawn up,
and cut short on the neck. Mine, de Sevigne advised Mme.
de Grignan to adopt the above style, somewhat modified :
the
hair knotted low at the back of the head, so as not to conceal
either its purity of outline or its harmonious proportions ;
the
short undergrowth of hair in light curls on the forehead gives
piquancy to the physiognomy, while showers of filmy ringlets on
the temples add softness to the expression.
For two years le faire brelander was in fashion, that is, the
hair was cut short and curled. On the other hand, Nanteuil, the
famous engraver, has bequeathed to us portraits of women with
most luxuriant hair ;
long ringlets mixed with pearls rise from the
crown of the head, and fall down on either side.
who, that they might wear pretty shoes, tightly bound their
feet with bands of their hair, and fainted from pain in the queens
room.
High heels soon made their appearance, and continued increasing
in height until heels of eight centimetres were considered quite an
ordinary size.
6
I increase the natural whiteness of complexion,
And the last touch put to her beauty
By awoman on her way to conquest,
Is an adjustment borrowed from the flies ( mouches
).
136 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
And Regnard :
8
Lise veut etre grande en de'pit de nature .
Among the best shoemakers for ladies were Raveneau, Rue des
Cordeliers; Vernon, Couteaux, Gaborry, Rue des Fosses-St.-
Germain ;
Bisbot, Rue Dauphine ;
Sulphour, Rue St. Severin.
The shoemaker Des Noyers, Rue St. Anne, only made very neat
shoes, and charged a gold louis for them, from which we may
conclude that those of a more elegant sort were excessively dear.
The tight stays, so injurious to health, were adopted by the
ladies of the seventeenth century, and to conceal the discomfort
occasioned by them, fans were in constant use ;
these were beauti-
or gold.
In 1656, Christina of Sweden, while journeying through
France, astonished everybody by her eccentricities and the strange-
ness of her dress. Some French ladies asked her opinion as to
9
You will have clumsy actresses,
Half woman and half patten.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. i37
The long pointed bodices, the short sleeves, and the full skirts
reappeared frequently. Masks had not been given up; and muffs,
that were very generally worn, often served to carry about little
limit to be reached?
Two English ladies, with their hair worn low, having been
presented at the Versailles court in 1714, Louis XIV. said to the
Paris cede a la
mode et change ses parures
Ce peuple imitateur et singe de la cour
A commence depuis un jour
2
Dhumilier enfin lorgueil de ses coiffures.
of the cravats did not last long, but was revived later in the shape
1668 ;
but the bodice of the same colour as the train, was made
with a small basque cut away in front. It was half open, and
disclosed a braided stomacher, above which was a chemisette of
fine muslin or lace, or a follette, a very light kind of fichu.
Sleeves were no longer puffed, but were worn close fitting, with
a lace frill.
says Boursault,
3
Paraissaient voltiger dans les cheveux des dames.
or barefaced.
The costume was completed by a necklace, the inevitable fan,
of the crown diamonds. The next day her gown was of grey
damask, with silver flowers, and she wore diamonds and emeralds.
Mademoiselle wore a coat of gros de Tours richly embroidered in
gold ;
her skirt, of silver tissue, was embroidered in gold touched
with flame-colour. She wore a splendid set of diamonds, and
a mantle of gold point dEspagne, six yards and a half long,
and her train was carried by the Grand Duchess. Another time
her coat and skirt were both of cloth of silver, all laced with
silver. Her jewels were diamonds and rubies.
Towards 1700, says Michelet, the women of the time no
our gaze, the small portion that we are permitted to admire, and
that is, as it were, offered to our inspection, is but the more
attractive. There is a sort of audacity about the uncovered brow,
the hair drawn back so as to show its every root, the high comb,
or diadem-cap, that seems little in harmony with the soft and
childish features of the day. This childishness, so devoid of
innocence, combined with the masculine Steinkirk, gives them the
appearance of pets of the seraglio, or of impudent pages who have
stolen womens garments.
3 Seemed to flutter in the ladies hair.
142 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
tions. The word became part of our language, and was used
with great frequency in the complimentary talk addressed to
women.
Mignard was succeeded by a painter called Largilliere ;
and
mignardise began to give way to a colder and simpler style,
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER XVI.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. (CONTINUED).
1705 to 1715.
well as their bosom, arms, and ears. ... If by the fault of nature
women became such as they make themselves by art, that is to
say, if their complexion suddenly lost all its freshness, and looked
as fiery and leaden as they make it by the use of rouge and paint,
be pleasing to men, if it is for the mens sake that they lay on their
white and red paint, I have inquired into the matter, and I can
tell them that in the opinion of men, or at least of the great
majority, the use of white paint and rouge makes them hideous
and disgusting ;
and that rouge, by itself, both ages and disguises
them.
This reminds us of the reply of a Turkish ambassador who, on
being questioned as to the beauty of Frenchwomen, said, I am
no judge of painting.
La Bruyere criticized sharply ;
while Fenelon, with characteristic
gentleness, pointed out that the elegant simplicity of the antique
races was far more favourable to beauty than the fashions of the
144 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
day, which were tending more and more to affectation and over-
ornament.
While moralists were thus testifying against their interpretation
Tur caret :
they come out, and I flatter myself that I was the first to wear
pretintailles in the town of Valognes.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. J
45
La pretintaille en falbala
La pretintaille en falbala !
La pretintaille en falbala ! 2
1 A woman in
pretintaille
and
fontange
L
146 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
such an extent, that the biggest piece was no larger than the
So that it is extravagant,
Good taste yields to it,
But it disappears
Almost as soon as it appears,
For all changes and will change,
La, la, la, &c.
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. i47
and incommoded her so much that her majesty could not bear
it in silence. In order to prevent the recurrence of such incon-
venience, it was ordered that thenceforth the princesses should not
draw their seats so near the queen, nor on the same line with her
armchair.
Coopers and basket-makers undertook the manufacture of dress-
improvers. In vain were these articles railed against ;
they pre-
vailed over satire of every kind. Paniers were the ruin of homes,
the dread of husbands, and the misery of passers-by.
Paniers for morning wear were called considerations.
If we may believe M. Emile de la Bedolliere, a writer on
cc
fashions in France, one Panier, a maitre des requetes, was
drowned on the passage from Martinique to Havre. His name
became a catch-word ;
and ladies amused themselves by asking
each other as they displayed their dress,
How do you like my c
maitre des requetes
?
told of a sailor, who, meeting two ladies in the city of Paris whose
paniers took up the whole width of the street, found it was
impossible to get past them. Pride forbade him to turn back,
and in a moment he had taken a flying leap over paniers and
ladies, to the admiration and applause of the spectators of both
sexes.
of silver gauze. This was trimmed with puffs of gold gauze and
pink crape, edged with blue jet, and with bouquets of roses
scattered here and there. The under-skirt was of pink silk.
their coats.
sword ;
his hair was arranged in two waving locks powdered
REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. 149
neck.
In those days, Fashion ruled very despotically, and took no heed
garlands, flowers, or designs of all sorts, was only used to set and
show them off. The provost of trade at Lyons issued an edict
forbidding the goldsmiths to sell stuff's woven with silver at more
than seventy francs a yard.
But we know the uselessness of sumptuary laws. Numerous
and costly articles for the toilet, real specimens of industrial art,
Large fans with handles were in fashion towards the year 1700.
It was considered a mark of high breeding for men to chastise
their wives and daughters with them. This was putting fans to
a singular use, which probably did not last long.
against paniers :
This fashion is owned, even by those who are
most devoted to it, to be very inconvenient. Paniers are most
uncomfortable, both for the wearer and for every one else. But
ladies heard the Oratorian and heeded not, any more than they had
heeded an edict which, during the madness induced by Laws
speculations, had forbidden them to wear jewels or diamonds, for
fear they might be exchanged for shares or notes of the Mississippi
Bank.
The Journal de Verdun, October, 1724, writes in the same
spirit as Pere Duguet In former times mothers used to take
:
and Italy have been introduced into France under the name of
paniers ;
this is a fashion conducive to false modesty. But the
ladies in this instance, also, heard and heeded not, and the Journal
de Verdun after a time discontinued its attacks.
Is it not the said panier also that makes your carriages groan,
and that bulges through them like the sails of a ship, while you
are holding your noble wooden hoop in both hands, and displaying
it beneath a costume that is a scandal to the Church, and a
order to make them stand out. They are so large, that when the
wearer sits down, the whalebones being pushed fly up in an
extraordinary manner, and armchairs have had to be constructed
expressly for them. The largest boxes at the theatre will now
hold only three women. The fashion has been carried to an
extreme, and is consequently quite extravagant ;
so much so, that
when the princesses take their seats beside the queen, their skirts
rise up, and quite conceal those of her majesty. This appeared
like an impertinence, but it was difficult to find a remedy. At
last, by dint of reflection, the cardinal invented an expedient
there should always be one armchair left empty on each side of
the queen, who would thus be spared any inconvenience.
Mdlle. Jaucourt played the part of Galatea in Pygmalion in
drawn in at the waist, and with busks that bruised the chest of
the wearer.
Then again, as in 1694, sleeves were made flat, and trimmed
with frills. A new material was used for gowns, little bouquets
printed or brocaded on a ground of silk, marcelline, or satin.
The arms were protected from the cold by a miniature muff and
warm furs.
Robes volantes, or loose gowns without a belt, came into
general use about 1730. For the most part they were made of
white or rose-coloured silk, especially for young girls, who also
silk slip.
possible shoes ;
and women contrived, as it were, to manufacture
feet for their shoes, in imitation of Camargo, the dancer, whose
shoemaker amassed a large fortune. Parasols, or sunshades, were
and shut.
Among the accessories of dress were necklaces, bags or reticules,
persistently called ridicules, poupottes, or horsehair pockets
plaister, and the white and red paint, which many women laid on
so thickly that their faces were quite incrusted with it. A woman
of rank would have lost all consideration had she appeared at the
observed 1593, nuns had even been seen walking in Paris, with
in
their hair curled and powdered, but this, it must be admitted, was
In
La Mode, a comedy in three acts by Mme. de Staal, a
marquis is made to say,
You need only hear an account of our day ! In the morning,
discussions with workpeople and tradespeople over the choice of
our dress ! And what trouble do we not take to secure the last
novelty, to choose all that is in the best taste, and to avoid any
wear round caps with two plaited wings coming forward on the
temples, and called le bat en Ioeil. The bourgeoises have
retained, says Le Livre de la Coiffure, the full-crowned cap,
surrounded with ribbon twists or bows, with two lappets falling
over the chignon, and frills of lace curving round the temples.
Some ephemeral fashions were introduced into France by the
Polish princess Maria Leczinska, the wife of Louis XV.
Hongrelines were worn, and polonaises, or hongroises,
trimmed with brandebourgs and, in 1729, embroidered man-
tillas of velvet and satin lined with ermine or other fur, the two
ends finished with handsome tassels, that were tied behind the
waist.
The reign of lace ended with the eighteenth century, for Louis
XVI. cared little for embroidery and finery.
The drive to Longchamps in Holy Week afforded to the rich
an opportunity of displaying the splendour both of their equipages
and their dress, and it has continued to exist to the present day.
CHAPTER XVIII.
REIGN OF LOUIS XVI.
1774 TO 1780.
The influence of Marie Antoinette on fashion Letter from Maria Theresa Leonard and
Mdlle. Bertin Various styles of head-dresses Pouf The Journal deParis Reign
of Louis Male and female hair-dressers Plumes Hair worn low The queens
XVI.
puce -colouredgown shades of colour in dresses Oberkampf and the Jouy prints
;
Expensive satins Trimmings, their great number and importance Gauze, blond,
and ribbons Some kinds of shoes Venez-y-voir The Archduchess ribbons
tulle,
plumes in her hair. Louis XVI. came in, and greatly admired
his wife, saying he had never seen her look so well. Almost
immediately feathers came into fashion, not in France only,
but throughout Europe. But when, shortly afterwards, Marie
Antoinette sent a portrait of herself, wearing large feathers as a
head-dress, to her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa returned it.
The last time I worked with the queen, we decided that the
new caps should not come out for another week.
1774. The singer who took the part of Iphigenia wore, when
about to be sacrificed, a wreath of black flowers, surmounted by a
silver crescent, and a long white veil flowing behind. Every lady
immediately adopted the lugubrious coiffure a llphigenie.
REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. 163
quesaco head-dress 1
was invented, consisting in part of a large
bunch of plumes behind the head. At court the pouf au
sentiment was much in favour; it was composed of various
ornaments fastened in the hair, viz. birds, butterflies, cardboard
Cupids, branches of trees, and even vegetables. Louis Philippes
mother wore a pouf in which every one might admire the Due
de Beaujolais, her eldest son, in the arms of his nurse, a parrot
pecking at a cherry, a little negro, and various designs worked
with the hair of the Dukes of Orleans, Chartres, and Penthievre.
The coiffure a la Belle Poule consisted of a ship in full sail,
dresses and hats, which, being loaded with plumes, ribbons, and
flowers, intercept the view of spectators in the pit. . .
.
M 2
164 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
volumes. 2
Marie Antoinette continued to rule the fashionable world ;
nor
can we be surprised that the flattery of courtiership took up the
tale. In honour of Louis XVI. s accession, hats were invented
under the name of delights of the Augustan age, and a colour
called queens hair, of a pretty blonde tint.
For many years a great rivalry had subsisted between the male
2
It will not assist the readers imagination much to give the translation of
these extraordinary names but here they are :
the ingenuous maiden,
;
the counsellors wife, the royal bird, dog lying down, gallant pits,
calhches with the hoods up.
REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. i6 5
heads, and purchase the severed hair; to give the needful plait by
means of fire and iron to locks that are no longer living ;
to fix
They went on to say that the art of dressing womens hair was
nearly allied to genius ;
and that in order to exercise it nobly, one
cc
should be at once a poet, a painter, and a sculptor. It is
is, as it were, the first officer of the toilet . . . and under his
artistic hands, amid his artistic influences, does the rose expand
and acquire her most brilliant beauty.
The conclusion to be drawn is that wig-makers and their
foot and a half higher than the ladies heads. The kings aunts,
who could not make up their minds to follow such extraordinary
fashions, nor to copy the queens dress day by day, used to call
were coaches too small to contain the plumed dames of the period,
lady, whose Persian cambric was the envy of all the princesses,
had the misfortune to tear it. She hastened to the factory at
Long narrow shoes, with the seam at the heel studded with
emeralds, were called in the trade venez-y-voir, or come-
and-see.
Women wore over their shoulders an arrangement of lace,
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER XIX.
REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. (CONTINUED).
1780 TO 1789.
made manifest caraco The harpy costume Coats, cravats, and waistcoats
Sailor jackets and pierrots Deshabilles ;
the lying fichu Etiquette in dress
Seasonable costumes The queens card-table State of trade in Paris, circa 1787
Pinceauteuses, or female colourers.
Ever since the song came out, Marlborough has become the hero
1 72 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
of every fashion ;
everything nowadays is
a la Marlborough,
and all the ladies walk about the streets, or go to the play, wear-
ing the grotesque hat in which they are pleased to bury their
charms, so great is the empire of novelty.
Marie Antoinette partially revived the rage for fashions cc
a la
Marlborough.
Four years later, Frenchwomen gave up the caps I have
mentioned for straw bonnets from Italy, which were immediately
preferred above all others, and which remained in fashion for
above a century. One milliner would choose a shape with
perpendicular crown, hidden under a mass of ribbon ;
another
would adopt an enormous funnel-shaped brim, loaded with feathers
or flowers.
It has been calculated that in the course of two years, from
1784 to 1786, the shapes of hats were changed seventeen
times. There were some called hat-caps, chapeau-bonnets,
satire ;
they were of black gauze, and called a la Caisse dEs-
lace, sewn to the edge of the dress, and arranged like flounces.
Paniers were out of date, but postiches had taken their place.
These postiches soon became so enormous, that even young and
slender women looked like towers of silk, lace, ribbon, and flowers.
Fashionable marquises wore satin pelisses, white, pink, or sky
blue, trimmed with ermine or miniver, and a muff in winter.
bearing a club wreathed with flowers. The serpent and the club
represented medicine, and the art by which the variolous monster
had been vanquished; the rising sun was emblematic of the young
king, in whom were centred all the hopes of the monarchists ;
and
the olive-tree symbolized the peace and tranquillity resulting from
the operation to which the royal princes had submitted.
two-horned monster, with bats wings, and human face and hair,
which was said to devour daily one ox, or four pigs. A song-
writer composed the following lines against the new fashion:
2 The harpy
is ill chosen ;
coats, and wore two watches with chains, breloques, and seals.
strictly observed ;
and before proceeding further we may point
out that from the reign of Louis XIV. to the French Revolution
the dress of men and women alike was entirely regulated by
etiquette, by which we mean not the code of courtiers only, but
the sanction of recognized custom.
Materials were classified according to the seasons. In winter,
dress was restricted to velvet, satin, ratteen, and cloth. After the
fetes of Longchamp, which may be considered as the assizes of
fashion, the lace called point dAngleterre made its appearance.
Mechlin lace was worn in summer. In the intermediary seasons
Gardens.
REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. i77
speak more prosaically, when she reached the age of forty, she
wore a coif of black lace underneath her cap, and tied it below
her chin. The editor of the Memoirs of Mme. de Lamballe
tells us that after the queens card-table (jeu de la reine)
gold and silver, gold braid, gold and silver net-work, and woollen
materials of various kinds.
Turgot suppressed the guild of female bouquet-vendors, and
ruled that women should pass masters in any profession suitable
to their sex, not only as embroiderers and milliners, but also as
hair-dressers. Increased grace and delicacy in feminine attire was
the result of this innovation. Large numbers of skilled mechanics
Revolution; but they only help to prove it, and were of brief
duration.
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CHAPTER XX.
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
1789 TO 1804.
Blond wigs and black wigs The Hotel Thelusson Which is the most ridiculous ?
Mme. Talliens costume Epigram on bonnets a la folle Reticules Transparent
dresses Lines by Despreaux.
Time has passed, and we have reached the year 1789. For a
favour of one gown only. The arms were either altogether bare,
years.
dress ;
and under the Directory, when the Terror was over, women
went from one extreme to the other, and spent ruinous sums in
and a
c
chess-board hat immediately makes its appearance.
We must also mention wigs a lAspasie, a la Venus, a
la Turque, Greek and Roman wigs, art head-dresses in the style of
Sappho Doisy nets, linked tiaras formed of the glittering
;
Paillette
Aux fins bandeaux,
Aux grands chapeaux
Paillette
Aux noirs colliers,
Aux blancs souliers !
Paillette,
Paillette aux rubans,
Aux turbans.
On ne voit rien sans
1
Paillette !
1
Spangles on the caps,
On the toques,
On the little bodices !
Spangles
On the soft hair-bands,
On the large hats !
Spangles
On the black necklaces,
On the white shoes !
Spangles,
Spangles on the ribbons,
On the turbans.
Nothing is to be seen
Without spangles !
i86 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
Dresses called cc
Athenian were made of diaphanous material.
They were open at the sides, from the waist to the lower edge of
the tunic. Gowns made with trains were worn for walking.
The celebrated Eulalie was particularly clever at drawing the
long trains of gowns alOmphale through the sash. If any
one presumed to assert that from their feet to their heads women
were too little clothed, they would reply,
four francs in assignats was charged for the making of two caps
gauze for three caps cost ioo francs; two dozen cambric-muslin
pocket-handkerchiefs cost 2400 francs; a brown silk gown, 1040
francs; and a batiste gown edged with silk, 2500 francs.
both on the stage and in print. Twelve blond wigs were included
in Mdlle. Lepelletier de St. Fargeaus wedding trousseau. Mme.
Tallien possessed thirty; each cost five and twenty louis.
At a party at the Hotel Thelusson, great admiration was
excited by a lady whose hair was dressed in the Greek style,
band of cameos representing Roman emperors encircled her head.
Her gown was of crape, embroidered in steel.
folle
De ces vilains bonnets, maman, quel est le prix ?
3
Toutes nos dames en ont pris.
King of Etrurias fete, her hair was arranged like the quills of a
porcupine ;
a long gold chain and enormous locket hung round
her neck. Another lady adopted a cap exactly like her grand-
fathers night-cap, a veil falling below her waist, and a tunic with
which her puce silk spencer made a startling contrast. Others,
only :
Grace a la mode
On na plus dcheveux {bis) ;
Ah qucest commode
!
!
On na plus dcheveux
5
On dit qucest mieux !
3 What is the price, mamma, of those ugly caps ?
Ten francs. The name ? Madwomans caps.
Ah, that is strange, interrupted Nicolle,
For all our ladies wear them.
*
The author relates an anecdote here to which justice cannot be done in
English, as the play upon words cannot be translated. The anecdote is as
follows Une dame, ayant perdu son sac, voulut le faire afficher. * Fi done
: !
lui dit un mauvais plaisant, faire afficher un ridicule, quand on en a tant !
O how
! convenient !
No more hair,
1'hey say it is better so !
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 189
cache-folies, or tortillons.
HON
I
FAS
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER XXL
REIGN OF NAPOLEON I.
1804 TO 1814.
Yet the white gowns with spiral trimming of pink satin, and
a wreath of brightly coloured flowers round the bottom of the
skirt, must have been pretty. The bodice was fastened on the
shoulders by many-coloured ribbons, and trimmed at the neck
with Valenciennes lace of great cost. The bare arms were
covered with long white gloves ;
round the throat was a necklace
of real pearls, and on the hair, worn in curls, a wreath of roses.
was short, revealing the ankle and foot in a white satin shoe.
Walking costumes were much the same as to shape, with the
exception of the skirt, which was very long. They were much
heavier by reason of the kerchief round the neck, and the shawl
covering the shoulders. Dresses were worn a la Jean de Paris,
an opera by Boi'eldieu ;
the hair was dressed a la Chinoise, with
gold pins, from which hung little gold balls.
o
194 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
to the use of stays, which came in with the winter of 1809, and
have held their place ever since, in spite of all the sarcasm that
has been lavished on those mechanical aids to dress. By way of
compensation, the Empire gave us Cashmere shawls, first brought
into France at the time of our Egyptian expedition (1798 1802).
Previously to that, Tippoo-Sai'b had included shawls among the
gifts he had sent to Louis XVI. ;
but they were not generally
worn until later. Piis wrote the following lines on the subject:
o 2
ig6 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER XXII.
REIGNS OF LOUIS XVIII. AND CHARLES X.
1815 TO 1830.
ladies shoemakers.
White gowns, trimmed at the bottom with flowers, were
generally worn both at official and private balls. Flowers, roses for
the most part, were worn in the hair. Plaid dresses were in fashion,
dresses a findolente, and dresses trimmed with chinchilla.
white satin ones, the brims of which were cut into points or
squares, and surmounted with marabouts. Other milliners manu-
factured cornettes in black velvet, edged with white tulle
they even placed black hats on white cornettes.
Many dresses were made of fine white merino, with wide stripes
of dead silver, called chefs. White merino boots, laced at the
little below the waist. These were generally made of velvet, reps,
two pieces, and a small cushion covered with white silk was
fastened on behind to give elegance to the shape. 1
the interests of hygiene and dress, had proved that the use of
busks was highly dangerous. They attracted electricity to the
chest, and might occasion internal irritation in that region.
barege-cashmere.
The hair was arranged in plaits, or high, stiff curls, on the top of
the head, mixed with ribbons and flowers, or with curled feathers
invented by M. Plaisir, or a steel comb.
To these we may add sashes of China crape and gauze, belts
of hair, morocco leather baskets, diamond waist-buckles, morocco
bags shaped like pocket-books or shells, stamped leather bags,
lace mantillas, plaid and damask satin parasols, and terry velvet
over-shoes lined with fur.
In 1827, France possessed for the first time a living giraffe.
street organs continually repeated the tunes that had been com-
posed in its honour.
Then Fashion took it up, and created gowns a la giraffe,
and when poor Jocko had expired, the ladies honoured his memory
by wearing materials named Jockos last sigh.
f S
oa
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5
CHAPTER XXIII.
REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE.
1830 TO 1848.
The Revolution of July, 1830 Fashions in Louis Philippes reign Microscopical bonnets,
called bibis, cabriolets Variety of caps Fashions of the Middle Ages and of
the Renaissance The stage Historic costumes Influence of Rachel, the actress
Greek and Roman fashions Colours Various designations of materials Bedouin
sleeves
Bonnets and head-dresses Pamela bonnets Novel eccentricities Taglioni
gowns, gathered a la Vierge, laced it la Niobe, &c.
The Sylvestrine Cos-
tumes to be worn on occasions of attempts on the kings life Bouquets for balls.
The Snow
head-dress was named after Aubers work ;
gowns
a la Dame Blanche, after that of Boieldieu ;
and caps a la
206 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
VI. ? No ;
you make a mistake. She has only insisted on her
milliner dressing her like Mdlle. Georges in her stage dress of
Isabeau de Baviere, the principal character in the play of Perrinet
Leclerc.
REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE. 207
but the French and Italian Opera Houses, the Opera Comique, the
Theatre- Frai^ais, and the large theatres of the Boulevards exer-
cise the greatest influence at the present day over the caprices
ments ;
or if on another occasion she displayed a set of magnificent
208 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
cameos, they too must possess cameos of the same kind. They
copied the great actress in the minutest detail of her costume, and
even in her most characteristic head-dress.
The Romantic School was succeeded by that of good sense,
according to the admirers of Ponsard ;
and Emile Augiers
Cigue produced a temporary revival of the taste for Greek and
Roman fashions.
But the reaction against the Middle Ages did not reach the
bourgeois classes, who, when their romanticist costumes were
worn out, replaced them with others of a less striking style, and
better adapted to modern life.
But we must not imagine that this was all, and that capriciousness
and the love of change can ever abdicate their throne. The cc
leg-
Such were the Venetian, the Louis XIII., the nuns, the
Turkish, the Bedouin, the Persian, the gardeners, the
Sevigne, the Dubarry sleeves, & c. I omit some of the
strangest. Henry the Seconds narrow-brimmed hats with curled
feathers came again into fashion, and the ladies adopted enthu-
siastically collars and guimpes a la Medicis, and mantles a
la vieille
2
or a la paysanne. 3
p
210 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
attempted.
In the annals of fashion, the reign of Louis Philippe is re-
REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE. 21 I
Many trifles, light and fragile as roses, exist like roses, for one
day only. And every woman is the willing slave of Fashion,
however extraordinary it may be, so that by dressing like others,
p 2
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SECOND REPUBLIC.
1848 TO 1S51.
Tricoloured stuffs of 1848 Girondin mantles Open gowns Summer dresses Kasawecks
and their derivatives Beaver bonnets ;
velvet bonnets, and satin or crape drawn
bonnets Cloches, Cornelia, Moldavian, and Josephine cloaks; mantles Isly green
Opera cloaks Numerous styles of dressing the hair a Marie Stuart, a Valois, Leda,
la la
:
kasawecks were lined with fur, but ours were simply wadded.
They were sometimes made of velvet and satin, but more
frequently of cashmere or merino, and were occasionally worn
under a shawl or mantle. They were known under several
names, viz. coin-du-feu, casaque, pardessus, &c. and ;
dressmakers got ideas from the events taking place in the colony,
satin stripe either of the same colour as the parasol, or blue or green
or a necklace.
In order to defy the Paris mud, ladies wore high-heeled kid
boots, and gaiters of lamb-skin, buttoning on the outer side.
Shoes were hardly seen except at balls, and were worn with
beautiful hand-embroidered stockings, either of silk or Scotch
thread.
and of rice straw or chip. Black lace drawn bonnets were worn
in general by women of a certain age.
and had gilt buttons. For full dress, the buttons were of plain or
chased gold, coral, turquoise, or garnet.
Canezous were very useful to wear with skirts that still retained
very economical.
We need not go further afield to account for the long duration
of this fashion, both in town and country.
CHAPTER XXV.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III.
1851 TO 1854.
Ready-made mantles Talmas, mousquetaires, and rotondes The Second Empire; remini-
scences of the reign of Napoleon Marriage of Napoleon III.; dress of the new
I.
empress ;
her hair dressed by Felix Escalier ;
court mantle and train Four kinds of
dress Opera dress Bodices a Vierge, Pompadour bodices, and
in 1853-4 la
Watteau bodices Skirt trimmings A new colour, Theba Light Social and tints
theatrical celebrities The Eugenie head-dress and Mainnier bands End of the first
monster bazaars.
A Talma was a cloth mantle, with or without a hood, and
trimmed in various ways, and was a special favourite with ladies.
Some other shapes were extremely simple. Talmas were also called
Cervantes, or Charles X., or Valois, or Charles IX.
The Talma clearly derived its origin from Spain. A cloak
called Andromache was also worn; it recalled the fashions
and rotondes.
Mousquetaires were trimmed with velvet chevrons, and were
fastened by tabs and large buttons. The others were all shaped
like the talma, with a few unimportant variations.
On the establishment of the Second Empire, the fashions of the
First were not immediately adopted, notwithstanding the prognosti-
222 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
from the top of the head to the neck, where it fell in curls that,
The true court mantle falling from the shoulders was reserved,
it is said, for the Empress, the princesses, and some few highly
honoured ladies exclusively ;
for the Imperial Court wished to
imitate exactly the magnificence displayed by Louis XIV., and the
first ranks of Society became luxurious in the extreme.
A court train consisted of a skirt opening in front, but
falling low at the sides, and ending in a long train. The train
gold or silver.
elegant, and slim effect which has always been, and will always
remain, so creditable to the French taste.
The majority of ladies felt no temptation to recall the times of
that Marechale Lefebvre, who was as famous for her finery and
feathers as for her singular choice of language and her extra-
ordinary remarks. Nothing of the past can be enduring, except
that which has succeeded.
During the winter of 1853-4, dresses were worn at the opera,
of which I will describe one as a typical example.
The gown was of grey poult de soie, the high bodice was
fastened by ruby buttons, and the basques, open on the hips, were
trimmed with a knot of cherry-coloured ribbon. The five flounces
of the skirt were trimmed with ribbon of the same hue, laid on
224 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
flat, and terminating in bows with long ends. This was very
unlike the dresses of 1810.
Bodices a la Vierge, Pompadour and Watteau bodices with
trimmings of lace, velvet, flowers, and ruched, quilled, or plain
ribbon, were extremely fashionable. There was a certain grace
about them.
On the whole, women greatly preferred the stomachers of the
eighteenth century to the short waists of the first years of the
nineteenth. They modelled themselves rather on the ancient
order of things, than on the commencement of the new order,
because above all they sought for pure and delicate outline.
The fashions of the reign of Louis the Eighteenth were
resorted to for trimming the skirts of ball-dresses. Large puffings
of muslin or lace came almost up to the knees. Here and there
little butterfly bows of ribbon nestled in the interstices of the puff's,
was only necessary to divide the bandeau into two equal parts,
formed a roll that increased in size from above the forehead until
it reached the ear, where one or two curls falling on the neck
completed the arrangement.
Such were the fashions of the first Imperial period, which
inaugurated an era of luxury in every rank of society, but did
not as yet produce those successive inventions in dress that we
shall afterwards have to note, and which are continuously
developed in the present generation.
Q
CHAPTER XXVI.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (CONTINUED).
1854 AND 1855.
Crinoline inaugurates the second era of Imperial fashions The reign of crinoline Starched
petticoats Whaleboned petticoats Steel hoops Two camps are formed, one favour in
of,and one inimical to crinoline Large collars Marie Antoinette fichus and mantles
Exhibition of 1855 'Cashmere shawls Pure cashmeres Indian cashmere shawls
Indian woollen shawls Mouzaia shawls Algerian burnouses Pompadour parasols
Straight parasols School fans The fan drill Tire Queen of Oudes fans The
for
Charlotte Corday fichu.
Horsehair was surely not the only resource for swelling out ones
clothes.
Q 2
228 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
As for the steel hoops that were soon universally worn, not
only were they extremely ugly, but they swayed from side to side,
and sometimes, if not made sufficiently long, the lower part of
white, and trimmed with two rows of lace, were very fashionable
they were crossed over the chest, and tied behind the waist.
Black lace bodices were equally popular. Both looked very well
over a low dress. Beautiful lace, long hidden in old cupboards,
was now brought out and turned to account. Several articles of
dress were revived in remembrance of Marie-Antoinette. Besides the
fichu, our great ladies wore Marie Antoinette canezousandmantillas.
The ends of the canezou finished at the waist, while those of the
mantilla were crossed under the arms. Nothing could be lighter or
The Empress demi- veils were also a lasting success. Some were
made of tulle point d esprit, and edged with a deep blond lace,
frilled on ;
others were of open network, and hardly concealed the
face at all.
cashmere, with the exception of the warp, which was in fancy silk
as the Indian cashmere, but the woof was of wool, more or less
fine in quality.
Parasols with folding handles were soon laid aside, and straight
handled ones, worthy rivals of the marquises or duchesses,
resumed their old place. Women of fashion possessed exquisite
white or coloured moire parasols, lined with blue, pink, or white,
with handles of foreign woods, tortoise-shell inlaid with gold, or
rhinoceros horn. For country wear they were made in ecru
batiste, lined with coloured sarsnet.
Parasols were now quite indispensable, for in the wide, open
spaces of Paris there was no protection from the sun, the trees
affording only a delusive shade.
At the same time, fans were in such universal request, especially
with young ladies, that it was proposed in jest to found a school
of instruction in the art of managing them.
REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. 231
Fashion does not assert itself only in the ordinary round of life.
Casaques, hoods, and capelines found their way from the sea-
beach into the towns, where, if not worn by great ladies, they
kerchiefs was by no means new, yet never before had they been
made with such exceeding care, trimmed with such valuable lace, or
so delicately embroidered. It was usual for ladies to embroider
their own handkerchiefs, a task on which they bestowed extreme
pains, achieving perfect marvels of patience and art.
even bonnets were spotted with gold or trimmed with gold buckles.
Walking- dresses had gold pipings, bouquets of auriculas were
worn, gilt pins with little chains, and frequently large gold
buckles.
White Arabian burnouses, shot with gold and silver, were used
as opera and ball wraps.
23 6 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
and bracelets ;
in a word, of all the trinkets successively sanctioned
by Fashion.
In the year of which we are now writing, the best dressed
with a bunch of berries and ash privet on the top of the head ;
or
a wreath of hops and foliage ;
or one of oak leaves with gold
acorns, and a gold aigrette in the centre. Wreaths of cornflower,
with wheat-ears meeting over the forehead, were Ceres wreaths.
These seem to us to have been among the last styles arranged
with order, and in which the talent of the hairdresser might
manifest itself or produce any artistic result.
1861 ;
and the ladies promptly discarded all green materials. In
pale green satin gown, was attacked, after dancing several quadrilles,
instance.
chous), or bows of black lace and white blond, were worn: (i)
a bonnet in royal blue velvet, with a scarf of white tulle laid on
the brim ; (2) a black velvet bonnet, with white tulle scarf put
round the crown, and over the curtain; (3) a red satin
falling
(groseille des Alpes) drawn bonnet, covered with tulle, and with
bows at the side ; (4) an orange velvet bonnet, with soft crown
and white tulle brim, a wreath of flowers on the edge.
For morning dress, horsehair, Belgian straw, and chip bonnets
were worn.
Very little change was observable in boots, which were generally
made of leather or Turkish satin (satin turc) ;
shoes, either
whole costume.
The manufacture of artificial flowers received a great impetus at
In our beautiful France, where the fault of the climate is its too
frequent showers, it often happened that ladies set out to walk,
parasol in hand, with the sun shining brightly overhead, but
during their walk a downpour of rain would overtake them, ruin
their dress in one moment, and reduce them to utter despair.
How were such heavy misfortunes to be avoided ? How were
mortals to contend against the uncertainty of climate ?
R
?42 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
have just mentioned, gowns were very prettily made, with bodices
either slightly pointed, or with waistbands or long sashes, or else
Very many fashions are the result of caprice; but they are also
modes of commemorating some great literary, musical, or dramatic
success, or of celebrating some important event.
In 1863, the Fashion journals were loud in praise of the
Lydia paletot, the Lalla Rookh jacket, and the Vespertina
to display the newly invented modes on the road leading from the
perfected.
really remarkable.
R 2
244 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
coloured hair.
There were some quite impossible hues, intended to harmonize
with the thickly laid-on paint of the face, for faces were painted,
just as in the eighteenth century.
lEmpire. The skirts were cut straight at the back, and worn
with melon-shaped dress-improvers in horsehair. Stiff muslin or a
a third advertised his system of aeration for the hair and ; a fourth
Sardous famous play, were worn below the chin and underneath
the bonnet strings, like a curb chain.
with gold ;
a knot of black velvet and a diamond aigrette in the
hair; no crinoline."
and were very valuable. A very small one cost 350 francs.
Five different styles of dressing the hair in 1868 and 1S69 Petit catogan three triple
bandeaus The hair is Dress of the Duchess de M ouchy Refinements of
worn loose
fashion Various journals New shades Crinoline attacked resists;
is succumbs
;
it it
Chinese fashions.
long ringlets falling from the back of the head, a little higher
than the coque, low on the shoulders.
underneath ;
one long repentir or ringlet, waved, but not
curled.
sort of scarf of flowers, with silver foliage, fell from one shoulder
slanting across the skirt.
costumes such as these were seen and admired, and the day
after a fete the fashionable newspapers gave minute descriptions
For many years, and although there was little novelty in the
fashions, they never ceased to be the order of the day. More
than ever did women make them their occupation, and men also
were deeply interested in the subject.
France and abroad, and supplied a real want in circles where many
articles of dress were made at home.
A taste for handsome dress pervaded every class of society, a
which they owed their names, and which had been successful,
indeed, but at a great cost in blood.
Our victories in Italy being thus commemorated by French-
women, they condescended to recall in like manner the capture of
Pekin and the famous treaty of Shanghai. The extreme East
was to them no longer an unknown land.
The latter party gained the day at first, and crinolines were
merely modified. They were made in white horsehair, with rolls
ever ?
certain point French ladies approved of the new style, which has
since that time undergone several transformations, the first being
the introduction of the poufs and tournures that were still
OP
HISTORY
mm
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE THIRD REPUBLIC.
1870 TO 1S74.
dress-improvers Silks Moderate costumes The burningof the Opera House
Sale on behalf of those made orphans by the war The ball for the Lyons weavers
Cashmere tunics Dislike to gloves Petticoats Charles IX. shoes Slippers The
year 1874
Page bonnets and Margot hats Hair in the Swiss style false hair ;
The ball given by the Chamber of Commerce Green Jet Various costumes Hair-
dressing Mercury bonnets.
communication with the departments was cut off, the part played
by Fashion was interrupted, and the source of caprice in dress
completely dried up. How could Frenchwomen indulge in the
luxuries of dress while their native soil was red with the blood of
their fathers, husbands, brothers, or sons ? How could they
occupy their minds with superfluities, when millions were in want
of the necessaries of life, when the inhabitants of the capital lacked
food, and when France, from one end to the other, was in the
For many months the pleasant things of home were laid aside,
brilliancy, like those of the latter years of the Second Empire, and
on that account alone they deserve mention. Gowns, without
crinolines or trains, no longer swept the beach as formerly, nor
seaside were simply and modestly attired, and resorted thither for
bathing merely.
Parisian velvet was the new winter material. This was a
THE THIRD REPUBLIC. 2 53
and skirt. The tunic was polonaise shape, plain in front, and
with two Watteau plaits behind; the skirt was of silk, either
silk, edged with jet beads, and trimmed w'ith a tuft of black
feathers with one long hanging plume. The Michael Angelo
bonnet, lined with some light colour, and the sailor hat, in felt
were made of the same velvet or satin as the dress, and with
a long feather curled round the crown.
The Rabagas hat was brought into fashion by a play
of Victorien Sardous, that attracted much attention by its political
failure.
discipline of Fashion.
In a space of less than two months appeared the Montenegrin,
sleeves.
the war, at the new Opera House, Parisians perceived that the
love of striking costumes had not passed away. The lady stall-
silk spotted with blue or pink, trimmed with bows and two
rows of lace ;
and also cane parasols with large handles, were
s
258 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
of the Lyons weavers, and the dresses were more magnificent than
ever. But no one found fault. Mme. Musard made a great
cost.
each season.
Flounces of English, Alen^on, and Mechlin lace were mixed
with quantities of raised embroidery, beautifully executed.
A new shape for bonnets was favourably received in the highest
with flannel or with fur, and slightly wadded. The furs most
commonly used, besides squirrel and Russian wild cat, were otter
peplum, cut in one piece with the bodice, and forming basques at
the back.
THE THIRD REPUBLIC. 261
But to return to 1874. Green did not in that year create any
great excitement in trade ;
but jet was so extensively used, that the
effect was similar to that produced by the rage for green silk
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CHAPTER XXXII.
FASHIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY.
1875 TO 1878.
Dinner, casino, and ball dresses in 1875 Importation of false hair Manufacture in France
Modification of waterproofs
Estelle bonnets Tunic aprons Cuirass bodices
Montespan sleeves Saut-du-lit Shoes of past times Bonnes-femmes pockets
Henri plumes Inez
III. Ribbons and flowers Heavy
veils of dress style
Pouf petticoats Composite fashions of 1876 Armenian toques Ophelia bon- ;
We have now reached the fashions of the present day, that is, the
fashions that have prevailed from 1875 to 1881.
It will be well to divide this period into two parts, the first
The front of the skirt was trimmed with five flounces of antique
lace, above which were full ruchings in two shades of blue, one
shade being the same as that of the skirt, and the other rather
darker. The upper skirt, widely open in front in order to display
the splendid petticoat, formed an ample train at the back. A
lace scarf fell gracefully over the folds of the costume. The edge
of the tunic was trimmed with antique lace and ruchings. The
bodice was cut low and square ;
the sleeves consisted entirely of
ruchings and narrow lace, and reached to the elbow, where they
were trimmed with two deep falls of lace a most becoming finish.
264 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
The hair was dressed high with a Spanish comb, ribbons, and
flowers.
cc
Livonienne, or snow-flaked or gravelled cloth. Costumes made
of these were trimmed with a wide braid to match, or with a band
of velvet, and the skirts were trimmed apron-fashion in front.
and bonnes-femmes. A
muslin flounce was placed inside the
bottom of the skirt, coming a little below it and the balayeuse,
;
the streets.
Polonaises came in once more. They were made of dolgai, a
and black velvet semi-tight paletots edged with skunk, were much
worn.
A small bunch of yellow and white carnations, or of real
gloves.
shape ;
others were trimmed with figured silk of two shades, or
of two colours mixed.
Fashions were borrowed from every period of French history.
There were few original inventions, but many reproductions, to
borrow a theatrical term.
of the past.
Full-dress gowns had trains made with Bulgarian plaits, and
bodices laced or buttoned at the back, so as to display the shape
of the bust as defined by the cuirass. These dresses were trimmed
with open-work embroidery, white guipure lace, and Russian lace.
trimmed with Venice point, and with long trains. Figured silks,
neck and shoulders. This net was made of silk braid, and
ornamented with two Catogan bows, one in front and one
behind.
A novelty of this period deserves special notice. It consisted of
long gloves of open-work China silk in all colours, of extraordinary
fineness and elasticity, fitting to perfection. Another novelty, the
Baby sash, worn round the waist and tied behind, was a fashion
borrowed from little girls, whose Baby drawn bonnets and low
shoes had already been copied by their elders.
The hair was dressed a la Recamier, that is, curled all round
or in small rough curls like a poodle dogs ;
or hanging over the
forehead in a fringe as far as the eyes, with a large chignon behind,
and heavy Catogan bows.
Veils, whose real use is to protect the complexion from the sun,
were worn tightly clinging to the face. They were stretched in
folds over the forehead; this was to use the veil Egyptian-
fashion.
and to drag at the knees, and even lower down. They resembled
sheaths of the exact shape of the body. Flat braid trimmings
were still much used, and were wittily called platitudes. Skirts
were trimmed with wreaths of leaves and flowers, many bodices
were made of brocade, and many sleeves in the Louis XV. style,
with under-sleeves of crape lisse.
bonnet strings. A few bonnets were not unlike the leaning tower
of Pisa.
Cashmere shawls regained their place. They were draped in
Faille and brocades of different shades were used for full dress.
Gowns were so tight, and so much tied back, that they almost
impeded movement the knees were encircled with garlands of
;
and kiltings, without the great trailing mass that had long been a
result of wide skirts. Trains became positive tails ;
but they no
longer interfered with the free action of the limbs, and developed
into what might be termed a majestic appendage.
There was something both sentimental and artistic about these caps.
But even when the same style of dress lasts from one year to
princess shape being preferred to all others, both for morning and
evening wear. In the latter case, they were made high behind,
and either cut low and square, or in a V shape in front, and with
sleeves to the elbow only. The bodice and skirt of princess
gowns were cut from one piece, but the skirt was ornamented with
fringes, sashes, and bows, or it was worn over another and longer
skirt.
the breast, and the other just below the shoulder. Bonnets were
chosen, as far as possible, to match the rest of the dress. Some
women wore their hair in the Greek fashion, bound with three
blue fillets, and a little fringe of loose curls on the forehead.
27 2 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
The portion of the skirt that formed the apron hung flat, but
the rest was gathered in soft folds towards the back of the
train. The bodice, whether cuirassed or not, assumed reasonable
proportions.
The ungraceful costumes copied from those of the First Empire
were at length about to disappear!
Muslin kiltings were once more restored to favour. The hair
many instances.
adopted ;
and also a costume in fawn-coloured Scotch cashmere,
with a plain, short skirt, a tunic flat in front, but not drawn tight
the plastron, or stomacher, consisted of a wide embroidered band.
With this costume two square pockets, one on either side, trimmed
at two-thirds of their depth with three rows of narrow braid, were
worn. The attire was completed by embroidered or open-worked
linen collars and cuffs, and a cravat-bow of foulard, embroidered
muslin, or plush ribbon, placed at the opening of the collar.
Some of our cc
elegantes seemed determined to rival Henri
Regnaults Salome, on the pretext that yellow was a fashionable
colour.
The blouse gown, with full bodice and belt and buckle,
was revived, with the addition of a second skirt. This costume
was made in Oxford cloth, or light woollen textures, in foulard,
FASHIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY. 273
Japanese hats lined with red silk, and trimmed with flowers
or fruit on the brim. Dust-coloured fans were used. China
crape was no longer despised, and Indian shawls remained in
the portraits of that great master of the Flemish school, and some
few hats in Russia leather; Gabrielle cuffs, and Mousquetaire
collars, large cloaks lined and edged with fur ;
and lastly the
Gold and silver braid were quite out of fashion, and had
been succeeded by trimmings of chenille or of stamped and
cut-out velvet, sometimes placed on the edge of the garment and
sometimes diagonally. Egyptian veils were very popular, and
were, in Eastern fashion, crossed at the back, and tied in front.
Sometimes they were tied in a large bow, framing the face very
T
274 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
should not sharply reveal the female form, but only indicate it.
was drawn back, Chinese fashion, and then divided into two loose
twists crossed one over the other, and arranged something
like a helmet above the forehead ;
or in rings on the forehead.
Every style was admissible plaits, curls, and straight or waved
bandeaux.
In like manner, bonnets were worn of very different shapes
in coloured straw, or chip, and trimmed with roses, azaleas,
Charles
IX., Moiiere, Victoria, and Richelieu shoes
were adopted.
At the approach of winter, gowns and mantles were trimmed
with fur : blue fox, marten, and sable were preferred ;
chinchilla
I must note the very handsome muffs that made their appear-
ance about the end of November. They were of small size, and
made of cloth, velvet, or satin, lined and bordered with fur, and
ornamented with a large ribbon bow. They were transformed
into scent-sachets, perfumed with essences of heliotrope, rose, and
gardenia.
A manufacturer of fans invented a fan composed of real flowers
and leaves ;
but it was not a success, on account of the extreme
fragility of such an article. Fans were then made of artificial
flowers ;
but these too were a failure, for they sinned against good
taste. And both were far inferior to mother-of-pearl, tortoise-
names, doubtless on account of the war that had just broken out
between Russia and Turkey. Otter-skin, fur, and plush hats
were much worn. Flowers were out, but feathers were in,
and the plumage of the impeyan, the owl, the golden ouzel,
and the gorgeous breast of the pheasant, were profusely employed.
Jewelled ornaments were worn on bonnets, and double-headed pins
in jet, gold, or pearl. Sita veils, and veils of mohair lace,
OF
HISTORY
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FASHIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY (CONTINUED).
1878 to 1S8 r.
The International Exhibition of 1S78 Foreign countries Japanese fans The little lace-
makers of Peniche Retrospective Exhibition of costume in France Considerations sur
le vetement des femmes, by M. Charles Blanc
Historical Exhibition at the Trocadero
Comprehensive glance at the curiosities of that Exhibition The movement in 1879
Merveilleuse, Niniche, and other bonnets Plush Gown-stuff at 100 francs the
yard Scarfs, casaques, and various bodices Madras costumes Under-clothing; chemise-
corsets, morning-gowns
Housewife fans fan-holders Trinkets New materials
Visites ; jackets; bows; neckties
;
The year 1880 Cabriolet bonnets; passe
montagnes The pilgrim costume Satins Favourite colours Vests Art buttons
Bulgarian costumes Jerseys Scented gloves Flowers in profusion a bridal bouquet ;
Midshipman bonnets Nordenskiold Dust-cloaks Revolution in bonnets Art and
fashion
Porte-veines.
Neither the king nor queen of Greece wear them at the present
been exhausted ;
I could only add a few insignificant pages to the
voluminous writings of other authors, who have described it ;
and
I should besides be exceeding the limits of my subject. Hardly
FASHIONS OF THE PRESENT DAY. 279
constituent laws.
The public, whose attention was thus directed to the subject of
the present work, was more alive than formerly to its importance,
When the time arrived for closing all these exhibitions, and
the French and foreign exhibitors had removed their goods,
there remained an enduring recollection of the marvels of the
Trocadero and the Champs de Mars.
After that time, exclusively national Fashion resumed its
France, Europe, and beyond the seas. Our milliners sent their
of coarse white straw, and with wide brims lined with red satin ;
and many others, differing little from those I have just named.
Plush was worn as trimming on gowns and mantles. Short
dresses were much worn ;
they were invariably trimmed with
cascades of lace. Silk stockings were indispensable. Bows and
cravats of muslin, or Breton lace, or Valenciennes, or point, were
like boots.
with waistcoats. Bodices were made full, something like the old-
the wearer.
Those fashionable trinkets, the lizard, the fly, and the bee, were
laid aside, and were succeeded by an owl. This was used as a
brooch to fasten the bonnet strings. Tags, girdles, Diane de
Poitiers necklaces of very small pearls, jet in every shape, crosses
They were trimmed with kiltings and lace, for evening wear, and
sometimes even with flowers. Stamped velvet casaques, or shawl-
pattern casaques, were frequently worn with dresses of plain
flannel, that were drawn over the foot and boot, and enabled the
wearer to brave both the snow and the subsequent thaw. The
284 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
momentary favour.
Pilgrim costumes were worn : their name sufficiently
describes them.
and then with gowns of velvet and otter satin. Next came ball-
dresses, late in the season certainly, but appreciated all the more
eagerly because dancing parties had for two long months been
unusually rare. The world began to take its revenge on winter.
Black satin was extremely fashionable ;
and the Danas
summer.
The favourite colours were, lotus-blue, Van Dyck red, the shade
velvet, of silk and wool, and all kinds of materials with designs.
Cut and damasked materials, and, above all, the fashion of kilting
quite plain in front, open at the sides, and put into very narrow
plaits at the back, was considered by most women too remarkable.
The elastic, or Jersey, bodice must also be mentioned.
Gloves were scented with cedar of Lebanon, or Russia leather,
entirely of rare and beautiful flowers, and was nearly two yards in
During the summer, sets for the neck of surah and foulard
were very fashionable. Here I may specially mention the Jean
Bart, consisting of a widely-opened sailor collar, deep cuffs, and
a simply-knotted neck-tie; the Chantilly, in ivory surah,
trimmed with Alen^on point; the Pomponne, in plain, spotted,
buttons ;
they were manufactured according to all the antique
models. Those called Buffon, were remarkable for elegance.
Others consisted of real flowers, or insects enclosed in glass ;
and
lastly the Wedgwood buttons offered the most exquisite miniature
paintings to our delighted gaze, i.e. copies of paintings on china
by that celebrated English artist and manufacturer of the eighteenth
century.
During 1880, Fashion frequently borrowed her inspiration
from Art, and sought to imitate the works of the old masters.
Antique designs, stuffs, and lace of every kind, were constantly
reproduced. More than one duchess was the image of some
figure of the Middle Ages, more than one bourgeoise dressed
Canadian otter fur was in such request that the supply was
exhausted, and plush of the same colour was used as a substitute.
An ugly trinket, euphemistically designated a porte-veine
(luck-bringer), was introduced from Austria. This represented in
fact, St. Anthonys companion, the pig, and its rivals were the
wild boar, the hippopotamus, and the elephant. It was hung on
bracelets, mounted on pins, and worn on the watch-chain. For
my own part, I should certainly have preferred the commonest
field flower to such an ornament, even if made of diamonds.
Noram I singular in my opinion; but, as I have said before, op-
position is powerless against the stream of Fashion, when it bears
along the majority of our elegantes, who are resolved not to be
I venture to hope so ;
for I have ever borne in mind that the
triviality of my subject was no bar to serious reflections on special
into the court of Francis I., while that of Henri II. gave an artistic
But when the reign of Louis XIV. was over, more freedom was
allowed to individual taste, and the grandiose gave place to a lighter
style. Nothing was worn but gauze, gold and brocade, mytho-
logical negliges, white satin skirts, and refined ornaments.
A comparative simplicity became fashionable, and ladies laid
The new style of dress suited the roueries of the Regent, and
the fetes given by Mme. de Tencin and other fine ladies who
threw open their drawing-rooms to the devotees of Fashion, and
it was appropriate to the perfumed boudoirs of the time.
Towards the middle of the eighteenth century we remark the
prevalence of the loose gowns depicted by Watteau in his exquisite
pictures. They are free, flowing, and open, something like
are still more extravagant than the vertugadins of old time, and
the falbala. Great ladies must dazzle, they must show the
common folk that they possess quarterings of nobility. They
must prove that they made millions in the Rue Quincampoix.
Dust must be thrown in the eyes of the world, a kind of
past fell to the ground, and tastes, instincts, and manners were
changed by an irresistible force ;
no longer were the reminiscences of
the old Monarchy evoked, but those of the Greek and Roman
Republics, and Frenchwomen endeavoured to copy the customs of
those two nations, and chose to dress themselves like the women
of antiquity.
Nor did they give up their ideas even under the First Empire.
All the little attractions, and graces, of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries were non-existent for our modern Cornelias,
u 2
292 THE HISTORY OF FASHION IN FRANCE.
government stable, and her finances prosperous, the love for fine