REIGN OF NAPOLEON III.
1851 TO 1854.
Ready-made mantles—Talmas, mousquetaires, and rotondes—The
Second Empire; reminiscences of the reign of Napoleon
I.—Marriage of Napoleon III.; dress of the new empress; her
hair dressed by Félix Escalier; court mantle and train—Four
kinds of dress—Opera dress in 1853-4—Bodices “à la Vierge,”
Pompadour bodices, and Watteau bodices—Skirt trimmings—A
new colour, “Théba”—Light tints—Social and theatrical
celebrities—The Eugénie head-dress and Mainnier bands—End of
the first period of Imperial fashions.
Dressmakers, like tailors, had begun to deal in ready-made garments;
and found purchasers for their cloaks, mantles, and trimmed shawls.
Special shops were established all over Paris, where customers might make
selections from immense assortments of goods. Some of these houses have
developed since then into 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 of Greece, and still
more the stage triumphs of Rachel. So ineffaceable is the influence of
genius!
Next came “Romeos,” “mousquetaires,” “Charles the Fifth’s,” 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 prognostications of certain
enthusiasts. We must note, however, that waists became shorter, and that
reminiscences of the time of the Great Napoleon were perceptible in some
of the accessories of dress, although they took no real root among us.
Frenchwomen showed a reluctance to wear costumes that had been severely
criticized in their hearing.
Many years were destined to pass by before any attempt should be made to
revive the shapes of the First Empire.
The marriage of Napoleon III., however, gave a new impetus to feminine
fashion, and every woman set herself to imitate as far as possible the
style of dress worn by the Empress, now suddenly become the arbiter of
attire.
The dress worn by the Emperor’s bride at the marriage in the Cathedral
of Notre Dame, was of white terry velvet, with a long train. The basque
bodice was high, and profusely adorned with diamonds, sapphires, and
orange-blossoms. The skirt was covered with “point d’Angleterre.” This
kind of lace had been selected on account of the veil, which it had been
impossible to procure in “point d’Alençon.” Félix Escalier dressed the
new Empress’s hair. There were two bandeaus in front; one was raised and
peaked in the Marie Stuart shape, the other was rolled from the top of
the head to the neck, where it fell in curls that, according to a poet,
looked like “nests for Cupids.”
This costume was long the subject of conversation in both aristocratic
and bourgeois salons, especially among the adherents of the Imperial
Régime.
We must say a few words concerning the court mantle, and the court train,
which soon took its place in official attire.
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 was attached to the
waist. Ladies found it necessary to consult a dancing-master in order to
learn, not how to advance with a train, which was easy enough, but how to
turn round, and especially how to retreat, which was extremely difficult.
Lappets were necessary for court dress; they fell to the waist, and were
generally made of lace, and occasionally embroidered in gold or silver.
At full-dress assemblies, elegance and splendour of attire increased day
by day; the most brilliant inventions in millinery succeeded each other
uninterruptedly.
The first dressmakers in Paris were employed in making for the new
Empress four series of gowns, if we may so describe them, viz. evening
gowns, ball-dresses, visiting dresses, and morning-gowns. Among those
for “full dress” was one of pink moire antique; it had a basque bodice
trimmed with fringe, lace, and white feathers; another was of green silk,
the flounces trimmed with curled feathers; and a third of mauve silk,
the flounces bordered with Brussels lace. All were made with basques,
long-waisted, and either with trains or demi-trains rounded off. The
bodices for the most part were draped.
However great the desire of many persons to see the fashions of the First
Empire revived, those I have just described were certainly far from
resembling them. Although waists were slightly shortened, the general
aspect of dress retained the youthful, 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
Maréchale Lefebvre, who was as famous for her finery and feathers as for
her singular choice of language and her extraordinary 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 flat, and terminating in bows with
long ends. This was very unlike the dresses of 1810.
Bodices “à 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 puffs, and produced a charming
effect.
The number of new colours was considerable. “Théba” was a brownish-yellow
tint, much favoured, it is said, by the Empress, and consequently a good
deal used by authorities on dress. But it did not remain in fashion
longer than was considered desirable by persons always in quest of fresh
novelties.
Light colours were generally preferred, and every imaginable tint was
tried in turn with inconceivable rapidity.
A glimpse of the Empress Eugénie as she drove through the Bois de
Boulogne sufficed to set the fair observers to work upon a faithful
reproduction of her costume. The toilette at a ball at the Tuileries
afforded food for thought during many days to those who had been present.
A few of the court ladies seemed to legislate for Fashion, and sometimes
they even competed with their sovereign. Scores of newspapers described
the shape and colour of their dresses, their jewels, and the flowers or
feathers in their hair, and gave minute details of the fêtes which they
adorned as much by their attire as by their beauty, when they were not
tempted into eccentricity.
Only a few actresses of celebrity rivalled the influence of the Empress
and her court, especially in the matter of hair-dressing. The modes
adopted by Princess Mathilde, Mme. Espinasse, Mme. de Mouchy, Princess
Murat, and the Duchess de Morny, were admired, it is true, but so also
were those called Marco-Spada, Favart, Miolan-Carvalho, Doche, Traviata,
Biche-au-Bois, Pierson, Cabel, Ophelia, Marie Rose, and Adelina Patti.
One “coiffure Eugénie” was effected by raising and drawing back the
hair from the forehead, and arranging it with the aid of the “Mainnier
bandeau,” a simple and easily used contrivance. It was only necessary to
divide the bandeau into two equal parts, reserving in the middle a small
lock that was tightly plaited. This plait was fixed by a comb, and it
supported the foundation on which the “coiffure” was arranged; the firm,
puffed-out bands then only required smoothing. With this very few curls
were worn. With the help of the Mainnier bands, the Eugénie coiffure
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.
[Illustration]