REIGN OF NAPOLEON III. (CONTINUED).
1860 TO 1862.
Fashions in 1860 and 1861—Jewellery—Shape of “Russian”
bonnets—Nomenclature of girdles—Different styles of dressing
the hair—The “Ceres” wreath—Flowers and leaves for the
hair—Prohibition of green materials—Anecdotes from the
_Union Médicale_ and the _Journal de la Nièvre_—Cloth and
silk mantles—Braid and astrakan—Four types of bonnet—Morning
bonnets—Artificial flowers.
Now that our task is nearly completed, we might, if necessary, appeal to
the recollections of our readers, for we have reached the contemporary
era, and we approach the present time.
In 1860, as in 1840, necklaces, lockets, and gold or diamond crosses,
suspended by a velvet ribbon or a gold chain, were worn round the neck.
The wealthy wore necklaces composed of separate stars formed of precious
stones, or of large gold beads arranged three by three, pear-shaped, and
terminating in a gold point.
Some little variations apart, ornaments of this kind have always been
conspicuous in feminine dress. The utmost inventiveness of jewellers has
only modified the shapes of necklaces, lockets, and crosses.
The same may be said of buckles, watches, watch-chains, buttons, 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 women, adopted
for watering-place wear the Russian hat proper, if I may so style it.
This hat was of Belgian straw, high crowned, the brims turned up and
covered with velvet, of perfectly round shape, like a plate, and trimmed
with a large rosette in front, and an aigrette higher than the crown of
the hat.
With that exception, there was nothing new or original in dress.
Milliners and dressmakers made certain improvements in small matters,
and, as is always the case, in default of new inventions, they
endeavoured to revive, if only for a very brief period, some of the
fashions of the past.
There was a great variety of girdles and belts in 1860, viz.: long and
wide ones matching the gown trimmings; long, plain sashes, the ends
trimmed with bands of velvet, and fringe; also waist-bands in Russian or
German leather, hand embroidered, or braided in gold and beads.
In 1861, wide velvet belts called “Medici” were worn, and since that time
sashes have become an important article of attire, on account of their
forming part of the national dress of Alsace and Lorraine.
Bands and belts of all sorts seemed to indicate, even at that period, the
metal belts that were afterwards fashionable in 1875.
In 1861, bands of gold, either straight or diadem shaped, were worn on
the head, and were extremely becoming to dark-haired women. Large gold
combs, with a heavy ring to hold the hair, velvet coronets with gold
beads or buttons, velvet twists and aigrettes, feather head-dresses,
bunches of flowers, velvet bows, and “Ceres” wreaths were very
fashionable.
The favourite style of dressing the hair was in very large rolls, 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
hair-dresser might manifest itself or produce any artistic result.
The fashion of wearing false and dyed hair was about to reappear, and
French ladies were to put in practice the axiom, that “beautiful disorder
is an effect of art.”
A curious fact attracted the attention of Parisian society in 1861; and
the ladies promptly discarded all green materials. In a professional
journal, the _Union Médicale_, the following paragraph appeared:—
“A young married lady who had gone to a party, wearing a pale green
satin gown, was attacked, after dancing several quadrilles, with
sensations of numbness and want of power in the lower limbs, tightness
in the chest, vertigo, and headache, and was obliged to return home. The
symptoms gradually abated, but the feeling of weakness in the abdominal
region lasted until the third day. No special cause, such as tight
lacing, &c., could be discovered, and suspicion having been directed
to the colour of the lady’s gown, a chemical analysis was made, and
the presence of a quantity of arsenite of copper detected. It is the
opinion of Professor Blasius, that the movement produced by dancing
might, especially with dresses of the ample width required by the present
fashion, suffice to detach a quantity of the arsenical dye, which on
being absorbed by the lungs would give rise to symptoms of arsenical
poisoning.”
The _Journal de la Nièvre_ wrote as follows:—
“Some dressmakers living at Nevers had received an order to make a green
tarlatan gown. Several strips of the material had been torn off for
ruchings, thereby producing a fine dust, which, settling on the face
and penetrating the body through the respiratory and nasal organs, had
occasioned colic in some cases, and in others an eruption on the face....”
Green wall-papers and green dress materials were declared to be equally
pernicious to health.
An interdict was accordingly laid on green, until some chemical process
had been discovered to obviate the dangers described by the _Union
Médicale_ and the _Journal de la Nièvre_.
Women were quite ready to suffer for the sake of their beauty, to tighten
their waists, to imprison their feet in shoes too narrow for them, to
run the risk of inflammation of the chest by wearing low-cut gowns; but
they were not willing to be poisoned by green dyes, especially as green
is not a very becoming colour to most women, and by no means sets off the
complexion.
In order to withstand the cold of winter, our Parisian ladies made up
their minds to wear mantles of soft cloth, or heavy “gros-grain” silk,
although the weight of such garments fatigued them.
These mantles were generally trimmed with broad braid; but some of them
were literally covered with embroidery, and were consequently very
expensive. Real or imitation Astrakan was used for every kind of paletot;
the curly coats of the still-born lambs being greatly admired.
Braiding and Astrakan had a long reign; both were constantly used to
trim various new shapes in mantles or coats, which they greatly improve
without adding to the cost. The town of Astrakan, in Russia, benefited
largely by the French fashions in that particular instance.
The following are types of the most fashionable bonnets, with which
feathers, or velvet flowers, and rosettes, tufts (called chous), or bows
of black lace and white blond, were worn: (1) 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 falling over the
curtain; (3) a red satin (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 trimmed or plain,
and pumps were no longer in fashion.
Ball-dresses in 1861-2 were generally rose-coloured, with an over-skirt
of lace, and adorned with flowers. On the head was worn a brilliant bunch
of roses, giving a charming finish to the whole costume.
The manufacture of artificial flowers received a great impetus at the
Exhibition of 1855; and it is no exaggeration to say that flowers which
rivalled Nature itself were produced.
[Illustration]