Woman's Art Inc.

The Empress's New Clothes: Fashion and Politics in Second Empire France
Author(s): Therese Dolan
Source: Woman's Art Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Spring - Summer, 1994), pp. 22-28
Published by: Woman's Art Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1358491
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Euu.w?uE.mEjIkcu:m.

A natole France once imag- supremacy. The moderation that

ined being able to read
books published 100 years
after his death. Rather than novels
E EE~r |U~ ^had marked Louis-Philippe's July
[E^ P~j ~ Monarchy gave way to extravagant
state balls, splashy military parades,
or histories, he would first search 10 pompous receptions of foreign dig-
out fashion periodicals since cos- nitaries, and glittering gala perfor-
tumes tell more about humanity E l l LESS S
than do philosophers, novelists, R mances of new ballets and operas.
Sumptuousness replaced self-
preachers, and learned men. N E T rr > < -E ^ S effacement, and earned capital was
Similarly, Charles Baudelaire por- yW T ( m T T|1 . ^ quickly converted into external
trayed himself thumbing through flourish. Women invited to the
fashion plates at the beginning of imperial residence at Compiegne
his important essay Le Peintre de understood that no dress was to be
la vie modere. In these images Fashion ar Ld Politics in worn more than once. A week's
he discovered the moral attitudes stay thus entailed as many as 28
and the aesthetic values of the Second En )ire France dresses-all in the most up-to-date
time. Throughout his essay he style, of course. For the wealthy
refers to the power of fashion, be es
this opportunity afforded giddy
it of the dandy, the soldier, or his By Ther rest e Dolan indulgence; for others, it meant
many classes of women, to body financial hardship. One invite'e
forth the unity of the figure with complained of having to sell a flour
the contemporary social milieu. For Baudelaire fashion served as mill to meet the costs of proper attire.2 The amount of clothing
a potent signifier of class, status, and modem beauty. and the taxonomy of occasions proliferated: day and evening wear
Commentary on fashion during the Second Empire (1852-70) multiplied into the necessity for specialized attire for morning,
articulated profound shifts in political, economic, and social val- walking, traveling, and so forth, for the country as well as the city,
ues, with implications that reached far beyond any stylistic not to mention the proper form for official mourning.
vagaries in the cut and color of a ball gown or a frock coat. Fashion Although female attire, especially the crinoline, came to sym-
discourse contained the language and symbols of class status, and bolize the ostentation of the regime, male fashion remained basi-
its inflections held a precisely coded significance for the 19th-cen- cally unchanged during the Second Empire, with the black frock
tury audience. Of special interest was the public reaction to the coat purporting to demonstrate equality. Fashion periodicals may
stiff, horsehair undergarment known as the crinoline, and its asso- have proclaimed the crinoline as the triumph of mechanized
ciation with the empress Eugenie. Indeed, the crinoline was dressmaking and a herald of progress, but the garment itself pos-
employed to construe the empress's identity and provided a whole sessed strong monarchical associations with the past, recalling the
range of signifiers-political, eco- vertugadin, or farthingale, most pop-
nomic, moral, historical, and gender- ular in 16th-century England and
related-by which to critique the Spain and the pannier of 18th-centu-
Second Empire regime. ry France. Descended from these
From the outset of his reign, sovereign realms, the crinoline was
Napoleon III used fashion to serve again in the 19th century associated
his political program. On February with the royal and imperial courts of
1, 1853, he announced that no one ^ Europe.
would be received at court without Wide skirts were fashionable
being in uniform or official costume. when Eugenie assumed her imperial
Women were required to wear a position in France; however, she
court train at special receptions. The - popularized the crinoline and was
emperor's marriage to Eugenie, the sometimes erroneously credited with
Spanish Countess of Teba (1854; Fig. inventing it. She chose Charles
1), was met at home with surprised Frederick Worth as her primary
dismay by many dignitaries who had designer, and he became the first of
hoped for a French bride.' Foreign " the male fashion dictators, dressing
thrones wishing for a royal union also not only the empress but other heads
expressed disappointment. Sensitive of state around Europe. Worth
to these slights, the imperial couple designed the crinoline for the
sought to create an elegant and cul- leisured upper classes: swift move-
tured court, and fashion helped set . ment was impossible and a dignified
the distinctive tone. gait essential to keep the voluminous
The Second Empire proclaimed skirt in control.3 Fashion journals
peace and paraded prosperity. chronicled Eugenie's every taste in
Napoleon III's quest to re-establish color and contour, and her prefer-
Paris as the capital of the world ences supposedly overruled those of
1- _ _V - -1 _ _ .. . - __-? . I ?1 1
brought a dramatic increase in elabo-
*, ?i . ri .~. , ~Fig. 1. Franz-Xovier Winte erhc aier, The ter, TheEugenie
Empress Em s the couturiers. From the beginning
rate display as a sign of increased (1854), oil on canvas, 36" c 29 P". Metropolitan Museum of of her reign, Eugenie was held up as a
industrial power and political Art. Mr. and Mrs. Clai us ^
ron Bulow Gift, 1978. trendsetter. The London journal

0
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Punch swiftly initiated a satirical ^ ~t :::;-i?<5 able student and, as Barker
campaign lampooning the observed, "advanced rapidly from
Empress's hairstyle,4 and used fash- ' :X ; "i -,~ ?._docile neophyte to self-willed, argu-
ion to demonstrate the cooperation mentative mistress."7
between France and England in the L'~ KDue to imperial control of the
Crimean War.5 In "La Belle /1 m t g. Jpress in France, open criticism of
Alliance" (1855; Fig. 2), Queen Eugenie and her political influence
Victoria's well-known features are 23
.'k { ^^ . with the emperor seems to have
strongly delineated while Eugenie, M l . i3> .~ i ^! , been confined to personal memoirs
in partial profile, seems defined by . . .N, and gossip. Strict laws dating from
her elaborately detailed dress, jew- .5 : 1835 prohibited caricaturists from
elry, and coiffure. , ~iil ! depicting the imperial couple
Founded in 1841, Punch aimed directly, as any insult to the throne
its strongest satire at the French and .^.. , . .was regarded as a threat to public
the papacy.6 It served as a gauge of security.'0 However, just as the
British attitudes on political and. - poire came to symbolize Louis-
social issues, with particular con- , Philippe during the July Monarchy,
tempt for Louis-Napoleon, the pope, . -. the jackboot served as Louis-
Benjamin Disraeli, and others who ' ^ ' .: ,, : S
Napoleon's satirical trademark. The
assumed power not as a birthright. VIj ~. * BX e _ ^ broadened silhouette of the crino-
The death of Prince Albert in 1861 , . , 4 _ line, symbolic of Eugenie, of
caused the editors to cease attacks ' . 1 -"2 *course, provided ample material for
on Victoria, but a strong antifeminist \ ' N - caricaturists. Honore Daumier
bias combined with long-standing ..r-7 f" poked fun at the traffic jams caused
disdain for the French moved 'i ,, '- 4 .; .;' !--..,;' w _ by the crinolines and compared
Eugenie to the center as a target for :> v 9- X . . 4:,1 ~ jthem to the popular hot-air balloons
their satire. Ptunch published hun- Fig. 2. "La Belle Alliance," Sep otem iber 1, 1855, Punch, engraving. of the time (1855; Fig. 3). In 1856
dreds of articles and visual send-ups Charles Vernier published a suite of
of the crinoline during the 1850s and caricatures under the title
1860s, with frequent reference to Eugenie's influence in spreading Crinolinomanie with Cham (Amedee de Noe), Jean Marcelin,
the fashion. She was called Queen of Fashion, Comtesse de la Charles Bertall, Felix Nadar, and Daumier as contributors. Philippe
Crinoline, Goddess of the Bustles, and Imperatrice de la Mode. Busoni waged a long campaign against the crinoline in L'lllustration,
During the first years of her reign predicting in 1857 that it would die
the satire was gentle and, on occasion, off like the celebrated frog that
flattering. But the tone became burst from overinflating itself.
increasingly barbed around 1859, ~.__L . .... -ARoger de Beauvoir's 1858 play Paris
when Louis-Napoleon appointed her ^ 7 . . ...... Crinoline featured a fairy named
regent in his absence during the - " A.^ ^^s ^^S^_Epingle, who declared himself the
Italian \War. Punch reported that .....A .*"^ 2 -7 enemy of crinoline and delighted in
now she should be credited with .-' deflating false skirts, false balloons,
being a great stateswoman as well as a _?aJ^~~~ ^^SH Bfalse glory-all that exaggerates and
fashion plate and praised for assisting ' -.*...^~~ .inflates itself and which was sym-
at a council not of milliners and bon- bolized in the crinoline, wide and
net makers but of ministers of state. empty.
Although seemingly signaling support Albert de la Fizeliere's Histoire
for the empress, that was not in reali- de la crinoline au temps passe
tv P2unch's intent. Given tle constant _ ^ ~ (1859) traced past sumptuary
references in the press to the frivolity edicts against the farthingale, quot-
of fashion, this juxtaposition of politics ing from 18th-century treatises
and petticoats served to weaken the that called panniers corbeilles
public perception of her as a strong ?W i l aa ,~ nd'enfer (hell's baskets). His admo-
and capable authority. Eug6nie's y^ .k^\, ~ nitions such as "Follow Christ, not
regency, the first of three during her fashion," might have been aimed at
reign, caused the emperor's cousin, the Catholic Eug6nie, known for
Prince Napoleon, who coveted the _^H9!,S; ~her piety and papist sentiments."
position himself, to sneer derisively In 1859 it was widely reported that
that the government had been Eugenie wore a white satin frock
entrusted to a fashion plate.' The that had 103 flounces of tulle, thus
emperor saw an opportunity in the
regency to educate Eugenie to a task premier" ("first flounce"). Affairs
she might someday have to assume if of fashion, it was implied, were
he predeceased her and the imperial Fig. 3. Honor6 Daumier, Le Be 1llo1 n (1855), lithograph. Courtesy more properly her domain than
prince was not of age. She proved an of Bryn Mawi
r Cc
allege Library. affairs of state.
WOMAN'S ART JOURNAL SPRING/SUMMER 1994

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 Historical evidence testifies
j -- i e !. i S Italian unity, sought recognition
to the fact that Eugenie "''' j1 5 I; !t /from France for the newly pro-
assumed her regency with con- .;.. ~ ~ . ., / : claimed Kingdom of Italy.
scientious resolve and political ' ' 4 v --I 3 1 't / | /Eugenie, ardently papist and a
astuteness.'2 Even after the i -' . , ,' /j : ' legitimist who believed in the
emperor's return from Italy in 3 'm right of the Bourbon Dynasty to
July of 1859, Eugenie continued rule, worked feverishly to change
to sit on the Council of ' . t Napoleonon's decision to sanction
Ministers and engage in com- i N ' t !the union.'" In a telling 1861
plex political negotiations with ' ' . i illustration, "The Modern
the Austrians and Italians. TheI K ! :, Governess" (1861; Fig. 5), subti-
death of her sister in September ' tied "A Young Lady's Idea of the
1860, combined with the Use of Crinoline," the skirt has
emperor's support of revolution been transformed into a map of
in Italy to which she was firmly '1tK Europe, while the governess,
opposed, not to mention his fla- / .- -----SU who bears an obvious likeness to
grant infidelities, brought her Hf^ pEugenie, points to her mother-
close to physical and emotional country Spain in an evident allu-
collapse. A month's rest in sion to her grand design to
Scotland and a brief visit to redraw the face of Europe.
Queen Victoria provided a short References to "petticoat govern-
respite. Not subject to censor- ment" and "despotism of dress"
ship laws, Punch could, of increased as Eugenie became
course, indulge fully in lam- more publicly involved in gov-
pooning the empress with her ernmental affairs.
enormous skirts and presumed The major issue of French
appetite for power. These diplomacy in 1862 centered
attacks were a way to denigrate around the garrison of French
the French and voice public -gL; ~;-- -' wotroops in Rome. Evacuation of
nbe
opinion regarding their political Fig. 4. "A rt...dy Visit," Decen er 15, 1860, Punch, engraving, these troops would allow Viictor
policies. Again, the perception __ng. -.weaken .Emmanuel, King of Sardinia, to
of her visit was seen through the > G,,'~ ,>.acquire Rome and dishonor the
optic of fashion. In "A Friendly French flag. Continued occupa-
Visit" (1860; Fig. 4) Eugenie , with>-:-. - >tion, on the other hand, looked
and Victoria share a cup of tea. - like an open endorsement of the
As in "La Belle Alliance," it is ^ reactionary government of the
Eugenie who dominates papacy and risked the isolation of
Victoria, with most attention ^ 7 1:1 I j France from Italian and British
given to her mammoth skirt. powers. Eugenie's close involve-
Instead of farewell shouts of~ '. ment in this issue received unfa-

"Vive l'Imperatrice!" Punch t', /^ vorable notice from England's

reported that Eug6nie's depar- - Earl Cowley and Austria's Baron
ture from England took place ?. . . . Hubner. Committed to keeping
amid cries of "Ouree! Vive la - i French troops in Rome to safe-
France! Vive la Crinoline!"'3 - guard the pope's lands against
Eugenie's return to health ' seizure, Eug6nie found her cause
marked a renewal of political -. strengthened by the Italian patri-
involvement that increased dra- X N ,Kx. fh Aot General Guiseppe Garibaldi's
matically during the next sever- :~s march on Rome in August 1862.
al years. Punch noted her influ- _ / b .' Victor Emmanuel, fearful of the
ence in political affairs with an ^ . /"- -"E fragile Italian unity, needed
article entitled "There Is a i _ ?'. :,\ Napoleon's support and felt
Revolution Always of Some ^I- x5 ^ Wthwarted by Eugenie's interfer-
Kind in Paris" and commented: -~ ence. His comment leaves no
"Paris is still essentially the city doubt about his perception of
of barricades. There is only one-- women in general and Eugenie
small difference: formerly the Fig. 5. "The Modern Governess i," February 2, 1861, Punch, in particular: "The emperor is
barricades were erected by men engi rav ing. weakening visibly and the
with the help of stones; nowa- empress is our enemy and wvorks
days they are erected by women in the shape of crinolines."'4 In with the priests. If I had her in my hands I would teach her well
March of 1861 Sardinia annexed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies what women are good for and with what they should meddle."'1
and all of the pope's territory with the exception of the Patrimony of England perceived Eugenie's proclamation of "Rome or Death,"
St. Peter.'" Camille Cavour, a great statesman and the architect of adopted from Garibaldi, as tantamount to treason after Felice

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Fig. 6. "Hercules and Omphale," November 1, 1862, Punch,
engraving.
Orsini's 1858 assassination attempt on the imperial couple." Punch,
echoing the sentiments of the British government, felt that the best
defense was to disparage Eug6nie as an innocuous fashion plate.
France's foreign minister, Edouard Thouvenel, found himself in
constant confrontation with the empress over the occupation of
Rome. His plan for the gradual withdrawal of troops in return for a
pledge from Italy to honor papal territorial rights earned her wrath,
and he was replaced by Drouyn de Lhuys. Public opinion may have
played a role in Napoleon's decision to change ministers, but
Thouvenel, though he tried to dismiss Eugenie as a lightweight,
knew that she proved to be his most formidable opponent. The dis-
missal earned the emperor a stinging rebuke from Jean Fialin, Duke
of Persigny, who scolded: "You allow yourself to be ruled by your
wife just as I do. But I only compromise my future,.. .whereas you
sacrifice your own interests, and those of your son and the country
at large.""' The firestorm in France over Eugenie's influence quickly
found its way to England when Punch, in an unillustrated riddle,
openly credited her with causing his removal:
Parlez-vous Franfais?
If so, you will appreciate the following: "What has lifted
M. DROUYN DE LHUYS into the Ministerial chair vacated by M.
THOUVENEL?" asked DE MORNY of PERSIGNY.
"La force du genie? Eh, non,-la force
d'E UGENIE.'"
In the next several months Punch waged an unyielding cam-
paign against the empress, all under the rubric of dress. A further
unillustrated article, "Fashionable Intelligence," contemptuously
chided Eugenie for her loyalty to Rome,2' while a doggerel verse
in another article, "Mother Pope's Petticoat Paean," denigrates the
papacy's reliance on female influence.22 The mock epic "Hercules
WOMAN'S ART JOURNAL SPRING/SUMMER 1994
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tCk 7"-~~ 404~rr" 74J-i ~-
e~~s-M- ONKB4l?
Fig. 7. November 8, 1862, Punch, engraving.
and Omphale" (1862; Fig. 6) portrays Napoleon as a once-power-
ful monarch now cowering beneath his wife's yoke. Eugenie as
Omphale, the queen of Lydia who bought Hercules as a slave,
wavers between her attraction to politics and her love of fashion.
The accompanaing doggerel read:
Poised was her majesty's heart between
Ecclesiastes and Crinoline;
Mumbler or milliner, folks confessed
'Twas hard to say what she loved best.
Dear to her the frock of the priest,
Dear was the robe of the dear modiste.
Now the Church had the foremost place,
Now she was allfor ribbons and lace,
Now she kneltfor the barbarous Latin,
Now o'er the sweetest thing in satin.'
Lest a reader miss the many not-so-subtle references to the
French imperial couple, a full-page illustration bearing their like-
nesses and their names in cryptic showed Eug6nie hypnotizing her
husband Louis with a bobbin dangling from a scepter topped by a
papal tiara. The tiara itself became an effective crinoline in a lam-
poon of Eugenie accompanying an article suggesting that clergy-
men wear the female skirt (1862; Fig. 7). A satirical letter to
Garibaldi complains about the interference of "a female who shall
remain nameless" and wishes that she "were forced to keep her
breath to cool her potage, or inflate her Crinoline."24 The accom-
panying illustration, "The National Crinoline," shows Eugenie's
bonnet sprouting a Roman helmet while she lifts her skirt to
reveal a crinoline emblazoned with tactical ploys for preserving
the French presence in Rome (1863; Fig. 8). The "tyranny" of
fashion could not be more explicit.
 Eugenie had dared to transgress the codified boundaries of the
family to assume negotiations when her husband equivocated on
important issues such as the unification of Italy. The British press
responded to this with denigration aimed more at the impudence
of a woman asserting influence and abetting the pope than at the
ineffectiveness of the emperor, which is where the blame truly
rested. Even at the time of the Franco-Prussian War, the depic-
tion of Eugenie is sustained through allusion to fashion. The suf-
fering of the empress and other mothers in France is portrayed
through dress in the poignant illustration "Two Mothers" (1870;
Fig. 9). A figure representing France weeps as Eugenie embraces
the Prince Imperial. All faces are covered, leaving the costumes to
communicate the message. The upright figure of France in a
peasant coif, plain dress, and wooden sabots contrasts markedly
with the figure of Eug6nie in a heavily flounced gown, kneeling,
with her arms grasped around her young son dressed for military
service. After Eugenie's exile in England, Punch reported on
"some valuable War-News" before detailing every aspect of her
clothing as she walked in her garden.25 France's ignominious
defeat at the hands of the Prussians could now be traced in the
changed attitude toward dress in "The Faint of Fashion":
In Paris, Fashion's High Priestess
Now prostrate in a swoon,
No longer dictates change of dress
At every change of moon.
With peace, however, she'll come to,
And then resume her reign.
Perhaps an era may ensue
Of vesture neat and plain.
Because it doth to reason stand,
Her sway she will resume,
Her nation's War Bill will demand
Retrenchment of costume.
Who knows, indeed, France having been
In war severely schooled,
But that her garb will match her mien;
By sober taste be ruled?26
ugenie notwithstanding, politics and fashion became indelibly
allied during the Second Empire. The invention of aniline
dyes allowed the production of new colors, which often were given
names such as Magenta, Solferino, and Pekia to commemorate bat-
tles and the military. Red blouses were baptized Garibaldis, and
one color popular in the late 1860s, Bismarck brown, even was sub-
divided into tonal ranges corresponding to Prussian moods of "con-
tent," "ill," "enraged," and "icy."27 Eugenie justified her love of
dress by referring to her clothes as her "political wardrobe," believ-
ing that her clothing and the impression she created would reflect
well on France and stimulate the economy. High fashion, especial-
ly the crinoline, also provided a means for her to express her identi-
fication with Marie-Antoinette. By manipulating the signs of fash-
ion, she (mis)construed her own image as a female monarch.
Eugenie's adaptation of a style Marie-Antoinette in dress and decor
reflected her effort to link her imperial reign with the court of
Louis XVI; she wished to connect her personal image with what
she perceived to be the political astuteness and personal courage of
the beheaded queen.
From the beginning of her marriage, Eugenie sought to associ-
ate herself with 18th-century style. She decorated her apartments
at the Tuileries with furniture and precious objects belonging to
Marie-Antoinette and ordered the restoration of the Petit Trianon.
Early in her reign, in 1854, she was painted by Winterhalter in
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18th-century dress as the Queen Consort. After the birth of the
Prince Imperial, Eugenie sat again for Winterhalter in a composi-
tion reminiscent of Vig6e-Lebrun's 1787 portrait of Marie-
Antoinette and her children. In 1866 she appeared at a masked
ball in a costume copied from another Vigee-Lebrun portrait, and
the following year she organized an exposition at the Trianon dedi-
cated to the beheaded queen.
Eugenie's imitation of Marie-Antoinette influenced the revival
of the 18th-century fichus, canezous, and mantillas. Bonnets were
named Trianon, Watteau, Lamballe, and Marie-Antoinette, the lat-
ter causing Punch to remark wittily: "We presume this is a bonnet
to be worn when the lady has entirely lost her head."28 An 1857
article on Eug6nie and her influence on the crinoline craze carried
a vignette not of contemporary but of 18th-century dress.
Eugenie's adoption of Marie-Antoinette as her historical model
stemmed from a desire to link the imperial reign of the Second
Empire with her legitimist ideas of continuity and succession. In
lieu of an aristocracy of blood, she sought to establish an aristocracy
of spirit through fashion emulation. Her fiction of identity aligned
well with the costume of past female monarchs. Comtesse de
Mercy-Argenteau, recalling her days at Eug6nie's court, observed:
The ample, even ridiculously ample skirt has always coincided with
the greatest power of woman. In the periods of history where
woman was all powerful you find the crinoline. I dare say
Cleopatra had no crinoline.... Perhaps this is the reason she did not
succeed in captivating Augustus.2
The height of Eug6nie's political influence occurred in 1862,
when she worked diligently to influence the emperor's Italian poli-
cy. She surrounded herself with clerics and legitimist supporters
of Francis II, king of the Two Sicilies, to the point where Count
Vimercante, military attache, complained to Cavour: "Only a
small coterie of the empress will be invited (to Fontainebleau)....
On my word of honor, one would think himself at the Trianon!
Fortunately, Napoleon is not Louis XIV."30 In an effort to
decrease Austrian influence in Venetia, Eugenie negotiated with
Prince Richard von Metternich, Austrian ambassador to France, in
language weighted with French royalist allusions.31 Her involve-
ment in Thouvenel's dismissal fanned the flames of hatred in the
circle of Princess Mathilde, the emperor's influential cousin. The
princess labeled Eugenie a frivolous fashion-monger interested
solely in clothes and dismissed her as "Marie-Antoinette at the Bal
Mabille,"32 while the count of Viel-Castel, a reporter from
Mathilde's salon, warned: "Marie-Antoinette became unpopular
under the name of 'The Austrian Woman'; let the 'Spanish
woman' take heed."33
Charles Cogniard's 1862 play La Reine Crinoline (probably a
pun on "le regne crinoline"), can easily be read as a thinly veiled
satire on the emperor's weakness in subjugating himself to his
wife's political maneuvering. The play takes place on an imaginary
island where all the roles are reversed: the women wage war and
administer and render justice, while the men make soup and take
care of the chores. Two shipwrecked art students wash up on
shore and convince the men to return to their former ways and
cease their silly preoccupation with dress and millinery. Clearly,
the idea of a strong female in a crinolined gown running the gov-
ernment caused more than a little consternation in the public
mind. Flugel observed in The Psychology of Clothes that the
extension of the human figure, due primarily to the clothes one
wears, is unconsciously attributed to the body that wears them.34
Eugenie in her enormous skirts and possessing strong dynastic
associations with past female monarchs, seemed dangerously pow-
erful next to the diminutive pro-1! style. He strongly denounced
file of her too-often vacillating i lil wS . ! ,,,j ^women who aped the baroque
husband. Eugenie's promotion of p .... ' 1 'fl' fashion of the demimonde, con-
18th-century style in dress, fur-' : ^i i. : i /' .. demning the confusion as an
nishings, and ambience enabled ! i A attack on the moral fabric of
ladies of wealth and fashion toll France.3 Dupin's tirade proved
mark themselves off from the . 1: too strong to be printed in Le
lower class as had the court of Moniteur, the official newspaper;
Marie-Antoinette. The content of
ik ^pa pamphlet with a slightly toned-
fashion allowed an exclusiveness
Ii ^\ down version sold briskly at 2000
based on who belonged to le g, 1 . . 9, \ per day. Was this an open attack
monde, originally identified with . "--' ,;'}_~'l on the court, and more specifical-
privilege and segregation from the /B ly on the empress? It is difficult
lower classes. If aristocratic dis- .-?_'/ ' :> =to say. However, the lore of the
tinction once belonged to blood- empress's new clothes received
lines and court privilege, it now ..; ,? S >! 4 frequent attention in the press at
rested on more overt symbols of .... b/' ' home and abroad. Those who
wealth. The crinoline fashion
./ . . . .... . sought to imitate these fashions
served as a standard and a barrier, faced financial ruin. Social
marking off a moneyed circle pi., reformers contested that the
affluent enough to indulge in its crinoline caused a decline in the
excesses and all but preventing marriage rate due to the fear of
the working classes from enjoying ,.~."i~ the financial burden of clothing a
its vogue. Its unwieldy width that fashionable woman. The crino-
necessitated a measured gait and C _.TI. -jfl lline also purportedly promoted
slow movements was obviously " concealment of pregnancy, and
more suited to leisure than labor. Fig. 8. "The Nutic..I Crino line ," February 7, 1863, Punch, thus abetted infanticide.
The large amount of material con- n
grav
n111~ng9. ~Anecdotes abounded on its evils.
noted the economic security of More serious was the associa-
the women who wore it.
.... ' ~,:'.....tion of the court with the corrup-
The growing economy and ^ i ^I tion of the courtesan world.
newly acquired wealth of the' K Daumier had fun with the fash-
Second Empire seemed to be mir- .- .,, i---, -~ ionable demimondaines trying to
rored in the expanding silhouette ..llfe;>~~ < "squeeze their crinolines into
of women's dresses. The ostenta- 1 .......T, ._ . undersized carriages, but few oth-
tion of the crinolined dress fur- _..:. ers found humor in the
nished a feminine code of econom- debauched morals of Second
ic and social rivalry in an industrial- Empire France. Even though
ized society based on male compe- _ Eugenie remained above
tition and success. The crinoline
... . v Sreproach, her husband was a noto-
served as a distinct register of a k rious philanderer who openly
social level devoted to parading flaunted his mistresses. The
economic power and prestige. If bloated display of wealth and the
Marie-Antoinette in her pannier i . constant pursuit of pleasure
could proclaim "Let them eat increasingly obliterated the line
cake," the imperial reign that mod- between the court and the demi-
eled itself on her fashions and fur- monde. Zola noted this in Nana
nishings proved to be no less out- . (1880) when he described a
wardly self-indulgent. Henri Second Empire society gathering
Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy bur- "in which great names and great
lesqued Second Empire society in shames jostle together in the same
a libretto to Jacques Offenbach's fierce quest of enjoyment.'""
La Belle Helene, satirizing the When Zola pictured the empress
mores of the time. It was no secret at the races ardently cheering a
that Eugenie served as a model for horse named for the most notori-
the beautiful Helene, whose con- r- . -------- -' ous fictional courtesan of the
cem for fashion occupies the first : "- ~ -- - ' :: ' Second Empire, he was clearly
several scenes of the second act of Fig. 9. "Two Mothers," AugL ust, 20, 1870, Punch, engraving. alluding to a court mired in cor-
the play. ruption. Nana discovered that the
The effects of the crinoline on best way to disparage Count
French society earned a diatribe in the senate in 1865 by 80-year- Muffat was to debase him "in the official dignity of his costume,"
old Andr6 Dupin, who railed against the financial ruin brought to forcing him to jump and spit, then take off his chamberlain's outfit
the poorer classes who indulged in mindless extravagances to be in and walk on the gold, the eagles, and the decorations.3 Clearly,

WOMAN'S ART JOURNAL SPRING/SUMMER 1994

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Zola understood well the power of dress to confer status and signify
class power during the imperial regime.
The popularity of the crinoline waned after 1865 and with it,
ironically, Eugenie's political influence. After Napoleon's defeat at
Sadowa in 1866 and the execution of Maximilian in Mexico in 1867,
the empire was clearly in decline. Worth simplified his dress line
with the empress's approval: the fete imperial was over. Eugenie
began to distance herself from foreign affairs in 1866 and inter-
vened little in policy making until the outbreak of the Franco-
Prussian War in 1870, when she assumed the regency for the third
and final time. Never truly popular in France, Eug6nie was less so
in the final years of the empire. Party pamphleteers delighted in
portraying her as a frivolous wastrel with an immoderate love of fine
clothes and an insatiable appetite for luxury. Maxime du Camp
combined antifeminism with anti-Semitism in his recollection: "I
don't believe she ever had a serious idea about anything, but she
excelled with her dressmaker, and knew as much about precious
stones as an old Jewish courtier."38 Her deliberate construction of an
aestheticized and historicized self ultimately conflicted with the
political ideals of an increasingly republican France.
Fashion, especially the crinoline, provided a symbolic vocabu-
lary that offered visual and verbal codes by which to critique the
empress from a variety of political and social viewpoints during a
period of strict control of the press. The image history of Eugenie
and the crinoline constituted a forceful statement about gender,
class, and power in Second Empire France. Eugenie's identity
during the Second Empire was constructed on gender as well as on
elements of social style; the importance of these aristocratic associ-
ations of dress, with the national and historical illusions and allu-
sions they promoted, reached beyond consumerism and led to a
critique of Eugenie's political ideology. The seeming innocuous-
ness of the marginalized realm of fashion discourse actually rein-
forced the strategy to malign the empress. Eugenie's constant
association with the frivolous, contingent, and decorative aspects of
dress undermined her status as a competent regent and political
adviser. By constantly reducing her to a fashion plate she could
thus be associated with the paper-doll figures with their vacuous
poses and innocuous gestures, never engaged in serious activity.
The fashion system and the political system generated such differ-
ent sets of meanings that their strong association with one person
were bound to collide.
Eugenie's role as an arbiter of fashion must be seen in the con-
text of her role as a generator of value and meaning. The constant
attention to her as a dictator of style went beyond the notion of her
as a mere trendsetter and uncovered significant information regard-
ing her political and cultural status in Second Empire society.
Eugenie may have idolized Marie-Antoinette as the foreign queen
who intervened heroically in French politics and set a high tone of
fashion that was the envy of Europe; however, Second Empire
republicans remembered her better as Madame Deficit, with her
ornamented excesses, and found the comparison odious. The visual
and textual construction of Eugenie and her association with the
crinoline demonstrate a campaign waged against entrenched privi-
lege. It also speaks powerfully to a displacement of male anger for
woman's power at a time when an important emperor failed to lead
his country adequately. I
NOTES
I thank Gretchen van Slyke of the University of Vermont and Barbara Day of
Temple University for their editorial comments, and Diane Sarachman and
Del Ramers of Tyler School of Art for their assistance with reproductions.
1. Although not of royal birth, Eugenie (1826-1920) came from an
aristocratic lineage. Her father, the count of Teba, was a grandee of Spain
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with kinship to great ducal families. Her mother had served as camerera
mayor to Queen Isabella and Eugenie as maid of honor. See Nancy
Nichols Barker, Distaff Diplomacy: The Empress Eugenie and the
Foreign Policy of the Second Empire (Austin: University of Texas, 1976).
2. Princess Caroline Murat, My Memoires (London: Eveleigh Nash,
1910), 167.
3. See Diane De Marly, Worth: Father of Haute Couture (New York:
Holmes & Meier, 1990).
4. See "Apes of the Boudoir," Punch (June 1854), 198.
5. See "French Shawls for 1855. Tricolor a la Victoria. Union Jack a
la Eugenie," Punch (August 25, 1855), 77.
6. R. G. G. Price, A History of Punch (London: Collins, 1957), 47.
7. "Politics and Petticoats," Punch (January 28, 1860), 33.
8. Alfred Darimon, Notes pour servir a l'Histoire de la guerre de 1870
(Paris: P. Ollendorff, 1880), 236.
9. Barker, DistaffDiplomacy, 48.
10. See Edwin Bechtel, Freedom of the Press-L'Association Mensuelle-
Philippon vs. Louis-Philippe (New York: Grolier Club, 1952), 39-40.
11. Albert de la Fiziere, Histoire de la crinoline au temps passe (Paris:
A. Aubry, 1859), 94.
12. Barker, DistaffDiplomacy, 32.
13. "Adieu to the Empress," Punch (December 22, 1860), 247.
14. Punch (November 9, 1861), 191.
15. The Second Empire can be divided into an authoritarian phase last-
ing from 1852 to 1859, and a liberal phase from 1859 to 1870. The transi-
tion occurred with Louis-Napoleon's foreign policy decision to assist
Piedmontese minister Camille Cavour in forcing the Austrians out of
northern Italy in 1859, thus aiding the drive to unite Italy and threatening
the pope's temporal control of Rome.
16. Barker, Distaff Diplomacy, 77.
17. Ibid., 96.
18. Felice Orsini, an Italian revolutionary, attempted to assassinate the
emperor on his way to the opera on January 14, 1858, because of opposi-
tion to his Italian policy. The imperial couple was spared, but 200 specta-
tors died or were wounded in the attempt.
19. Barker, DistaffDiplomacy, 105.
20. "Parlez-vous francais?" Punch (October 25, 1862), 168.
21. "Fashionable Intelligence," Punch (October 25, 1862), 167.
22. "Mother Pope's Petticoat Paean," Punch (October 25, 1862), 175.
23. "Hercules and Omphale," Punch (November 1, 1862), 180-81.
24. "The Way of the Imperial Wind," Punch (February 7, 1863), 59.
25. "Sketching an Empress," Punch (November 5, 1870), 195.
26. "The Faint of Fashion," Punch (November 12, 1870), 198.
27. Michael and Ariane Batterbury, Fashion: The Mirror of History
(New York: Greenwich House, 1977), 233.
28. Punch (January 17, 1857), 22.
29. Comtesse Louise de Mercy-Argenteau, The Last Love of an
Emperor (New York: Doubleday, Page, 1926), 37.
30. Barker, Distaff Diplomacy, 77.
31. Ibid., 83.
32. Joanna Richardson, Princess Mathilde (New York: Scribner's,
1969), 79.
33. Barker, Distaff Diplomacy, 105.
34. J.C. Flugel, The Psychology of Clothes (London: Hogarth, 1956), 36.
35. Henriette Vanier, La mode et ses metiers. Frivolites et luttes des
classes 1830-1870 (Paris: Armand Colindate, 1960), 203-04.
36. Emile Zola, Nana (New York: Modem Library, n.d.), 464.
37. Ibid.
38. Quoted in G. P. Gooch, The Second Empire (Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood, 1960), 42-43.
Therese Dolan is Associate Professor of Art History at Temple
University, Philadelphia.