The state herald., 1890-04-04
WHO SETS FASHIONS?
A CELEBRATED FRENCH Ac-
TREss SAYS THE STAGE DOES.
Tho French Capital Still Leads the
World in womsn's Dress.

the highest Parisian society as ever
there was In the palmiest days of the
Second Empire. Fashion still reigns
supreme In spite of the overturned
thrones, and the god has not one in
slant relinguished his prerogatives,
however madly the people play at bat
and ball with crowns and sceptres.
| Among the Monarchs of Europe
there Is one whose throne never totters,
whose sceptered sway is never dis
puted, whose crown Is as fixed as the
top of Mont Blanc, and whose subjects
are eternally loyal, devoted, and SUBJ
missive, that is to say, his or her Ma
jesty the Parisian dressmaker. Tho
couturicre of Lutctia, as matter of
millinery fact, makes laws for the
civilized society of tho world. Ameri-
ca comes to her to pay homage and
Sc k for inspiration. Old England has
for years been absolutely led by her
dictates, and Is obcdient to the laws
and commands by which she says, "Of
this shape, and no other, shall be thy
rotonde, thy bonnet, thy mantelet,
thy wrap or sortie de bal; and thus
far and no further shall come thy cor
sage. thy basque, or thy pelerine."
Indeed, the supremacy Of the French
dressmakcr is as absolute as tho laws
of the Medes and Persians, and as un-
deniable as proposition In Euclid.
have often heard It said that, in
the days of Napoleon ILL.,, tho Empress
was the undoubtcd leader of fashion
and taste. Now, withoat wishing 70
say anything derogatory, think there
must be some mistake in such state
mcnt, as it might with truth be asked
-"Who. then, took the Empress's
place, when events made of Frances
unfortunate arbitress in dress politi-
cal refugee!' Certainly not Nine.
Grcvy, who was anything but a lady
of fashion; and there was no Nine.
Gambetta at all.
The fact is that tho Empress, like
every other lady in the land, followed
the fashions which had been set by
others. Fashions edicts were promui-
gated in the official gazettes of the
"modes,' and they were obeyed as i'm
plicitly at the Tuilerics and in the Fau-
bourg, and eventually in England and
in the United States, as everywhere, as
they arc now, when there is no En-
pirc in France, and the Tuilerics is
only thing of the past.
Who, then, sets the fashions?
From my own experience think the
theatre has n great deal more to do
with 1t than any one thing else in the
world.
QUEEN MARIE ANrolNETrE.
In the first place, there were no
fashions to speak of in France before
Louis XIV, when Molierc in reality
first peopIed the stage. The rage for
ircessant changes in dress is of still
more recent growth. II dates in all
its frivolous absurdity from the reign
of Queen Marie Antoincttc. Until
her advent the fashions in dress
changed but slowly at the Court of
France. Anyone knows at glance
the costume of a Marie de Mcdicis. no
matter at what period Of her life it
may have been worn. The great
ladies IN those days had many dresses,
no doubt, and rich ones too; but the
cut of them remained unaltercd for
years. Young ladies, in fact. were re-
ceived at Court quite suitably attircd |
In the wedding gowns of their mothers
and grandmoihers.
Maria Antoinettc, however, soon
changed all this. She modified the |
style Of her own dresses so often that |
the ladies' of the Court were bewildcr-
ed by licr vagaries. Her whims were
initiated by few ladies Of the Court.
The Princess dc Lamballc and Mime.
de Polignac distinguished themselves
by the ilattcring completeness of their
imitation. Many, however, held
aloof, and always appeared clad in
the old brocadcs of the early half of
the last century; while the mass of the
feminine population remained utterly
indifferent TO the changes of fashion
which were displayed at Court.
may here state that the Queen was
slave to her dressmaker, Mile. Bcr-
tin. When Marie An,o'nct,c entered
Paris in 1879, Mile. Bcriin placed her.
self, with thirty of her work-womcn,
conspicuously at her balcony. The
Queen, rs she passed, was pleased TO
wave her hand, aud exclaimed: -
"Thcrc is Mile. Berth pa favour the
millincr acknowledged by n most OBJ
scquious curtesy. However the Kings
good sense may have been ruilled ai
the thought that the Queens first aiicn-
tion at his entrance into Paris was paid
to her dressmaker, his majesty hum
CURED the joke SO far rs to applaud by
beating his ands, which cntailcd
npntlicr deem oheisanre on tho mart ~
Then, one after ano her, the whole
of the members of the Royal Family
followed the example set by the King
and the Queen, TO which curtscy after
curtscy was fendc. ed from the balcony.
But the couriiers In their turn, like
true apes, took up the cue from their
august masters; and after these again.
the entire rciinuc of satellites. officers,
squircs, cadets, tigers, aud rc,niners-
procession upwards OF mile long
TO each and all of whom the unfortu-
mate woman Ind TO bow In succession,
until, exhausted with so much honor
and glory. she finally curiseycd herself
into n swoon, falling like spent How
or into the arms Of her thirty attend
ant nynphs.
riiI corHr MiiLiStn.
Such public attention on the part oil
Royalty Of course made Mile. Bcrtins
fortune. She became tho fashionable
nnrchandc de modes.
AcrnIssrs LEAD rIir FASHION.
Popular actresses have always proved
the most immediate and the most pow
crfui incuicniors Of fashion. The In
comparable Ncsitis "sot' nj least u
dozen "modc..n The patterns Of her
dresses. her coiilnrcs, her hose, aud
slippers. were enthusiastically copied.
The csqui.itoly sim lc but bcnnicons
costume Of Giulia Grisi, In Normn, In
IL IL. f..Ii.uullu .na..lI It,..llas mn