608 



F.'IANCE. 



though often a caricature, of Parisian costume ; and now, that these arbiters of fashion have 

 carried their arms into the African deserts, it is probable, that the Arab maidens, laying aside 

 the white veil with its tinkling bells, will begin to sigh for blouses, and cashmeres, and Chan- 

 tilly lace, and chapeavx dc gaze ariophane. It is certain, that an innovation has already taken 

 place in the dress of the Algerine fair, since the entry of the French heroes into their capital, 

 and that upwards of 50 ladies were persuaded to attend a ball given by their conquerors, with 

 the novel incumbrance of shoes and stockings. 



Every event of importance, sad or glorious, a war, a revolution, or the downfall of a dynasty, 

 IS immortalized in France by a pate or a riband. When the Opera House in the Palais 

 Royal was burnt down, in 1781, the fire of which lasted for more than a week, and in which many 

 persons perished, the Parisian elegantes displayed dresses of a flame color, entitled couleur 

 feu de V Opera ! '''' The modistes find it advantageous to give a singular name to a color. 

 '■'■Couleur giraffe^'' had a meaning in it; but tlie exnct '■'■ couleur d^at-aignce meditant tine 

 crime,'''' which was for some weeks the rage in Paris, could only have been imagined by the 

 fantastic brain of a French modiste. After the fall of Robespierre, the surviving victims of 

 nis tyranny, being released from their dungeons, resolved to celebrate the tyrant's death after a 

 truly French fashion, viz. by giving a ball. No one could be admitted who could not prove 

 that he or she had lost a friend or relative in the late massacres. It was entitled the " bal des 

 victimes.'''' The rooms were hung with red drapery, and the dresses were couleur de sang. 

 History does not record, that any steps faltered among those who partook of this strange fes- 

 tivity ; that the pas de bourrees were performed with less grace than usual, or the pas de valse 

 with less vivacity. It is related, that two ladies, who had been united by the sentimental bonds 

 of female friendship, each of whom had believed the other to be among the victims of the 

 guillotine, and who had both obtained their tickets of admission upon this unfounded report, 

 met in the ball-room, to their mutual surprise. They rushed into each other's arms ; when 

 the director observed, that they had lost their right to remain, and they were requested to with- 

 draw. Their joy was suddenly checked. " It is charming to recover one's friend," said one 

 of the ladies, sighing deeply ; " but — it is sad to lose so excellent a ball." 



Fashion, in France, is a despot whose laws are blindly obeyed. For each season there is 

 a costume, and a deviation from the mode is looked upon as the violation of a moral duty. 

 Indeed, a sin against etiquette is more severely visited than a sin against propriety. If the 

 offender is a foreigner, a civil contempt is expressed by that ineffable shrug, which can only be 

 executed by a French shoulder. Times are by no means altered since the days of Madame 

 de Genlis, when a devoted lover broke off his engagement with a lady, from making the dis- 

 covery, that her shawl, which he had firmly and fondly believed to be a real cashmere, was a 

 peau de lapin. When the peace, that followed the restoration of the Bourbons, permitted the 

 English to visit Paris, the English ladies, in their short waists and poke bonnets, excited as 

 much consternation as the appearance of a tribe of South Sea Islanders, in their skins, would 

 have caused to a less sensitive nation. Les Anglaises pour rire was an amusing caricature of 

 English dress and manners, as they acted upon the risible nerves of the French nation at that 

 period. Upon one occasion, when crowds had assembled according to custom, to see Louis 

 the Eighteenth feed in public, a titter suddenly arose among the well-bred mob, gradually in- 

 creasing, and terminating in a burst of laughter, such as had never before invaded the precincts 

 of the royal ear. The cause was hastily inquired into, and a sufficient apology for mirth was 

 discovered in the unexpected appearance of an English poke bonnet. 



The ladies in the country, and in the provincial towns, follow the Paris fashions, and are 

 more or less well-dressed, according to their facilities of communication with the capital. 

 During the Bonaparte dynasty, Madame le Roi, the couturiere of the Empress Maria Louisa, 

 presided over the empire of taste. But long waists were restored with the Bourbons, and Na- 

 poleon and Madame le Roi fell together. Victorine became the legitimate sempstress, and 

 long reigned without a rival. The morning dishabille of a French lady is the perfection of co- 

 quetry or of slovenliness, according to her intention of being visible or otherwise. If the 

 former, her peignor, or white muslin dressing-gown, is arranged with scrupulous neatness. 

 Her morning cap is simple, but becoming ; and, down to the points of her red slippers, the 

 nicest eye can discover no fault. If the reverse, there is more ease than elegance in her toi- 

 let, and the hour of promenade in the Tuileries finds her exhibiting a personification of the 

 grub transformed into a butterfly. Great judgment is displayed by a Parisian lady in her 

 choice of a seat in these gardens, where the sun shall throw a becoming shade over her couleur 



