The Empress Grand Coup d'etat in a petticoat.
--The
London Herald, of the 23d of April, gives the following interesting piece of news for the ladies:
The Empress has just adopted a new style of petticoat, which is the despair of nearly all the women of moderate fortune who are ambitious of bearing on their person in latest novelty that is to be found at the celebrated
mediates, of
Paris.
Her Imperial Majesty is not ambitious to popularize the
agrements of the . She detests everything that is common, and lately begged of her fire woman to invent something in the shape of a petticoat that could not be worn by every
bour guois,. That marvelous garment has been at last brought out. It does not altogether supersede crinoline, but greatly circumscribes it, and its peculiar virtue is, that get it up in the cheapest manner, it must be as dear as seven or eight ordinary petticoats, and cannot possibly be washed and smoothed for less than as many francs.
Petticoats are a very sacred subject, and in any case difficult things to treat of, but the
jupon Eugenic--that is a subject of serious disquietude to so many women — is particularly so. Nevertheless, so it is destined to limit that terrible bore — crinoline — to try and make public its peculiarities is a task that should be attempted.
Beneath a ball dress it produces an effect so charming as to call forth a torrent of the most flattering adjectives of which the
French are capable.
It certainly forms a graceful contrast when its wearer dances, to the light skirts of some other lady coming in contact with the stiff steel bars of the cage she carries about her.
This wonderful petticoat is said in most instances to be made of cambric muslin, so that washer women cannot stiffen it too much.
Its circumference is six yards at the widest point, and it is covered by nine flounces of still greater circumference.
The lowest of these flounces in by all accounts a more frill; the second, a few inches longer and considerably wider; completely covers the first; the third does the same to the second, and so on till one great flounce falls completely over the other eight, each one of which, to arrive at the standard of imperial elegance, must be hemstitched like a lady a pocket handkerchief, and the outer one in addition be nearly covered with the embroidery done by the women of the Vonges.
This invention also sets its face against the
sewing machine, as nearly every part of it must be handwork.
It was purposely so designed to prevent an immense number of seamstresses being suddenly thrown out of work by the increased demand for machine sewing, which is not yet capable of effecting hemstitching or embroidery.
The Empress's now petticoat is thus calculated to be at the same time a very exclusive institution, and one that will gives as much employment to the poor needle-women as the new streets and boulevards do the blouses.
