Merveilleuse

A very light tunic, fastened at the shoulders and with a generous décolleté, in perfect Neoclassical style. The French revolution radically changed women’s fashions. Crinolines, busts, padded “faux-cul” and large skirts, full of frills and flounces, were put to one side and clothes became essential and very simple. Inspired by the clothing of the Greek democracy, the tunic became women’s ideal dress. It later became known as “La merveilleuse.” The muslin used to make it was so transparent and light that it revealed the body beneath in revolutionary nudity. The shirt-dress was fastened underneath the breast with a ribbon that highlighted the décolleté. This line then developed into the Empire style, which was less eccentric and audacious. In 1795, it was the role of Madame Tallien to dictate the vagaries of fashion. The lover of the Count of Barras and the secretary of the Municipal Council in Paris, she challenged the prevailing climate of the city, wrapped in an evanescent “robe en chemise” of cream colored tulle, protected only with an equally light shawl. Her hair was carelessly tied back, imitating the style of Roman matrons, her eyelids shone with mother-of-pearl eye shadow, precious rings decorated her feet encased in flat sandals fastened with long laces, tied around the ankle. The “merveilleuse” was revived on many occasions during the twentieth century.”