… a skirt that was flat and straight in the front and a back that was “poufed” out by use of a bustle or “tournure”.  The large skirt “poufs” were below the waist and in the back. Through the 1880’s, there were MANY kinds of bustles and “tournures”, ranging from …

…was a BIG fashion statement, initiated by Parisian designers, but advertised by women like Lillie to women of the world. By the early 1880’s, when Lillie was on her climb to fame, the softly curved bustles of the 1870’s had been quickly replaced by a new silhouette.  This “large bustle …

From Langtry’s memoirs near the end of life, reflecting back on her very dramatic life on and off stage: Anyone who limits her vision to memories of yesterday is already dead. You wouldn’t believe how the town was named for me. I was met by the whole population, headed by …

.. and was considered “socially inept” when she moved to London with her husband in 1877.  Through the 1880’s she was THE fashion icon, whom women in Europe and America, including the Royals modeled themselves after. At the peak of her career (and somewhere around affair #6 by our count), …

.. included the term “Jersey”, meaning a type of knit fabric.  It was first used in the 1870’s thru ’90’s in the Island of Jersey where Lillie was born and died. Lillie Langtry wore this finely knitted silk or wool in a way that clung tightly to her figure all …

.. with technology and culture.  She bought an automobile and always dressed in the latest fashions.  She was until the end in big demand for photos, and was on many postcards well into her later years. In 1913 Lillie made her only film and worked on stage into her 70’s.  …

.. living as Lady de Bathe.  She is buried in the graveyard of her father’s St. Savioiur’s Church in Jersey. (Langtry’s grave in Jersey.  Interesting how her bust is naked, as if men then still found her sex appeal even after death)  

… had yet another relationship with Prince Louis Esterhazy who shared her passion for horse racing. A bit more than a year later, in 1899, Lillie married again.  This time it was 28 year old Hugo de Bathe, the son of English nobility.  Hugo was the heir to a baronetcy, …

.. He was found in a “demented condtion” in a railway station and died in an aslyum.  It was ruled accidental, from a brain hemorrage after a fall on a steamship.  When offered condolences, Lillie responded in a letter “I .. have lost a husband, but alas!  It was no …

.. when Frederick Gebhard and she bought ranches next door to each other in Lake County, California.  She built a winery there that made red wine.  She sold the business in 1906, and the “Langtry Farms” are still in business in Middletown, California today. The divorce between Lillie and husband …