… to a whole new level of ornamentation. Empress Eugenie of France and Queen Victoria of England would ‘duke it out’ to be top of the fashion world as they were close friends and fashion fanatics.
Eugenie had introduced the crinoline hoop to Victoria, courtesy of her Parisian designer Charles Worth who was actually an Englishman.
(Eugenie’s “bertha” decoration in 1858.. some say this portrait is Anna of Hesse, but we’d know that Eugenie style anywhere!)