… King Frederick William III, who was the leader of Russia as Napoleon I fought against them. (Portrait: A royal couple who DID love each other. Luise and Frederick on their wedding day in 1794)
Category: Fashion History Blog
Was Luise of Prussia blonde or…
.. brunette? The many idealized and fantacized portraits painted of her, and the later Nazi posters her son made of her, have her hair color from golden to deep ebony. As best we guess, she had light brown hair with golden highlights and deep brown lowlights. (Portrait: closer to 1810, …
Yet another romantic portrait of Luise..
… Queen consort of Prussia in the early 1800’s at the time of the French Revolution. Luise was a minister for Prussia to France, and well respected by all in both countries.
Luise of Prussia was painted by Le Brun…
… Marie Antoinette’s personal artist and friend. Le Brun is the one who made the scandalous painting of Marie wearing the loose and casual “gaulle” fashion of robe, and had to repaint Marie wearing more clothing “befitting her station”. Here is Luise of Prussia’s most famous representation of perhaps 1800 …
Luise made fashionable the military frogged riding habit..
… her Russian riding habits today are key examples of the Regency Spencer jacket style, as she evolved her fashion between 1800 and 1810 (she died in 1810). (Featured Luise 1801; below a different version by a different artist)
It was a favorite pose for girls to hover around…
.. the bust of their father, especially if he had died. In this portrait of Luise of Prussia and her sister Ludwig, their happiness indicates Papa was probably still alive and that they were having fun with the portrait painter.
Luise of Prussia and her sister Ludwig were fashionable..
.. and living with their royal “Grandmere” learned fluent French. Grandmama had sculptures and portraits made of the girls in their early Regency “little white dress” robes (gowns).
Luise was born in Bavaria..
… The daughter of Prince Louis Arenburg. She is an excellent example of fashion as it changed from the 1790 round robe, into the gaulle, to early Regency, and late Regency. In yesterday’s post she wore the fashionable mobcap (portrait 1796) and fichu of the late 1790’s. Here she moves …
Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz…
Takes our story of French Royalty in an interesting direction. Her real name was Luise Auguste Wilhelmine Amalie. Those following our story here, will know the aristocrats she was named after. (Luise in 1796 as a teen wearing the transitional high fashion of “gaulle” which was introduced by Marie Antoinette)
Princess Josephine portrait..
Note yesterday’s portrait of Josephine was a 1860’s crinoline. Here she is in the bustle era. Josephine was the daughter of Stephanie de Beauharnais. Stephanie was the ward of Napoleon I, and the niece of Napoleon’s 1st wife, Josephine’s husband of her first marriage. If you have all these people …