We’ve been presenting the French Royals from 1740 and are up to 1840, when, by the time of Napoleon 1’st’s grandchildren, they had cross-populated into all other countries of the European continent: Russia, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Bavaria, Austoria, and others (names and boundaries having changed through history).
With a vague wave of the hand to the fashions they introduced, we continue with the Napoleon line as it crosses most “seriously” into the English and Russians, which takes us to 1914 and WWI (the extent of the fashions we build).
When we feel confident everyone has their Maries, Josephines, Eugenies, Alexandras, and Victorias of several generations straightened out, we’ll go back to highlight their time, their fashions, and their influences.
What has this to do with American fashion 1740-1914 you ask??
Everything, because until about 1900, America women followed most everything the French (English, Russian, Spanish, etc.) Royals and nobility did, as modified by their own situation or environment.
(Photos: 1851 left: American bride following Queen Victoria’s fashion dictates of wearing white for weddings; right: Queen Victoria of England’s 1851 ballgown)