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Cornell University Library

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ROSE BERTIN

THE CREATOR OF FASHION AT THE COURT OF MARIE-ANTOINETTE

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ROSE BERTIN

THE CREATOR OF FASHION AT THE COURT OF MARIE- ANTOINETTE

BY

EMILE LANGLADE

ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH

BY

DR. ANGELO S. RAPPOPORT

AUTHOR OF "royal LOVERS AND MISTRESSES." " MAD MAJESTIES,'

" LEOPOLD II." ETC.

WITH 25 ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK CHARLES SGRIBNER'S SONS

153 FIFTH AVENUE 1913

PREFACE

The present work, which I have translated — and in many places adapted — from the French, is not a mere biographical account of Rose Bertin, the famous milliner of Marie- Antoinette. The author has made a minute study of the fashions of the day, and gives us a description of the eccentricities of the last days of the French monarchy as far as dress was concerned. He makes us acquainted with the peculiar tastes, and one may add the aberrations, of fashionable and aristocratic Versailles under Louis XV. and Louis XVL But the author of the present work does more ; he allows us here and there a peep into a private boudoir of a great lady of the period, and, above all, into the life and character of that unfortunate Queen, who, though wayward and petulant, proud and thoughtless, could be kind and generous and true to her friends.

Rose Bertin knew it. The Queen had admitted her to familiarity, and, although she often availed herself of this august friendship in her own interests and in those of her relations, she was grateful for it until her death. And when adversity had befallen the daughter of the Csesars, the little milliner gave a

vi PREFACE

noble and unselfish proof of her attachment and devotion.

Rose Bertin had attained to European fame. The entire fashionable world were contending for caps of her making ; and in relating her history the author shows us what an importance was attached to fashion, and what esteem its creators enjoyed at the Court of Versailles. This book, therefore, is to some extent, not only the history of Rose Bertin, but of an entire period.

A. S. RAPPOPORT

CONTENTS

' PAGE

Preface v

CHAPTER

I. The Beginning of a Famous Milliner — Her

Influence at Court 11

II. Rose Bertin and the Chevalier d'Eon 34

III. Mme. Du Barry — The Pilgrimage to Mon-

flieres — The Great Fashion — A Versailles Scandal - 87

IV. The End of Eccentricities — Rose Bertin^ Rue

de Richelieu — Her Pretended Bankruptcy 133

V. The Last Years of the Monarchy — Decline

of Business — Rose Bertin's House Property 180

VI. Rose Bertin during the Revolution — Journeys

TO Germany and England - 211

VII. The Massacre in the Rue de la Loi — Last

Years of Rose Bertin 274

VIII. The Heirs of Rose Bertin — Sainte-Beuve's

Opinion on the Memoirs 302

Index 319

Vll

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Rose Bertin Princesse de Conti	FroTitispicce FACING PAGE 14
Marie- Antoinette	26
Fashion in 1775	32
Duchesse de Chartres	38
Fashion in 1776 : Bonnet called " Le Lever de la Reine" 44
Mile. Rose in Morning Toilette	56
Chapeau a la Grenade, 1779	66
Princesse de Lamballe	76
Fashion in 1778	88
Mme. Du Barry	94
Miss Coneingue out of Opera	100
Polonnoise h, la PoulettC;, 1779	110
A Fashionable Dressmaker delivering her Work	120
Dress k la Suzanne -	134
Marie-Antoinette	154
Marie Adelaide de France	166
Madame Royale	180
Fashion in 1788	190
ix

X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Mme. Elisabeth 210

Princesse de Lamballe 2l6

Duchesse d'Angouleme 230

Princesse de Lamballe 242

Mme. Tallien 256

Empress Maria-Theresa 286

ROSE BERTIN

THE CREATOR OF FASHION AT THE COURT OF MARIE- ANTOINETTE

CHAPTER I

THE BEGINNING OF A FAMOUS MILLINER HER

INFLUENCE AT COURT

(1770-1774)

The reign of Marie- Antoinette was one of futility and chiffon ; and if the Queen did not create the office of a Minister of Fashion, the Court of Versailles was never- theless always crowded with hairdressers, dressmakers, and milliners, who exercised more influence than the King's Councillors. Rose Bertin was one of their number. Her real name was Marie- Jeanne Bertin, and thus she figures in all biographical dictionaries. She was born at Amiens in 1744, but recent researches, made in the archives of Abbeville, have fixed July 2, 1747, as the exact date of her birth. This is con- firmed by an extract from her birth certificate inserted in the register of the parish of St. Gilles, and signed by the curate, Falconnier. Her parents were people of very small means, and the earnings of the father

11

12 ROSE BERTIN

did not suffice to educate the two children, Marie- Jeanne and her brother, Jean-Laurent, two years younger than herself. To augment the budget of the family, the mother was obliged to exercise the pro- fession of sick-nurse. Marie- Jeanne had thus received a very modest education, but sufficient to develop her sense of ambition. Nature had been kind to her ; she was beautiful, and she knew it — women are never unconscious of such things, and are always ready to profit by it — but Marie- Jeanne was also endowed with a great deal of intelligence, which enabled her to make her way in life.

She had faith in her star. One day a gipsy foretold her future. Rose was only a child when the gipsy was arrested and imprisoned. The cronies of the neighbourhood, talkative and superstitious, told won- derful things of the prisoner who had read the future in the palms of their hands. The child became curious, and longed to know what lay in store for her. But she had no money to pay the old woman for her prophecies, and neither father nor mother Bertin would ever consent to spend a trifle on such childish whims. Rose therefore starved herself, and carried her portion of food to the prisoner. Prisons in those days were not what they are now, and the girl easily obtained access to the imprisoned gipsy, who, in exchange for a succulent dish, consented to lift the mysterious veil of the future. Taking the white hand of the child between her own long, dirty fingers, she said senten- tiously : " You will rise to great fortune, and will

A FAMOUS MILLINER 13

one day wear a Court dress." Rose left the prison, her face beaming with joy.

But Nicholas Bertin,her father, who was seventy-two years old, died on January 24, 1754, leaving the burden of the family and the upbringing of the children to his widow. Rose loved her mother, and she was not a girl to allow the latter to work too much when she was in a position to come to her assistance. She was sixteen now, and one day she made up her mind to leave home, and mounted the coach which took her to Paris. Little did her people, who were sadly watching her departure, think that Rose was going to meet her fortune.

Rose Bertin was not awkward ; they soon perceived it in the millinery shop kept by Mile. Pagelle, under the name of the Trait Galant, where Rose had found a situation. And yet the Trait Galant — which furnished not only the Court of France, but also that of Spain — enjoyed, as far as morals were concerned, a most respectable reputation, a fact of somewhat rare occurrence among the ladies of the millinery profes- sion. It was about that time, too, that Jeanne B^cu, who afterwards became the famous Mme. Du Barry, was apprenticed in the millinery shop of Labille, which was situated in the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, near the Place des Victoires. Jeanne B^cu, who was known at that time by the name of Mile. Lanson, justified the reputation of the ladies of her profession, and had many lovers. Mile. Oliva, who was after- wards to play her part in the famous aifair of the

14 ROSE BERTIN

necklace, was also a milliner, and was leading a life similar to that of Jeanne Becu. Rose Bertin had been in the employ o£ Mile. Pagelle for a short time, when an event occurred which was to decide her future.

Among the customers of the Trait Galant was Mme. de la Saune, formerly Mile. Caron, and mistress of the Comte de Charolais, to whom she had borne two daughters. The Count having died, the Princesse de Conti obtained letters of legitimization for the two girls, who took the name of Miles, de Bourbon. The elder soon married the Comte de Puget, whilst the younger became the wife of M. de Lowendal. The wedding dresses of the young ladies had been ordered at the Trait Galant^ and the Princesse de Conti had asked to see the dresses herself

It was about eight o'clock in the evening when Mile. Pagelle despatched Rose to the Hotel de Conti with the dresses o£ the Demoiselles de Bourbon. It was bitter cold, and when the milliner arrived at the palace, and asked to see the Princess, she was shown into a room where a huge fire was blazing. In a corner near the fireplace an old woman — whom Rose took for a chamber maid — was seated. She got up as soon as the girl entered, exclaiming, *'Ah, you have brought the dresses of the Demoiselles de Bourbon ! let me see." Rose satisfied her curiosity, and the two soon began to chat amicably, when they were in- terrupted by a Lady-in- Waiting. " What," exclaimed the latter, '' is your Highness here? " " Yes," replied the Princess, " and I have been enjoying myself

princessp: de conti

To face page 1 4

A FAMOUS MILLINER 15

immensely." Rose Bertin was quite embarrassed; she threw herself at the feet of Her Highness and begged for forgiveness. But the Princess told her that she had committed no breach of etiquette in having been natural, especially as she was ignorant of the identity of her interlocutress. She assured the milliner of her good -will and protection for the future.

This event is related in the "M^moires de Mile. Bertin" and published in 1824. These m^7noires are now proved to have been written by J. Penchet with the purpose of whitewashing the memory of Marie- Antoinette and exculpating her from certain accusa- tions. It is, however, impossible that Penchet should have related certain anecdotes without having heard them from the people whom they concerned, and with whom he found himself in constant contact.

The Princesse de Conti had thus taken a decided fancy to Rose, and the latter soon received proofs of Her Highness's kindness.

The Due de Chartres was going to marry Louise- Marie-Adelaide de Bourbon, daughter of the Due de Penthievre, and the richest heiress in the kingdom, and, thanks to the Princesse de Conti, Rose had received the order to make the trousseau for the bride. Great was the pride of Rose Bertin when she announced the good news to her employer. Mile. Pagelle, who had long ago ceased to consider Rose as a simple employee, opened her arms, and, embracing the little milliner, exclaimed: "Little one, from this moment you may consider yourself as my partner." And henceforth the

16 ROSE BERTIN

business of the Trait Galant had two heads, and the most turbulent partner, whose mind was constantly ir search for new designs and models, was the little girl from Picardy, daring and ambitious, and who knew that she was ffoino; to make her fortune and a name famous in Europe.

The Duchesse de Chartres also became a protectress of Rose, and she soon found a third in Mme. de Lamballe. But Rose was beautiful, elegant, and graceful. She had above all an air of distinction, and attracted a great deal of attention. One day the Due de Chartres noticed her in the apartments of his wife. She took his fancy. He spoke to her, and unhesi- tatingly made love to her. Would she become his mistress ? He offered her diamonds, horses, a carriage, a fine furnished hotel, if she would onl^ consent to listen to his impassioned declarations. But, to his utmost surprise, the little milliner would not listen to the proposals of the noble Duke. The latter was nonplussed, and the more obstinate Rose was, the more desperate the lover grew. He at last decided to carr}^ the girl off to a little house in Neuilly, where he hoped to make her yield to his wishes. Rose was informed of the plan by a valet oi the Duke, and she lived in constant fear of being kid- napped and carried off to the secluded house at Neuilly. She scarcely ventured to leave her house at night. She knew too well the life led by the noble- men of her time, who modelled their conduct upon that of the King himself, and the abduction of a little milliner in those days would pass absolutely un-

A FAMOUS MILLINER 17

noticed. Every morning she went for her orders to the Duchesse de Chartres, and nothing had as yet happened, when one day she was called to the Comtesse d'Usson for an important order. Rose was conversing with the Comtesse, when the Duke was announced, and Mme. d'Usson rushed to meet His Highness. Rose was evidently being forgotten, and, noticing an easy-chair, she calmly sat down. The Comtesse looked surprised, and motioned to the girl to get up. The milliner took no notice of her hostess, who at last exclaimed :

'* Mile. Rose, you evidently seem to forget that you are in the presence of His Highness.''

'' Not at all, madame," replied Rose ; " I am not forgetting it at all."

*' Then, why are you behaving as you do ?"

" Ah !" answered the little milliner, " Mme. la Comtesse is evidently not aware of the fact that if I only wished it I could become Duchesse de Chartres to-night."

The Duke changed colour, but said nothing, whilst the Comtesse looked surprised, with the air of some- one who is waiting for the solution of a riddle.

" Yes, madame,'' continued Rose, " I have been offered everything that can tempt a poor girl, and because I have refused I am now in dano^er of beine: kidnapped. If, therefore, one day your bonnets and dresses are not ready, and you are told that little Rose has disappeared, you will have to address yourself to His Highness, who will know of her whereabouts."

2

18 ROSE BERTIN

" What do you say to this, monseigneur ?" asked the Comtesse d'Usson.

" What can I say ?" replied the latter. '* All means are fair when it is a question of subduing a rebel, and I can surely not be blamed for having tried to obtain the favour of such an amiable and beautiful young lady."

'' Monseigneur is perfectly right to prefer a little milliner to his august wife the Princess, who possesses the highest qualities ; but you will admit, madame, that I too may be allowed to treat familiarly one who is so anxious to make me his companion. If His High- ness will only not forget his rank, I will certainly remember the extreme distance which separates us." Thus spoke Rose, and making a low bow to the Duke, who was murmuring, " You are a little viper," she left the room, leaving His Highness much perplexed. Henceforth, however, he ceased worrying the milliner with his assiduities.

Rose Bertin did not remain very long in partner- ship with Mile. Pagelle. She soon established her own business, thanks to the help she had received from the Duchesse de Chartres. The latter was in the habit of thus helping poor girls and setting them up in business. Rose Bertin often met the protegees of the Duchess in the antechamber of the ducal palace. One of these protegees Avas Marie the flower-girl, whom the Duchess had once met in the street and taken a fancy to.

Not only had the Duchess provided the funds for

A FAMOUS MILLINER 19

Eose*s business, but she also recommended hei to a fashionable clientele. At that moment the talk of Court and town was the approaching marriage of the Dauphin with the daughter of Empress Maria- Theresa. In March, 1770, the Duchesse de Chartres went to see Mme. de Noailles, who had been ap- pointed Lady-in-Waiting to the Dauphine, and Mme. de Misery, chosen to be First Chambermaid. She spoke highly of her prot(^gee, praising not only her talents, but also her manners, and, supported by the Princesses de Conti and Lamballe, she procured for Rose the advantage of furnishing the dresses and finery which were to be offered to Marie- Antoinette at Strasburg on her arrival on French soil.

Milliners in the eighteenth century were not what they are nowadays ; they not only trimmed hats, but also arranged and ornamented dresses. There were a good many milliners in Paris in those days, and some of them exercised their trade on the Quai de Gevres, where Rose Bertin is supposed to have kept a shop for some time. In any case, she remained there only a short time, and soon we find her estab- lished in the Rue de St. Honoro, which was the centre of commerce during the reign of Louis XVI. The signboard of her business contained the inscrip- tion " Au Grand Mogol." The houses in those days were not numbered, and the signboards were there- fore very important, especially as far as the mer- chants were concerned. Each had his signboard with an inscription so as to avoid confusion. Thus

20 ROSE BERTIN

one could read in the Rue de St. Honore, '' Au Trait Galant," " Au Grand Mogol," '' Au Bouquet Galant," " A la Corbeille Galante," and many others.

The reputation of Rose Bertin grew rapidly, and soon reached her native town. Among her customers she counted several inhabitants of Abbeville^ a fact which was testified by her books of account.

In the meantime the new Dauphine, very fond of chiffon and ribbons and of all feminine finery, was going to introduce — or at least to augment — at the Court of Versailles the cult of fashion, which is often nothing but an insupportable slavery. When Rose Bertin had the honour of approaching Marie- Antoinette for the first time, she at once knew, thanks to her flail' as a business w^oman and her subtlety as a native of Picardy, what benefit she could derive from her situation. She had only to flatter the Dauphine, which was not so very difficult, and by pleasing the latter vastly increase her own income.

According to the " Souvenirs " of Leonard, Rose Bertin is supposed to have been introduced to the Dauphine in 1772. The author of these " Souvenirs " is unknown, and the authenticity of the work has been contested ; but it is one of the few writings which make allusion to Mile. Bertin. This so-called Leonard not only pretends that he was the first to introduce Rose to Marie- Antoinette, but he even boasts of his intimate relations with the beautiful milliner. We shall quote the following passage from these *' Souvenirs":

A FAMOUS MILLINER 21

" One morning I was informed by my servant that a young lady wished to see me. 1 soon found myself in the presence of a young, beautiful, and very elegant person, whose manners were charming. Her manner w^as at first somewhat reserved. I at once thousfht that tlie charming person had come to solicit my influence at Court in her own favour or in favour of some relation. And, indeed, I was not mistaken. I made the young lady sit down near the fireplace, and I at once noticed that she often availed herself of the opportunity to show her beautifully-shaped foot ; and a beautifully-shaped ankle always makes a man dis- posed to listen favourably to a woman.

'' ' You will not be surprised at my visit, M. Leo- nard,' said this seductive person, ' if I tell you who I am. My name is Rose Bertin. The Princesse de Conti and the Duchesse de Chartres have kindly promised to introduce me to Her Royal Highness the Dauphine ; but you know what these great ladies are — one must never press them. I have there- fore come to you, M. Leonard, whose constant attendance upon Her Highness will give you ample opportunities to speak on my behalf And you are constantly being consulted upon everything relating to dress — your recommendation will no doubt have a decisive effect' "

M. Leonard promised his help. And, indeed, he kept his word, and at the very first opportunity he mentioned the name of Rose Bertin to the Dauphine.

^^ ROSE BEKTIN

" Mile. Rose Bertin !" said Marie - Antoinette. ''You are right to mention her to me, for I now remember that the Duchesse de Chartres and the Princesse de Conti have also spoken of her in very high terms. Comtesse de Misery," continued the Dauphine, turning to her first Lady-in- Waiting, " will you please write to Mile. Rose Bertin, and command her presence here to-morrow."

Rose Bertin was punctual, and introduced to Marie-Antoinette according to all the rules of Court etiquette. Marie- Antoinette gave the young milliner an order of 20,000 livres. Thus, according to the author of the " Souvenirs," Rose Bertin became Court milliner of the Dauphine in 1772. The dates are in all probability exact, but the details of the intro- duction and presentation of Rose Bertin to Marie- Antoinette as given by Leonard are pure invention. Leonard Anti^, who enjoyed a considerable reputa- tion, did not live in the Palace of Versailles, as the " Souvenirs " pretend. He was the hairdresser of Marie-Antoinette, but was in daily attendance upon her. His services were only required on gala-days and special occasions. The daily coiffeur of the Dauphine was Leonard's brother, who was beheaded during the Terror, and consequently could not have written the " Souvenirs," which were compiled at a much later period. Other dates tend to prove that the whole story of Rose's introduction to the Dauphine by Leonard, who at that moment had absolutely no influence at the Court of Versailles, he having been

A FAMOUS MILLINER 23

appointed only in 1779, is devoid of all ti^uth. These " Souvenirs " contain numerous anecdotes and in- sinuations and allusions to the part played by Marie- Antoinette in various affairs. Rose Bertin is often mixed u]^ with these affairs — as, for instance, that of the masked ball, where, at the suggestion of the Comte d'Artois, the Dauphine was present. Accord- ing to the author of the " Souvenirs," Leonard was ordered to arrange this nocturnal expedition and to provide the costumes.

" I want to go to a masked ball," said Marie- Antoinette ; " Leonard will help us. He will arrange with Mile. Bertin about the costume, and we will dress at the Tuileries. We will leave here at mid- night accompanied by the little Marquise de Langeac, and be at the Tuileries at twelve thirty-five. Rose Bertin will be waiting for us at the Pavilion de Flore ; at one thirty we shall be at the ball, and leave at three o'clock ; and before the clocks strike four we shall be asleep in our beds at Versailles."

" I arranged the costume of the Dauphine," adds the so-called Leonard, " together with Mile. Rose Bertin. The Dauphine went disguised as a Swiss peasant woman. When the costume was finished and the disguise, we left in two carriages — the Dauphine, the Prince, and the Marquise, in one, and Leonard and Rose in another. I do not know whether during our ride from the Tuileries to the house of Dauberval Mme. de Langeac had noticed what degree of intimacy existed between Mile. Rose and myself, but when

24 ROSE BERTIN

we arrived the malicious little gipsy (the Comtesse was disguised as such) pinched me cruelly, and whispered into my ear : ' I like the intrigues o^ a masked ball very much, but never in the capacity of a passive spectator.' "

There is no doubt a great deal of fatuity in all that the author of the "Souvenirs" relates; but the enemies of Marie- Antoinette did not hesitate afterwards to make use of them, and in their pamphlets introduced, without distinction of rank or sex, all those who were constantly in the entourage of the Queen, so as to give a greater semblance o£ truth to their accusations.

Indeed, Rose Bertin did not require the recom- mendations of Leonard to get on at Court. Were not the Duchesse de Chartres and the Princesse de Conti her patronesses ? And in 1773 the little milliner made use of her influence on her relatives who had been imprisoned in the Bastille.

The relatives of Rose were booksellers established in the Rue de la Juiverie. In March, 1772, a per- quisition had already been made in the shop in conse- quence of the publication of certain pamphlets directed against the '' Parlements," and especially of a satirical work in which the Chancellor Maupeou was being attacked and criticized. And now the widow M^quignon, a relative of Rose's, was arrested on June 19, 1772, " and at once led away to be confined in the Bastille."*

* "Journal de Hardy," MS. 6681, in the Bibliotheque Nationale.

A FAMOUS MILLINER 25

Eose made use of her influence at Court, and did her best to deliver the widow M^quignon and her son. She spared neither time nor trouble, and at last succeeded in interesting the Dauphine herself in the matter. On September 4, 1773, the two prisoners left the Bastille. Their freedom had been obtained not without some difficulty, for Mai^ie- Antoinette had to do with Maupeou, who as a rule did not like to relincjuish the prey he had got hold of. The widow Mequignon, although set free, was, however, not discharged, but sentenced, on January 22, 1774, to be exiled for five years from Paris. But Rose Bertin was tenacious, and therefore her protec- tresses, above all the Dauphine, opposed the Chan- cellor's decision. The " Journal de Hardy " gives some details with regard to this affair, adding that, thanks to the insistence of Rose Bertin, the Dauphine at last made Maupeou revoke the sentence against the widow M(^quignon on February 21, 1774. Marie- Antoinette even expressed the wish to see that widow Mequignon on whose behalf she had so graciousl}^ intervened. On February 24, therefore, the lady had the honour of dining with the Dauphine, ** who expressed her great satisfaction at having rendered such service to the res2')ectable widow, and thus saved her and her family from the consequences of a severe sentence." This opinion on the character of the widow, expressed by her colleague the bookseller Hardy, whose veracity is above sus- picion, only tends to justify the steps taken by the

26 ROSE BERTIN

milliner and the initiative of Marie-Antoinette. Maupeou and the Archbishop of Paris were both annoyed at the turn the matter had taken, and only reluctantly disarmed. Some time afterwards, there- fore, the Archbishop of Paris, who never missed an opportunity of showing his antagonism towards the Jansenists, no matter to what sex or condition they belonged, accused the widow M^quignon of Jansenism. The magistrates, however, found it impossible to justify the accusations of the prelate.

Thus ended this matter, the result of which was a triumph of Rose Bertin.

But the widow Mdquignon also derived consider- able benefit from her temporary arrest, for she remained Court bookseller until the Revolution, and it was from her that Mme. de Tourzel bought the books required for the royal Princes, as is testified by the accounts of 1790-1792, kept at the Archives Rationales.

During all this time the workshops of Rose Bertin were producing bonnets a la Chartres — a creation expressing Rose's gratitude for her benefactress — bonnets a la Sultane^ au Tresor 7'oyal^ il la Car- melite^ and were trimming dresses d la Musulmane. The prices of the bonnets a la Chartres varied from 7 to 14 livres, whilst the others amounted to about 30 livres. The trimmings of a robe a la Musulmane cost 136 livres. Ever since Rose had been appointed to furnish the bonnets and dresses of Marie- An- toinette her reputation had been rapidly increasing,

MARIE-ANTOINETTE

To face r>igc 2(

A FAMOUS MILLINER 27

and she had been obliged to augment the number of her employees. But her real importance only dates from May, 1774, when Louis XVI. succeeded Louis XY. The first thing Rose did was to change the inscription on her signboard, and replace her Christian name by that of her family. At Court she was still known as Mile. Rose, but in town her dignity of Milliner of the Queen required it that she should call herself Mile. Bertin. Her success was great. The best families of the aristocracy were among her customers, such as the Marquise de Bouill^, the Coratesse de Duras, the Duchesse de la Vauguyon, the Princesse de Gudm6ne, etc.

The budget of the dress department of the Dauphine amounted in 1773 to 120,000 livres, and the expenses were regulated by the Duchesse de Cosse : 32,000 were spent on ordinary dresses, whilst 82,000 covered the extraordinary expenses. In 1774 the figures were the same, but they were soon to increase.

The winter of 1774 was approaching its end, when a new fashion of hairdress made its appearance, and was baptized the Ques aco. " It consisted of a panache in plumes, which the elegant ladies wore at the back of their heads." The name Ques aco is supposed to have been taken from a memoire by Beaumarchais, directed against a certain Marin, whom the author had ridiculized. The mdinoire of Beaumarchais had an enormous success, and the expression of Ques aco became very popular.

28 ROSE BERTIN

Marie-Antoinette had taken an interest in this event, the name of Beaumarchais beins^ mentioned at Court very often, and she had asked for an explana- tion of the Provenc^al expression. When she under- stood it, she frequently happened to make use of it. Among her intimates, Rose Bertin, who was always ((u eourant of big and little events, always in search of new ideas and new creations, and names by which to })aptize the latter, was quick enough to make use of the incident, and soon imagined a new hairdress known as the Ques aco. Generally speaking, every- thing relating to fashion is of ephemeral character, but the headgears of those days were prodigiously so. A month after the introduction of the Ques aco a new invention took its place ; it was the famous pouf aux sentimeiits. " The poiif aux sentiments j^' writes the continuator of Bachaumont on April 26, 1774, "is a new hairdress which has succeeded the Ques aco, and is infinitely superior to the former, on account of the numerous things which were required for its composition, and the genius employed to vary it artistically. It is called pouf on account of the numerous objects which it can contain, and aux sen- timents because these objects must have a certain relation to what one loves best, and express one's preferences. Every woman is madl}^ anxious to have ^ pouf J'

Leonard Antid is supposed to have excelled in the art of placing poufs of gauze, which were introduced between the locks, and one day he employed for that

A FAMOUS MILLINER 29

purpose about 14 yards of gauze for one hairdresg. But all these powy-s- differed greatly from the pouf aux senti- ments owing to their simplicity ; they also required no assistance from the milliner. The poiif aux senti- ments could contain such various objects as fruit, flowers, vegetables, stuffed birds, dolls, and many other things giving expression to the tastes, the preferences, and the sentiments, of the wearer.

The continuator of the memoires of Bachaumont has left us a description of a pouf aux sentim.ents worn by the Duchesse de Chartres : " In the background was the image of a woman carrying an infant in arms ; it referred to the Due de Valois and his nurse. To the right was a parrot picking a cherry ; the parrot was the Duchess's pet bird. To the left was a little nigger — the image of him whom she loved very much. All this was ornamented with locks from the hair of the Due de Chartres, the husband, the Due de Penthievre, the father, and the Due d' Orleans, the father-in-law, of the lady."

This craze in hairdress, with its accumulation of family relics and souvenirs, may have been touching, but strikes one as rather ridiculous, more ridiculous than the landscapes in hair Avhich enjoyed a certain voo'ue durinii' the first half of the nineteenth century, and in the composition of which Frederic Sauvage greatly excelled.

Another famous pouf was that of the Duchesse de Lauzun.^' The Duchesse one day appeared at a

* Cf. Comte.sse d'Adhcmar (Lamothe-Langon), *' Souvenirs sur Marie-Antoinette,'' t. ii., Paris, 1836.

30 ROSE BERTIN

reception of the Marquise du DeflPant's wearing a most delicious pou/. It contained a stormy sea, ducks swimming near the shore, someone on the point of shooting one of them ; on the top of the head there was a mill, the miller's wife being made love to by an abbsj whilst near the ear the miller could be seen leading a donkey.

It was also in consequence of one of these poufs that a stormy scene took place one day between Mile. Rose Bertin and the famous Mile. Quinault, who occupied an apartment in the Louvre, just underneath that of Sedaine, and where she had received the most distinguished people of the century.

Everybody was talking of the poufs created by the firm of Bertin, and Mile. Quinault also wished to have one made in the famous workshop. She there- fore simply sent her maid for Mile. Bertin. The latter, however, took no notice of the message. Then Mile. Duport, chambermaid and favourite of Mile. Quinault, came in her mistress's carriage, and asked Mile. Rose how she dared to disobey the order she had received. The milliner lost her temper, and a quarrel ensued. The chambermaid was surprised at the insolence of an ordinary milliner, to which Rose replied that a milliner who had the honour of being employed by Her Majesty the Queen was, anyhow, as good as a former opera actress. This was too much for the chambermaid. Mile. Quinault was married to the Due de Nevers, and the working woman had dared to insult a member of the highest aristocracy.

A FAMOUS MILLINER Bl

Several ladies secretly married to noblemen of the highest rank saw themselves offended in the person of the Duchess, and all unanimously demanded the punishment of Mile. Berlin. The latter at first fought bravely against her enemies ; was she not sure of the friendship and affection of the Queen ? But the excitement caused by the incident was so great that Marie- Antoinette herself advised Rose to humiliate herself and to ask Mile. Quinault's forgiveness. The Queen's wish was law to Rose. She went straight to the Louvre, and to the apartments of Mile. Quinault, where she asked for Mme. Duport.

*' And what does the Bertin woman want ?" asked the latter.

The Bertin woman ! To be called " the Bertin woman " by a chambermaid was a terrible insult, when ladies of the aristocracy addressed her as Mademoiselle, and often even as Madame. But Rose kept her temper, and simply asked to see Mile. Quinault. " Mademoiselle is unwell, and will not be able to see her milliner,'' was the reply; "but we will inquire." Rose was kept waiting for nearly an hour, and at last was admitted into the presence of the former actress. Mile. Quinault at first took no notice whatever of Rose Bertin, and when the latter beiran to offer her excuses the offended Queen of the Stao'e listened calmly, without even raising her head. When Mile. Bertin had finished, the offended Mile. Quinault replied : " My good woman, a creature of your position ought to learn to be polite to her betters,

32 ROSE BERTIN

and to obey the orders of those who pay her — you may go ! "

These words are characteristic of the eighteenth centary. It is astonishing that, with her character, her sense of independence, and her pride, Rose should have remained faithful to the past when the Revolu- tion broke out. But she was very devoted to the Queen, and it was this devotion which prevented her from becoming an enemy of the Monarchy.

She left the apartment of Mile. Quinault in such a state of rage that she was ill for more than six weeks. For more than a fortnight Paris talked of nothing but the incident of Quinault-Bertin, and ever after- wards Mile. Bertin was exceedingly polite to all her customers. The death of the King put an end to the pouf aiix sentiments.

" The mourning for the King," writes the Baroness d'Oberkirch in her memoirs, "put an end to a very ridiculous fashion which usurped the place of the Ques aco. This was the jiouf aux sentiments. It was a head-dress into which may be introduced the like- ness o£ any person or thing for which one may feel affection, such as a miniature of one's daughter or mother, a picture of a canary or a dog, etc., adorned with the hair of a father or of a beloved friend. It was a most incredible piece of extravagance. We were determined to follow the fashion, and the Princess Dorothea once amused herself for an entire day by wearing on her ear the picture of a woman holding a bunch of keys, and which, she declared, was Mme.

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FASHION IN 177;--

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A FAMOUS MILLINER 33

Hendel. The femme de charge thought it a striking likeness, and was almost out of her senses with pride and joy/' This Mme. Hendel was femme de charge of Princess Dorothea at the Castle of Montbeliard.

Thus, according to Mme. d'Oberkirch, who was herself one of Mile. Bertin's customers, the fashion of the pouf was extremely ridiculous, and only suitable for a carnival. And yet, by some inexplicable aberra- tion of good taste, this predilection for the ridiculous, as far as fashions are concerned, may be noticed at various epochs, and we have only to mention the crinoline, which hid the beautiful lines of the female body.

But there were still sensible women whom the eccentricities of fashion did not affect. And the Marquise de Cr^qui, who, as it appearvS, had never been one of Rose's customers, makes fun of the importance attached by the ladies to a new hat or a new hair- dress. " Neither Cassar nor Epaminondas," writes the Marquise, *'have spent so much thought upon the arrangement of their armies or the event of a battle, as is being spent by my contemporaries upon a pouf, or a well-adjusted ribbon, or a bouquet. Too much consideration is given to the inventors of fashion, whilst real merit is being neglected. We must be like the others, and avoid appearing peculiar and singular — this I admit. But we may at the same time try to be neat in our simplicity, noble in our tastes, and modest in our fashions. For fashion is a tyrant under whose rule only fools consent to bend."

3

CHAPTER II

ROSE BERTIN AND THE CHEVALIER d'eON

The young Queen's dressmaker was celebrated above all for her creation of foufs ; but as the novelty of the poufaux sentiments had passed, it was imperative that a new style should be invented. Rose Bertin's genius rose to the occasion, and hats d VIphigenie and poufs h la circonstance (topical toques) made their appearance. The first style was well adapted to current events. The Court was in mourning for the King, and, according to the " Correspondance Secrete," hats a riphiginie were made of a simple crown of black flowers, surmounted by a crescent of Diana, with a short veil falling at the back, partially covering the head.

Gluck's tragedy " Iphig^nie en Aulide " was pre- sented in Paris for the first time on April 19, 1774, and was the occasion of a great outcry which Marie- Antoinette was instrumental in appeasing, and in assuring the success of her favourite composer. The triumph of Gluck's opera was flattering to her claims as a musical critic.

34

ROSE AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 35

The pouf a la circonstance was a flattering tribute to the new monarch. It was intended to represent the change of reign. Mile. Bertin possessed all the qualities that make for success ; she brought to the profit of her trade the obsequiousness of the most assiduous courtier. The pouf was composed of a tall cypress ornamented with black marigolds, the roots being represented by a piece of crape ; on the right side a large sheaf of wheat was placed, leaning against a cornucopia from which peeped out an abundance of grapes, melons, figs, and other fruit, beautifully imitated ; white feathers were mixed with the fi^uit. The hat was a riddle ; the answer was as follows : While weeping the dead monarch, though the roots of sorrow reach to the hearts of his subjects, yet the riches of the new reign are already looming in view.

These poufs varied in style : some represented the sun rising over a wheat-field, where Hope was reaper, being the same riddle more briefly depicted. The pouf a la circonstance was short-lived, being quickly replaced by the pouf a V inoculation^ another of Mile. Bertin's inventions. The King had been vaccinated on June 18, 1774. The custom of inoculation in use for centuries among the peoples in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea had been imported into England from Constantinople in 1738, and into France in 1755. The operation on the King gave Mile. Bertin a new idea ; the pfoiif a Vinoculation celebrated the occasion. It represented a rising sun, and an olive-tree laden with fi'uit, round which a serpent was twisted, hold-

36 ROSE BERTIN

ing a flower-wreathed club. The classical serpent of ^sculapius represented medicine, and the club was the force which could overcome disease. The rising sun was the young King himself, great-grandson of the Hoi-Soleil, to whom all eyes were turned. The olive-tree was the symbol of peace, and also of the tender affection with which all were penetrated at the news of the happy success of the operation which the King and the Royal Family had under- gone.

As one may see, pastoral simplicity was not yet gaining adherents. The Royal Family went to Marly after their vaccination. In her memoirs, Mme. Campan states that it was then that Rose was presented to the Queen. In this she is at variance with the spurious *' Souvenirs '' of Leonard, and with the memoirs of the period from which the author of the " Souvenirs " borrowed his anecdotes. But Mme. Campan's criticism of the milliner's admission to the intimacy of the Queen is interesting :

" It was during this first visit to Marly that the Duchesse de Chartres, afterwards Duchesse d'Orl^ans, introduced Mile. Bertin to the Queen. Mile. Bertin was a milliner who had become famous at this period because of the transformation she had effected in French fashions.

** One may say that the admission of a dressmaker into the Queen's apartments had disastrous conse- quences. The admission of a person of her social class was contrary to all usage, and by her persuasive

. AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 37

tongue it became possible for her to induce the Queen to adopt some new style daily. Up to that time the Queen's taste in dress had been very simple, but thenceforward dress became her chief occupation, in which she was naturally imitated by all women.

*' Each one immediately wished to wear the same things as the Queen, her feathers, her garlands of flowers, which charmingly became her beauty, then in all its splendour. The expenses of young women greatly increased, and mothers and husbands grum- bled ; some flighty individuals contracted debts, and deplorable family scenes ensued, several couples quarrelled or sulked, and it was generally rumoured that the Queen would ruin all the French ladies. . . . Innumerable caricatures of the fashions exhibited everywhere, and in which the Queen's portrait might be maliciously traced, were useless ; the fashion changed, as it always does, only through the influence of time and fickleness.

*' The admission of Mile. Bertin to the Queen's apartments caused a small revolution in the palace, the Ladies-in-Waiting opposmg it as far as they dared. When the Queen's hair was dressed," continues Mme. Cam pan, " she bowed to these ladies, and retired into her room accompanied only by her personal atten- dants. Mile. Bertin awaited her in an adjoining room, as she was not allowed to enter the Queen's own apartment."

The Queen's ladies, jealous of their prerogative,

38 ROSE BERTIN

complained bitterly, and when one day during the course of 1774 Louis XYI. said to the Queen, " You like flowers ; well, I have a bouquet to present to you — it is Trianon," her one wish was to take refuge there, in order to escape all the ceremonious regula- tions which were an annoyance to her. " She wished to be dressed by Mile. Bertin in her own room, and not be condemned to take refuge in an inner cabinet, because her ladies refused to allow Mile. Bertin to enter the rooms under their charge."

But the chief Lady-in- Waiting had to bow to the royal will, and endeavour to be as cordial as possible to the favourite milliner. The post of chief lady had been held by the Duchesse de Villars from Marie- Antoinette's arrival in France, in 1770, until Sep- tember 15, 1771. After her death she was replaced by the Duchesse de Coss6 until June, 1775, who was followed by the Princesse de Chimay. The latter only held the position until September of the same year, being then replaced by Mme. de Mailly, who in her turn was replaced by the Comtesse d'Ossun in 1781.

" The business of the chief Lady-in -Waiting was to see that the Queen was suitably dressed, and had all the dresses and clothes she required. She also paid the bills, an allowance o£ 100,000 francs being made for this purpose, which was supplemented when any extraordinary expenses were necessary, which frequently haj^pened.

'' Mme. Campan, who has given a detailed account

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 39

of all these private matters, says that this lady used to sell dresses, muffs, laces, and cast-off finery, for her own profit, and the gain was very considerable.

" This lady," says Mme. Campan, ** had at her orders a head lady's-maid to fold and iron the different articles of dress, two valets of the wardrobe, and a page of the wardrobe. The latter' s duty was to take to the Queen's room baskets covered with green cloth, containing all the clothes the Queen would require for the day. He gave the head lady's- maid a book containing patterns of dresses, state robes, simple dresses, etc., with a little piece of trim- ming of each. The lady's-maid gave the book and pincushion to the Queen, when the latter awoke. The Queen then marked with pins the patterns of the dresses she wished to wear."

One of these books of patterns is extant, and can be seen in the Archives Nationales ; it is for the year 1782.

"When the Queen's toilette was completed, the valets and pages came in and took away all the superfluous articles to the wardrobe, where they were re-folded, hung up, and cleaned with such care that even the older dresses had all the brilliance of the new ones.

" Three rooms lined with cupboards, some with shelves, some to hang garments, were set aside for the Queen's wardrobe ; large tables in these rooms served to lay the dresses on to be folded.

" The Queen usually had for winter twelve state

40 EOSE BEEXm

dresses, twelve simple dresses, and twelve rich dresses on panniers, which she used for card-parties or in- timate supper-parties.

^' Summer and spring toilettes served for autumn wear also. All these toilettes were remodelled at the end of each season, unless Her Majesty desired to keep some as they were. No mention is made of muslin and cotton, or other dresses of that kind ; these had only recently come into fashion, and they were not renewed each season, but were made to serve for several years."*

In the French Court everything was done accord- ing to tradition : *' a certain stuflP was worn in winter, another kind in summer. Fashion was carried to the extent of fixing certain colours for certain seasons, such as gold for frosty days, and silver for the dog-days. Anyone appearing in the gallery at Versailles attired in an unseasonable manner was looked upon as a person of bad style unused to the ways of society.^f

Was Mile. Bertin presented to Marie- Antoinette whilst she was Dauphine, or not until 1774, after the death of Louis XV. ? It would seem at first that Mme. Campan, whose duties gave her the opportunity of learning the details of the Queen*s daily life, is probably in the right ; at the same time we must remember that Mile. Bertin may very well have been presented to Marie- Antoinette while she was yet Dauphine without being granted easy access to her

* Comtesse d Adhemar, " Souvenirs sur Marie- Antoinette." t Rassel d'Epinal, " Le Chateau des Tuileries."

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 41

apartments. In any case it is certain that from the year 1774 Rose Bertin came regularly twice a week to show her creations to the Queen. She continued to do so without interruption until after October 6, with the exception of the first month following on the death of the Empress Maria- Theresa.

This took up a great deal of Rose's time ; she therefore informed her clients that she was to be seen at her own residence on certain appointed days, but would be no longer able to go to her clients' houses. Her manner of announcing this was perhaps rather tactless ; she displayed, probably, some haughtiness, which exasperated all the fine ladies of Paris j in fact, if her shop was not instantly deserted, it was merely because it was considered good style to patronize the same milliner as the Queen.

Although Rose had succeeded in pleasing Marie- Antoinette, the Duchesse de Chartres, and the Princesse de Conti, her manners were not to the taste of many of the ladies with whom she had dealings. The follow- ing is a criticism of her given in the Baroness d'Ober- kirch's memoirs :

"' The jargon of mademoiselle was exceedingly amusing ; it was a singular mixture of haughtiness and cringing humility, and came very near impertinence if one did not hold her at arm's length, and degener- ated into insolence when one did not nail her to her place."

The Queen being the first to wear the pouf d IHyioculation^ all the ladies of the Court immediately

42 EOSE BERTIN

followed suit. Mile. Bertin was no longer able to cope with the work alone, and employed thirty work- girls, but each piece of headgear cost 10 louis, which was a pretty good price.

This eagerness to seize any topical event for a new creation was a special characteristic of the great milliner's genius, a characteristic which was mimicked by all her competitors of both sexes, amongst whom the celebrated Beaulard must be placed in the first rank. It was with great justice that a journal en- titled the Cabinet des Modes could say in 1786 : *' Fashion, that has been called by her detractors ' light, fickle, flighty, and frivolous,' has, however, fixed principles. We see her constant in seizing and appropriating to herself every event of interest, con- signing it to her annals, rendering it immortal in history. What great event, what signal deed of our warriors, or even of our magistrates, has she not published ? If the D'Estaings and D'Orvilliers have conquered, did she not advertise their victory ? Did she not decree that ladies should wear on their heads tributes to these deeds, so that, entering thus by the extremity of their bodies, these deeds should be engraved on their hearts? Did she not announce to the whole of Europe the success of Figaro? Under how many shapes did she not reproduce Janot ? Did not even Cagliostro, more famous by his lawsuit than by his lying immortality, find that fashion had made his existence known from one hemisphere to the other ? . . . We flatter ourselves that our assertion

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 43

that the Cabinet des Modes may be of use even to historians will not be denied."

The editor of this journal was in the right in sing- ing the praises of fashion, which is not often ap- preciated in this way. The following lines written by Meister in his '' Correspond ance Litteraire " for November, 1774, are a proof: '^ If ever a book of morals is written for our young Parisian ladies, I beg the author to attack fiercely the extravagant head- dresses, and above all the bad taste of Beaulard, inventor of all these absurdities.

" This man racks his brains to represent on the heads of young women all the most important events recorded in the newspapers. One may see a bonnet portraying the opening of Parliament, another the Battle of Ivry and Henry IV., another an English garden — in fact, all historical events, ancient and modern. It so happens that head-dresses are no longer in keeping with the costumes of the day, and so more picturesque ones are being invented, and presently women will unconsciously find themselves dressing so theatrically that for ball dresses, which must differ from ordinary dress, there will be nothing left but nightcaps and bed-gowns."

These censures, however, did not interfere with Beaulard, nor with Mile. Bertin, to whom they could be well applied, as she was capable of just such extravagant inventions.

Mile. Bertin did not look with pleasure upon the fame of her rival Beaulard. She came to the Queen

44 ROSE BERTIN

one day, and complained, with tears in her eyes, of the favour shown him by certain great ladies. She had cause to be alarmed at his success ; he was a man of great imagination, and during the days of the poufs auoc sentiments invented some very original ones, capable of rivalling the confections of the Rue Saint- Honor6. His fame was considerably increased by his invention of a curious bonnet called d la bonne maman — granny bonnets.

The Comtesse d'Adhemar, in her " Souvenirs sur Marie- Antoinette," relates the following anecdote of Beaulard : *' A foreigner came to him. ' Monsieur,' she said, ' I wish you to invent a stylish hat for me. I am English, the widow of an Admiral ; I need say no more, your taste will do the rest.'

" The skilful milliner set to work after some meditation, and two days later he brought the haughty islander a bonnet that was truly divine. Billowy gauze represented a rough sea, and by means of ribbon and ornaments he had managed to portray a fleet carrying a mourning flag in sign of the widow- hood of the lady. When she appeared with this marvellous work of art, just cries of admiration were heard on all sides ; but Beaulard's vogue was brought to its zenith by his creation of the bonnet a la bonne maman,

" To appreciate it, one must know that grand- mothers, in fact all the old Court, disapproved of the height of the modern head - dress. Consequently bonnets a la bonne maman were raised to a fashion-

Muscc Cariw.valtl

FASHION IN irro

Buniict called F.c Lever ile la R'ilm

To face page 44

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 45

able height by means of a spring, and lowered when a bad-tempered grandmamma appeared on the scene. All young women wished for one, and Mile. Bertin never pardoned any of her clients for their temporary infidelity to her, caused by the rage for Beaulard's confections."

All these frivolities and various anecdotes that were spread abroad did harm to Marie- Antoinette, who was exposed to the most virulent criticism. In the first place, as Soulavie tells us : *' The lady aunts who could not resign themselves to adopting these extravagant fashions, nor to model themselves daily on the Queen, called her feathers the trappings of a horse."* But this was just a saying; the Abb^ Baudeau, in his " Chronique Secrete de Paris sous Louis XVL," describes the state of things better. ** The Queen is shot at with bullets of fire," he writes under date July 11, 1774 ; " there is no horror that is not told of her, and the most contradictory stories are believed by certain persons."

It would have been strange indeed if Rose had escaped malicious tales, which were the current coin of wit during that perverse, fickle, and depraved century. We are therefore not surprised to read in Soulavie's book these lines, " They accused her [Marie- Antoinette] of secret intrigues with Mile. Bertin, dressmaker of the capital, and with the Misses Guimard, Renaud and Gentil," without counting the

* "Memoires Historiques et PoHtiques du Regne de Louis XVL,'' t. ii., Paris, an x.

46 ROSE BERTIN

others, of course. A joke, a mark of interest, a smile, a word of the Queen, sufficed to fire the imagination of the pamphleteers in the pay of Mme. Adelaide in particular, to conceive the most incredible tales.

Rose Bertin, whose art, as we have seen, was not to the taste of the lady aunts, did not escape the arrows of the ungallant scribblers whose pens were hired by the anti- Austrian clique, at whose head the aunts had placed themselves. All the same, Mme. Adelaide's ladies — amongst others Mme. de Beon — were Mile. Bertin's clients.

It must be admitted, however, in excuse of her critics, that Marie - Antoinette gave a handle to criticism by her irresponsible and reprehensible con- duct, and above all by her extravagance. In October, 1774, her allowance was raised from 96,000 to 200,000 livres, and it was not long before this was insufficient for her expensive tastes.

The tales spread abroad about the milliner did not injure her trade, and it was still considered good style to patronize her establishment.

Comte Auguste de la March, Prince d'Arenberg, having married Mile, de Cernay on November 23, 1774, the latter ordered a Mohammedan dress in the following month, and shortly after a costume a la Henri IV. At the same period Rose Bertin executed orders for Princesse de Stolberg at Brussels.

The winter of 1774-75 was exceedingly brilliant ; the Queen gave various balls, which was good for trade. The balls of December 6 and January 9 were

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 47

particularly successful. On the latter date there were quadrilles of masks dressed in the Norwegian and Lapland costume. The Queen set the example, the nobles followed, and brilliant reunions were given. Mercy- Argenteau wrote on the subject to the Empress Maria- Theresa on February 20, 1775 : *' Comtesse de Brionne having given a private ball at her residence at Versailles, after midnight, the Queen, Monsieur, and the Comte and Comtesse d'Artois, wished to honour the reunion with their presence, and presented them- selves without advising the Comtesse de Brionne."

Four quadrilles were given in their honour : the first in old French costumes ; the second represented mountebanks ; the third, which was the Queen's, was given in Tyrolean costume, and the fourth in Indian. The masquerade was so successful that the Queen desired it to be repeated the following week at a ball which was given at Versailles on January 23, in the little theatre.

To the era of eccentric poufs succeeded that o£ gigantic feathers, which began in 1775. The " Corre- spondance Secrete " says on January 9 of that year : " The Queen has invented for her sleigh drives a headgear which combines well with the Ques aco^ but which brings into fashion a feminine head-dress of a prodigious height. These head-dresses represent high mountains, flowery meadows, silvery streams, forests, or an English garden. An immense crest of feathers supports the edifice at the back. These crests, which are renewed daily, called the King's

48 ROSE BERTIN

attention the other day ; and to show the Queen, as gallantly as possible, that they displeased him, he presented her with a diamond aigrette, saying : * I beg you will limit yourself to this ornament, even of which your charms have no need. This present should please you the more that it has not increased my expenditure, since it is composed of diamonds I possessed when I was Dauphin.' After this inci- dent our women will no doubt modify their dress. We are compelled, however, to admit that these huge and costly head-dresses have greatly increased our commercial profits. Fashion becomes an indus- trial empire too profitable for France not to applaud it. A woman's dress is in this country a political question, because of its influence on commerce and manufactures."

These economic conclusions are interesting. We see how fashion, in which Rose Bertin played a far more important part than the Queen, had at the same time a happy and a disastrous effect. Commerce was naturally affected by it ; some industries profited, whilst bitter complaints were heard that others were ruined.

'' A milliner and dressmaker admitted to the private apartments of the Queen, to the stupefaction of all who held by etiquette, Rose Bertin became a historic personage. Her influence destroys our old industries by completing the revolution commenced by the Pompadour and Du Barry, substituting for the solid magnificence of old fashions a light, frivolous,

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 49

and fantastic style. At one time we see the Queen, and after her all our reigning beauties, affecting extreme simplicity, and borrowing the light white dresses of their lady's-maids ; now we find them swathed in theatrical costumes, with immense crests of feathers. They raise upon their heads a gigantic scaffolding of gauze, flowers, and feathers, so that, according to the caricatures of the period, a woman's head was in the middle of her body, and society had the appearance of an extravagant fancy ball.

" The salons laugh at Fashion, but obey it. The workshops clamour that the Austrian is ruining the manufactures of Lyons — our beautiful silk trade — to enrich the lawn factories of Brabanzon and the subjects of her brother, Joseph IL"*

These censures are exaggerated, as lawn factories were not the monopoly of Brabanzon ; there were many important ones in French provinces, notably in Flanders, where there were various famous centres of the lawn trade.

Her great success was, naturally, not calculated to decrease the pride of the milliner of the Rue Saint- Honor^. She loved to say, *' I have just come from working with Her Majesty," and was perpetually alluding to her interviews with the Queen. It is true that Marie- Antoinette treated her with the greatest familiarity, that her door always stood open for her dressmaker, and that the importance she attached to dress — at least, before the birth of her first

* Henri Martin, " Histoire de France," t. xvi., 1860.

4

50 ROSE BERTIN

son in 1781 — lent a certain importance to her dress- maker. It is related that a lady of the highest rank of the aristocracy came to her on one occasion to inquire why a certain order had not been executed. Mile. Bertin replied with comical majesty : '' I can- not gratify you. In my last conference with the Queen we decided that that fashion should not appear until next month."

Another similar incident is also told of the Rue Saint-Honore. One of Mile. Bertin 's permanent clients came one day to buy a hat for a provincial friend, who desired to have one from the celebrated milliner's shop. The client asked to see the milliner herself. After some delay she was ushered in, and found Rose Bertin lying on a couch in the most coquettish neglige. She greeted her client with a slight inclination of the head, and, having heard her request, rang the bell. '* Mademoiselle Addla'ide," she said, as a young employee answered the summons, " show madam one of last month's hats." At that time, when hats changed from day to day for any reason or for none, a hat a month old might be absolutely old-fashioned, and the client, offended, protested that she desired the very newest style ; but with the gesture of a deputy queen, which she humorously practised, Rose Bertin cat short her reproaches. '* Madam," she said, '^ it is not possible. When I last worked with Her Majesty, we decreed that the new styles should not appear for another week."

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 51

It is not amazing that, as a result of these tales, which spread like wildfire round salons and boudoirs, Rose Berlin was nicknamed the "Minister of Fashion" ; at the same time the Ministers of the period, who seemed to have no stable opinions, but were per- petually changing their views, were nicknamed '' fashion-makers." Mile. Bertin, Minister of Fashion, was more costly than a Secretary of State.

The influence she exercised over the Queen led the latter, from the first year of her reign, into expenses for dress which amounted speedily to a very consider- able sum. That year, without the King's knowledge, she contracted debts to the incredible total of 300,000 livres. A large part of this sum, naturally, was owing to dressmakers, milliners, feather-merchants, per- fumers, and other j^roviders of feminine coquetries. But o£ all these there was no one so loved, or whose advice was more earnestly solicited, as that of little Bertin.

Although Rose was so free and easy with her clients, even the most aristocratic, she did not neglect her business and the interests of her establishment. Every month she despatched to the Northern Courts a model dressed in the latest French style. She traded with Spain and Portugal, and especially with Russia ; and it was said of her that her fame was only bounded by the boundaries of Europe.

In his '' Tableau de Paris," Mercier speaks of this model of the Rue Saint- Honor^ in the following amusing sketch.

52 ROSE BERTIN

" Nothing,'^ he says, " equals the gravity of a miUiner confectioning a fouf^ and increasing a hundredfold the value of gauzes and flowers. Every week some new style of edifice is created in the world of hats. The inventor becomes famous ; women have a profound and tender respect for the happy geniuses who vary the advantages of their beauty and face.

" The expenses of fashion now exceed those for the table and carriages. The unfortunate husband can never calculate the cost of these varying fantasies, and he requires ready resources to meet these capri- cious calls. He would be pointed at in the streets if he did not pay for these frivolities as punctually as he pays the butcher and baker.

" The profound inventors in this line lay down in Paris the laws that shall govern the universe. The famous model — the precious mannequin attired in the newest fashion — is despatched from Paris to London every month, and from thence is sent to shed its graces round the whole of Europe. It travels to the north and to the south ; it goes to St. Petersburg and to Constantinople ; and all nations, humbly bowing to the taste of the Rue Saint-Honor^, imitate the folds turned by a French hand.

*' I met a foreigner who refused to believe in the Poupee de la Rue Saint- Honore^ which is despatched regularly to the north, to carry there the model of the new head-dress, while a second edition is de-

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 53

spatched to the heart of Italy, and from thence finds access to the seraglio. I led the unbeliever to the famous establishment, and there he saw with his eyes and felt with his hand, and in touching he seemed still to doubt, it all seemed so incredible to him."

Mercier is lacking in enthusiasm for the expenses into which his beautiful contemporaries were led ; many persons of more simple and of good taste believed and said that these eccentricities were a temporary craze which would pass, and people would return to something more natural. It was an illu- sion. The "Correspondance Secrete" was greatly de- ceived when, in relating the anecdote of Louis XVI. and the diamond aigrette, it said : " No doubt women will modify their dress."

Nothing of the kind occurred ; on the contrary, in the next month — February, 1775 — the same paper admits that its prediction was incorrect :

" The head-dress of our women rises higher and higher ; to-day a head-dress which a few months ago was considered ridiculously high would not be tolerated even by the bourgeoisie. Ladies of quality wear crests of feathers two or three feet high, and the Queen sets the example. On the 17th instant the Archduke Maximilien honoured the Opera with his presence, and must have been not a little astonished to find himself in a forest of feathers."

Caricaturists had a fine field. Songs were written ridiculing the absurd fashions and the rage for

54 ROSE BERTIN

feathers. Comte d'Adh^mar, amongst others, com- posed the following song :

Air : " Pour la Baronne.''''

" Je prends la plume Pour celebrer les grands plumets. Partage fardeur qui m'allunie, Muse, preside a mes couplets :

Je prends la plume.

" C'est a la plume Que la France doit sa grandeur. Henri, dont c'etait la coutume, Criait dans le champ de Thonneur :

C'est a la plume.

'* C'est a la plume Qu'on doit souvent tout son bonheur ; Quand sur le feu qui nous consume La bouche explique mal le cceur,

C'est a la plume.

" Charmantes plumes Couvrez les fronts, troublez les coeurs, Malgre leurs froides amertumes, Vous regnerez sur vos censeurs,

Charmantes plumes.

" Toutes les plumes Ramenant la fidelite ; Amans volages que nous fumes, L'amour quitta pour la beaute Toutes les plumes.

" Dessus la plume, Quoiqu'il soit doux de discourir, II est minuit, et je presume Qu'il est plus doux de s'etablir

Dessus la plume."

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 55

Another song, given below, is more characteristic of the age. The author is unknown to us ; it was sung to the tune, " Reveillez-vous, belle endormie":

" Oui, sur la tete de nos dames Laissons les panaches flotter. lis sont analogues aux femmes, Elles font bien de les porter.

" La femme se peint elle-meme Dans ce frivole ajustement ; La plume vole, elle est Tembleme De ce sexe trop inconstant.

" Des femmes on salt la coutume, Vous font-elles quelque serment ? Fiez-vous-y ; comme la plume, Autant en emporte le vent.

" La femme aussi de haut plumage Se pare au pays des Incas, Mais \k les beautds sont sauvages Et les notres ne le sont pas.

" Tandis que d'un panache, en France, Un epoux orne sa moitie, D'un autre, avec reconnaissance. Par elle, il est gratifie.^'

Marie- Antoinette's intimacy with her dressmaker was the occasion of bitter censure. An amusing incident, which, however, justifies the critics, occurred during the early months of 1775 : Richard, President of the Parliament of Dijon, had a daughter, who in her character of Canon ess was to receive a decoration, which the Queen had promised to confer on her

56 ROSE BERTIN

herself. It was a little ceremony to which Mme. Richard, the Canoness, attached the greatest impor- tance. On the appointed day the Queen, having com- pletely forgotten all about it, gave leave of absence to Mme. d'Ossun and Mme. de Misery, who were in attendance on her, and there was no one with her but Mile. Bertin, who had come on business. Suddenly the Queen remembered that Mme. Richard was coming, and would soon arrive. What was to be done ? Marie- Antoinette soon found a way out of the difficulty. Mme. Richard had never put her foot in the palace before, she probably never would again, and the ladies of the Court were quite unknown to her. The Queen took Rose into her room and made her put on one of her own dresses, at the same time teaching her the part she was to play in the cere- mony. She had little to do ; it was merely a question of holding a basin of water whilst the Queen placed the ribbon and cross round the new Abbess's neck. Needless to say, Rose's toilette was made amid great laughter; but when the Canoness was introduced both the Queen and her dressmaker had regained their composure, and the little ceremony was performed without Mme. Richard's suspicions being aroused as to the identity of the Maid of Honour,

It was about this time that the bonnets d la revolte made their appearance. At the beginning of May, 1775, the high price of flour had caused trouble, and bakers' shops were pillaged in Paris on the 3rd. The misfortunes of the people were made a pretext for a

/:.'/'/// !of h I ij V.f N< 'I i"i)fi li:

M ADKMOISKl.M': HOSP: IN MOUNING TOILETTE IN THE ( II AMPS-EIASEES^ iTsT

Til f;ifc page .''iti

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 57

new fashion. There were also hats a la laitiere, orna- mented with ribbons and wreaths of flowers, roses and acacias, and so on. The bonnet neglige a la reine and the bonnet a la iJaysaiine, had great success.

On May 27, 1775, an event occurred which greatly grieved the famous milliner. The Princesse de Conti died in Paris at the age of eighty-one. One might almost say that she had led Rose by the hand from the door of the Trait Galant to the palace at Versailles. It was a great blow to Mile. Bertin. She thought with affection of the day when, with hands and feet benumbed with the cold, she stood warming herself at the flaming fire of the drawing-room in the Conti Palace, chatting familiarly with the good dowager, never suspecting that she was talking to one of the most powerful Princesses in France.

There was no time, however, for grief; the whirl- wind of life swept her onward. Orders poured into the shop of the Rue Saint-Honore, and the consecration of the King had been fixed for June 10, which meant a surplus of work.

It is uncertain whether Rose did or did not follow the Queen to Rheims. The "Souvenirs" of Leonard state that she did ; but, as we have seen, little faith can be put in that book. In any case, the ceremony occa- sioned but a very short break in the extravagant fashions, which revived again as soon as the Queen returned to Versailles. These eccentricities evoked the bitterest criticism, which was directed especially against the Queen. The editor of the Cabinet

58 ROSE BEETIN

des Modes was a true prophet of the future when he asserted that his paper would be of service to historians, because fashion was the cancer of the age — an age of luxury and folly, when ribbons and chiffons were the preoccupation of the wealthy^ and while the masses were seething with pent-up anger, the anger of a people crushed by insolent luxury, enraged by the brazen dissoluteness of a heedless aristocracy, mad for pleasure, blind with pride and self-love, unconscious of the rising tide.

And yet in her distant capital, far from rumours and threats and from flattering courtiers, the Empress Maria- Theresa was conscious of the dangers which surrounded the French Queen — her clear-sightedness penetrated the future. This remarkable and wise woman, on receiving a portrait of her daughter bedizened in Rose Bertin's best style, returned it by her Ambassador, Comte Mercy - Argenteau, with the remark : " This is not the portrait of a Queen of France ; there is some mistake, it is the portrait of an actress." It was a severe lesson, but surely not undeserved. The Empress of Austria, far from France, was more clear-sighted than her daughter or her son-in-law, and saw the dangers ahead. She had grasped that the late King's government had greatly compromised the monarchy, that the least thing would cause the cup of bitterness to overflow, and that a Queen of France succeeding to the costly reign of a Du Barry should by her economy, her simplicity, and her virtues, efface and pay the heavy

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 59

debts of the courtesan, which had fallen on the shoulders of the people instead of their King.

The lesson was of no avail ; the " Memoires Secrets," under the date August 19, 1775, tell us that "Her Majesty looked upon the reproof as futile and too severe, the result of ill-humour caused by age and illness ; she did not think it necessary, therefore, to modify her dress, and the courtiers allege that the very next day the Queen was wearing a still higher crest of feathers. Her Majesty's weakness for this fragile ornament is such, that a young poet named Auguste, having sent a humorous poem to the Meixure^ criticizing feathers, it was returned to him, as the editors feared to insert it, lest it might offend the Queen. All stylish women naturally followed their Sovereign's example. The feather trade, which was unimportant formerly in France, is now very considerable, and at one time the stock at Lyons was temporarily exhausted."

On September 18, 1775, the Princesse de Lamballe, one of Rose's chief clients and her protectress, was appointed Superintendent of the Queen's Household, which was greatly to Mile. Berlin's advantage. She knew that the Princess would not oppose her interests, nor check an imagination given to perpetual change, which was profitable to her trade.

At this time people did not only trouble about the shape and the trimmings in fashion, for the colour of the fabrics used in making all kinds of costumes for men as well as for women changed just as fre-

60 ROSE BERXm

quently. During the summer of 1775 the fashionable colour was a kind of chestnut brown, which the Queen had chosen for a dress. When the King saw it, he exclaimed, " That is puce !" (flea-coloured). So puce became the fashion, in the town as well as at Court. Men and women ordered puce-coloured clothes, and those who did not buy new cloth or taffetas sent their old clothes to the dyers. But the colour was not always exactly the same shade, so they made a difference between old and young flea, and then made subdivisions, and you could see clothes of the colour of the flea's " back," '' head,'* or " thigh,'' and the whole country was covered with puce-coloured clothes, when (we may read this in the " Memoires Secrets "), " the merchants having offered some satins to the Queen, Her Majesty chose an ash grey, and Monsieur exclaimed that it was the colour of the Queen's hair. From that moment puce was out of fashion, and valets were despatched from Fontainebleau to Paris to procure velvet, ratteen, and cloth, of that colour, and S6 livres the ell was the price for some of these just before the Feast of St. Martin ; the usual price was from 40 to 42 livres. This anecdote, so frivolous on the surface, shows that, if the French monarch has a steady head, in spite of his youth, the courtiers are just as vain, thoughtless and petty as they were under the late King."

The Queen could in the matter of fashions allow herself certain fancies ; she did them honour. Con- temporaries are agreed in praising her air and the

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 61

wonderful elegance with which she wore her clothes. Horace Walpole — who had seen her at the wedding of Mme. Clothilde of France, who married in 1775 the future King of Sardinia, Charles Emanuel TV., then Prince of Piedmont — wrote to his friends in England : " One has eyes for the Queen only ! The Hebes and Floras and Helens, and the Graces, are only street women compared with her. Seated or standing, she is the Statue of Beauty ; when she moves she is Grace personified. She wore a silver brocade, flowered with pink laurels, but few diamonds and feathers. They say that she does not keep time when she dances — then the fault was in the time ! Speaking of beauties, I have seen none, or else the Queen outshone them/'

The " Correspondance Secrete " gives us striking details of the impudence of feminine taste in the autumn of 1775. The hair was dressed so high that we read, October 14 : " Women have to kneel in their carriages ; you see their faces, as it were, in the middle of their bodies." And November 7 : " They are talking of substituting tufts of fur for plumes this winter. Women will then look like Pashas ; and we believe they will be Pashas with more than three tails, and that they will lower their head-dresses, which really are now worn at such an extravagant height ... I have already told you that they decorate their heads with imitations of all sorts of plants, and that by studying the caps of the past year you may become a fairly good botanist. After having exhausted the

62 ROSE BERXm

greenhouses, they went to the kitchen-garden produce, and at last they sought models at the herbalist's. Yesterday at Court they wore caps trimmed with small trusses of couch-grass — a splendid imitation, of course. You will remark, monsieur, the skilful transition made use of to lead us to the branches of fur which are going to be the vogue this winter." Finally, under the date December 9, we read again in this correspondence all about the fashionable colours, which in the autumn had been puce, and then the colour of the Queen's hair. Never has fashion shown so much extravagance ; there are the singular colours of '' stifled sighs " and caps of ^' bitter groans," etc.

Nevertheless the fashion of feathers did not entirely go out Avith the winter of 1776, and Soulavie reports that some were sold at 50 livres apiece. Money was so easily earned by anything which had to do with woman's clothes that Mercier, indignant, wrote in his " Tableau de Paris" : '^ Tulle, gauze, and net, occupied a hundred thousand hands ; and there were soldiers, whole and maimed, making net and offering it for sale themselves. Soldiers making net!"

" To-day," Metra remarks, January 20, 1776, in his '* Correspondance Secrete ," " caps take the shape of a pigeon, and certainly there is no woman decorated in that fashion who does not expect to hear the com- ])liment that it is one of the doves from her car. Feathers are beginning to fall, and this moulting truly comes at the right time."

AND THE CHEVALIER D^EON 63

Never in France have woman exhausted so much art to make themselves ridiculous. Hair dressers and milliners had to keep their ingenuity perpetually active to satisfy clients as frivolous as these with whom they dealt. As for the Queen, with the help of her hair dressers and Mile. Bertin, she started most of the fashions. In 1775 she wore the first peacock's feathers in her hair, a fashion immediately copied by the whole Court. And here we find the reason and excuse of her perpetual changes. While feeding her vanity by influencing those who sur- rounded her by coquetry, Marie- Antoinette soon tired of a fashion which tended to become a uniform. And Mile. Bertin had to foresee the moment when a fashion reached that degree o£ generalization which took away from the originality, and in consequence called for prompt modification.

However, in spite of what Metra wrote on Januar}^ 20, plumes and immense head-dresses had not gone out of fashion. Woman still wore such scaffoldings of hair and trimmings that they could only kneel in their carriages. " They appeared," a contemporary tells us, " like busy people having let fall a bracelet, which they were always looking for among the cushions." Besides being obliged to hold themselves in a distorted, hampered, and inconvenient manner, they had to leave their curtains open, in order not to disturb the arrangement of their ribbons, which were blown by the wind like flags.

Mme. Campan says : "If the fashion of wearing

64 ROSE BERTIN

feathers and extravagant head-dresses had been pro- longed, it would have brought about a revolution in architecture. The necessity of raising the doors and ceilings of the boxes at the theatre, and above all the roofs of carriaiJ'es, would have been felt."

The caricaturists had no need to exaggerate ; they simply had to copy and paint their contemporaries as they saw them. Some of the feathers which went to- wards the making up of these immense plumes were three feet long ; and the madness lasted several years, but was at its height from 1776 to 1780.

A ball was given on Maundy Thursday in February, 1776, at the Palais-Royal, by the Duchessede Chartres in honour of the Queen, who wore such a big head- dress that some of it had to be taken down, because she could not get into her carriage without crushing it, and put on again when she arrived at her Palais- Royal.

The King, a regular quiz at times, laughed at all these exaggerations. It happened one day, in the month of April of the same year, that the Queen, returning from the opera, and not seeming very pleased, the King asked her how she found it. ^* Cold," she replied. And when he insisted on being- told what sort of a reception she had been given, and if she had had the usual cheers, she did not answer, the King, says Bachaumont, understanding what that meant, said, " Apparently, madame, you did not wear enough feathers."

That was a criticism of the skill of Mile. Bertin,

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 65

and of the continual outbidding: of her inventions. All the husbands apparently were of the King's opinion, and not only in Paris or in France, but even in foreign countries, where the French fashions were copied with energy, as is proved by a letter from Genoa dated May 20, 1776, which relates an incident in the sojourn of the Duchesse de Chartres, who, as a client of Rose Bertin, increased by her presence and example the number of her orders. Woman in all countries of the world, having a little of the monkey, only thinks well of herself when she has imitated, at her best, the manners and clothes created, as freaks, by the futile and disordered brains of society women and professional beauties. " Madame la Duchesse de Chai^tres," this letter says, " at first grieved all the women here who pride themselves on dressing as Parisians ; this Princess, who travels under the name of Princesse de Joinville, only appeared at first in a semi-large cap, which made the husbands rejoice, as they are the enemies of high head-dresses and plumes ; they represented to their wives that they could not do better than conform to the fashion of dressing their hair like the first Princess of the blood royal. But when the Princess put on her ' house of cards ' — as we say in familiar speech — and hoisted her plumes, great was the joy among women ; and the next day the bankers had 50,000 livres commission for getting feathers from France. This anecdote, so futile in itself, proves the foreign taste for our fashions, and

5

66 ROSE BERTIN

that we are still the first in them, if we have fallen from our high position in politics."

All the same, this magnificence continued to be the pretext for attacks from scribblers, who aimed more particularly at Marie-Antoinette, and whose work was preparing by degrees the middle class and the people to accept, as a deliverance, the fall of the monarchy which had made France the first country in the world, and was then crushing it with disastrous childishness. However, in spite of the libels and pamphlets which began to circulate among the people, the Queen had kept her prestige in the eyes of the great mass of the people. The Englishman William Wraxall, an impartial observer, said, in fact : *' In the summer of 1776, when I left France, Marie- Antoinette had reached the height of her beauty and her popularity."

Comte d'Allonville tells us in his '^ Memoires Secret" that the Queen received only 400,000 francs for her personal expenditure, and that was little enough with her taste for dress, and love of play which ruined her, so that the King had often to pay her debts from his privy purse.

It was in this year, 1776, that Louis XVL, by an order dated February, suppressed the warden- ships, guilds of commerce, arts, and trades. This measure caused at first the liveliest alarm among people interested. Different bodies and guilds printed pamphlets in which they showed the disorder which would follow — tailors would make carriage-wheels,

•«w «« ,^^^Jte«V^ >i« cote iicaunvojini: c)i:'i

JIt'.<i>_ Curi'OA-ch.l

CHAPEAU A LA GRENADE, 1770

Til face l-iAgQ Ci

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 67

the pork-butcher would sell candles. They had meetings. On February 12 the Guild of Hosiery met in the cloister of Sain t- Jacques-la- Boncherie ; on the 15th the six merchant guilds met again. The Advocate- General Seguier, advising the re-forma- tion of the guilds on a new basis, said that women belonging to certain trade guilds should be admitted to the mastership, and of this number he mentioned hairdressers, embroiderers, and the makers of fashions. " This would mean," he said, "preparing an asylum for virtue, which is often led by want to licentiousness."

The edict of February was followed by a fresh edict in August, 1776, which re-established on a new basis the six merchant guilds and the forty- four corporations of arts and trades. The fashion- makers and dealers in feathers were No. 18.

Henceforth, to carry on a trade, it was necessary to be entered on a special register which was kept by the Lieutenant-General of Police, and in which was written, with family name and Christian name, the age and domicile of the person entered. If he changed his domicile or altered the nature of his business, he had to be entered afresh on the register. Finally, admission to the mastership cost 300 livres, but, once admitted, no rights could be taken from anyone received into the guild.

Naturally, Mile. Bertin belonged to the reconstituted guild of fashion-makers, which was called " The Guild of Makers and Dealers in Fashions — Feather-Dealers and Florists of the City and Suburbs of Paris," and

68 ROSE BERTIN

from the formation of this new guild she found herself invested with the functions of master, and placed for a year at the head of the guild, whose acting members were as follows :

Masters: Marie- Jeanne Bertin, Denise TEtrier.

Assistants: Marguerite Danican Philidor, woman Fortin, Madeleine Darant, woman Robbin.

Entering into office October 1, 1776, she kept it until October 1, 1777. The choice that the guild made, of Rose Bertin for first master, was evident proof of her importance and of the position she held in Parisian trade. This first year the fees collected for the admittance of masters rose to 10,020 livres. They were 3,660 livres in 1777-78, and 2,580 livres in 1778-79.

In 1776 the head-dresses and caps were just as varied as in 1775. One of the styles was called " The Rising of the Queen"; they also wore hats in the style of Henri IV., which were hats with turned- up brims trimmed after the fashion of the legendary white plume. This had no bearing on the present time, but was purely reminiscent. The fashion lasted for some years with others more ephemeral. The Queen wore one on the day when Joseph 11. arrived in Paris, April 18, 1777. The weather was fearful, rain and wdnd never ceased, and the carriages in which Marie- Antoinette with her suite crossed Paris to meet her brother were open. " All the Henri IV. hats," writes Bachaumont, " and the feathers were spoilt, ruined and broken. At this

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 69

the Queen laughed and was immensely amused." Sometimes one laughs at trifles ; it was not very witty, but it was childish.

Marie-Antoinette has left information on certain details relating to the fashions of 1776. We find it in a letter addressed to Maria-Theresa, June 13. " The same rule," she wrote, " applies to the head- dress for women of a certain age, as well as to the dresses and jewels, except the paint, which elderly people put on here, and the}^ are perhaps even a little stronger in tone than those of the younger ones. For the rest, after reaching forty - five years of age, one wears less startling colours, and the dresses are cut less to the figure and are not so light, and the hair is not so curly nor the head-dress so high."

On February 17 the Queen went with Madame and the Princesse de Lamballe to the Com^die Fran<}aivse, where they saw the first performance of " Oredan," a tragedy by Fontanelle, the author of the "Life of Aretino," and a piece called " La Vestale," the per- formance of which was forbidden in 1768. " The Queen was not in full dress, with no diamonds or paint," Hardy says, "and looked in this garb quite pleasant and middle-class." This goes to pz^ove that Mile. Bertin could invent a style which was not eccentric. Marie- Antoinette's taste for eleo^ance did not detract from her influence. If this Queen had dreamed for one moment of ruling, i£ she had had any of the love of Catherine de Medici or Anne of

70 ROSE BERTIN

Austria for governing, she could easily have satisfied her taste,

"The Queen is more powerful than ever, although she seems to pay attention only to amusement and jewels," wrote the librarian Hardy. But she did not think much of authority. In the same way, they say, she did not like playing cards. " If the Queen did not like gambling, why did she play ?" answered the Comtesse de Boigne. *' Ah, she had quite a different passion : it was the passion of fashion. She dressed to be in the fashion, she made debts to be in the fashion, she played to be in the fashion, she was intellectual to be in the fashion. To be the prettiest woman in the fashion seemed to her very desirable ; and this eccentricity, unworthy of a great Queen, was the only cause of the wrongs which have been so cruelly exaggerated."

With such a mind, one can understand the empire which a woman like Mile. Bertin could exercise over her.

When she was the Dauphine, Maria- Theresa wrote to Mercy : " Inclined as she is to spending money, she may go too far." There was then only an allow- ance of 92,000 livres at her disposal, and she only disposed of a quarter of this amount, the rest " being averted by those who managed for her." But since then the sum placed at her disposal had been con- siderably increased, and Rose Bertin could freely exploit this desire to be the most fashionable woman which Mme. de Boigne speaks of, and this taste for

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 71

spending remarked upon by Maria- Theresa. In 1707 Mercy wrote : " Her Royal Majesty is not dressed to advantage, but the fault is entirely due to her Lady of the Bedchamber, who does not thoroughly under- stand it, and who brings but little attention to bear on the subject." This Lady of the Bedchamber, the Duchesse de Villars, died September 15, 1771, and was replaced by the Duchesse de Cosse. Everything was changed : Rose Bertin became the regular milliner, and the chrysalis became a butterfly very quickly.

Rose Bertin in 1777 reckoned the Prince de Gu^m^ne among her clients. The Prince and Princess were far from forming an ideal household. The Princess had an open liaison with the Due de Coigny. The Prince on his side had another not less open, with Mme. Dillon, for whom he felt a real passion which ended only with his life. He endeavoured to make himself agreeable to the beautiful Mme. Dillon, and in order to court the mother he could think of nothing better than to spoil her daughter by ordering from Mile. Bertin, for New Year's Day 1777, a wonderful doll with a complete trousseau, of which we have a full description in Mile. Bertin's own books : "It was a big doll with springs, with a well-made foot and a very good wig ; a fine linen chemise and lace cuffs ; a pair of silk stocking with puce -coloured clocks ; a pair of pink satin shoes edged with puce ribbon, and high heels ; a petticoat trimmed with fine muslin embroidery ; a long and well-boned corset ;

72 ROSE BERTIN

a bodice of white taffetas quilted inside and out ; a ball dress ; a skirt of pink taffetas, a flounce all round of striped gauze, with chicory made of crape, and folds of pink taffetas for the head ; a second skirt of striped brocaded gauze, looped up, and fastened with bows of pink and puce-coloured ribbon ; bodice trimmings, the sleeves fastened with ribbon ; a collar and a front of blond lace ; a gauze apron trimmed with crape ; a Turkish cap ; a satin drapery ; foundation of Italian gauze ; stripes of pink ribbon bordered with black velvet ; a black heron and a plume ; a collarette made of lace in two rows, with a little branch of roses for a bouquet." The whole cost 300 livres. It was a very fine doll. Alas ! some years later the Prince was declared bankrupt. He owed money on all sides, and the beautiful doll had not been paid for — and never was.

On the other hand, the Princess, who was dressed by Mile. Bertin, did not pay her debts either. The milliner lost more than 11,000 livres by the Prince, and more than 8,000 livres by the Princess. The great nobles then lived grandly, spending without count- ing, ordering and not paying, counting neither their debts nor their expenses. So Rose lost 11,000 livres by the Princesse de Montbazon, who was a daughter of the Princesse de Gudm^n^, and who had married the Prince de Rohan-Rochefort. The year 1777 began with a brilliant affair for Mile. Bertin. The hereditary Prince of Portugal, Joseph Francois Xavier, Prince oi Brazil, born August 21, 1761, inarried, February, 1777,

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 73

the Princess Marie-Franqoise-Benedictine, the sister of his mother, born July 25, 1746. On this occasion M. de Souza, Portuguese Ambassador at the Court of France, mentioned the name of Rose Bertin, and obtained for her the order for the trousseau of the Princess, which represented a supply of 400,000 livres.

By way of compensation, she became the victim of roguery on the part of a certain Lady de Cahouet de Villers. Victoire Wallard, wife of Pierre-Louis-Rene Cahouet de Villers, General Treasurer of the Kino's Household, was twenty-eight years old. A notorious friend of Mme. Du Barry, she was " a gay and giddy woman," who twice imitated the handwriting and signature of the Queen at Mile. Bertin's expense. The first time " Mme. Cahouet wrote a note to which she placed the signature ' Marie- Antoinette.' Li this note she asked for a supply of things for her toilette. Mile. Bertin was deceived by it. The Queen was informed of the use which had been made of her name : the Lady Cahouet got off with a reprimand and a pardon. The Queen would not allow the guilty party to suffer any other vengeance."

Marie-Antoinette, naturally, in forgiving the un- fortunate woman who had used her name, could only indemnify the milliner, who actually lost nothing. The imprudent forger, with true audacity, did not stop there : ^' She wrote a second note to Mile. Bertin. The writing and the signature of the Queen were again copied. This new crime was not allowed to remain secret, but they did not tell the Queen, who

74 ROSE BERTIN

would perhaps have forgiven her. M. de Maurepas, who was informed, sent the lady to the Bastille. She was lodged in the Comte Tower." Her incarceration took place March 13, 1777, as well as that of her husband, who was released August 21 ; the inquiry showed that he had nothing to do with his wife's swindling.

But the young woman, born for pleasure, was not long in falling into a state of languor and decline. ?Ier husband refused to help her. For a long time he would not allow anyone to speak to him of a woman who had compromised him and exposed him to the danger of losing his position. After twenty months, her health getting worse and worse, they sent her from the Bastille to a convent in the Faubourg Saint- Antoine. This was the Convent of the Cross. She entered it under the name of Mme. de Noyan. She went from there to the Community of the Daughters of St. Thomas, and died soon after. " That Bastille,^' she often said, " has killed me."

It also became known that, by means of a letter in which she imitated the signature of Marie- Antoinette, she had cheated the treasurer of the Due d' Orleans out of 100,000 cro\sms ] that was the jmncipal reason of her arrest. However, feathers were still in fashion, and caricaturists went on to their hearts' content. The year 1777 saw the arrival of a new fashion — the Gabrielle de Vergy cap — so called in honour of the success of a tragedy written by de Belloy, and played July 12, at the Comedie Fran^aise.

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 75

Inspired by tlie play, the feathers inspired authors in their turn. A writer hitherto unknown wrote a comedy which appeared in 1778, under the title of " The Plumes," with the plan of founding an academy of fashion ; it is only a satire of the deplorable taste of the period, where, under borrowed names, well-known milliners figured. Here are some extracts :

" Mme. Duppefort. — The Countess of Cavecreuse desires that you should supply her with a trimming of the garden of the Palais- Royal with the lake, the shape of the houses, and above all with the long avenue and the iron gate and the caf^.

" M. Duppefort. — Really ! Someone will soon want the Tuileries, the Luxemburg, the Boulevard ; the market-garden women will want the Place Royale or the Hotel Soubise.

" Mme, Duppefort. — That tail thin Marquise has been here again ; they call her Mme. de la Braise. It is three months since her husband died. She wants you to put a raised platform for a coffin on her trimming. She is no longer in quite deep mourning. I do not know whether she wishes to express her joy or her grief.

" M. Duppefort. — Yes, we can arrange some little Cupids gaily round a coffin, with hymeneal or funeral torches. There is no subject which cannot be made bright by a little wit. . . .

"Mme. Duppefort. — Mademoiselle Dubois-Commun has been again ; she wishes to give us some wonder-

76 ROSE BERTIN

ful ideas, which have come to her in deep meditation. She has captivated an Englishman, who worships astronomy, and she wishes to wear on her head the sun, moon, and planets, the Pleiads and the Milky Way. She would like these stars to be moving, and 5 above all, you must have several comets, some with tails and some with manes, because her Englishman has given her the diamonds to mount them. ... I forgot to tell you that Mile. Fortendos has a lover who is mad on hunting. In her desire to make him a present, she would like to have a rich set which would represent the Bois de Boulogne or the Bois de Yincennes. The forest must be full of animals of all sorts. She has enough fur to make them, and you have only to supply the flying ones. But she wants a whole menagerie for St. Hubert's Day, when she is going with a large party to hunt the wild- boar."

Farther on there is a scene which is manifestly inspired by incidents which happened at Rose Bertin's, and of which we have already spoken :

*' DuppEFORT. — Montenlair !

" Montenlair. — Here, sir 1

" DupPEFORT. — Put into a trunk all the caps of three weeks ago, and make a consignment for Bordeaux, addressed to Mme. Chiffonet (Disorder). With regard to those a fortnight old, address them to Mile, de la Singerie (Monkey-tricks) at Lyons ; those of last week send to Lille, Rouen, Soissons, and to anywhere within a radius of thirty miles ; and those three days old we will not show until the day after

BU'liothiqt"' Nat lo dale

1MU\( ESSE DE LAMBAI.LE

Til face page Ti>

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 17

to-morrow. When you have finished, go and try to get some money from my customers. Nobody pays !"

And that was only too true. They ordered any novelty, but the tradespeople could not get paid. Bankruptcies were numerous in the trades which supplied luxuries to the Parisians. People of com- mon sense bitterly deplored this excess of petty display. Some even feared consequences more fatal than the mere waste of money, or even a whole series of bankruptcies. The Author of the '* Analectes," whom one believes to have been the advocate of the Cross, although he denied it, wrote in 1777 :

" We think we ought to point out the astonishing change which our century has seen in general manners as the effect of luxury, which makes the thought of Horace applicable to us.* This love of luxury which fills our towns with valets, drapers, jewellers, goldsmiths, looking-glass-makers, perfumers, tailors, fashion-mongers, bathing-house-keepers, wig- makers, a whole heap of professions, the names of which alone would fill a book, which spreads even to the country districtvS — this crowd of mercers who carry contagion into the rural districts is proper to the eighteenth century, and has brouglit forth a kumrij of imitation which seems to have become throughout Europe, the fashion." Metternich, in a letter of January 27, 1779, also criticized the times :

*

" Aetos parentum, pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem.

78 ROSE BERTIN

" When some novelty comes over the sea or from America, be it cheap or unbecoming, everyone pays attention to it for a moment, and forgets it at once to take a more lively interest in an opera, to start a new fashion . . . All this touches our Parisian Coui't and people very closely ;" and he draws a con- clusion that this indifference seems to him a bad sign for the future.

That was very true. The future took care to prove it.

Joseph 11. also criticized his sister sometimes about her jewels. One day when he was travelling under the name of Count of Falkenstein, and found himself at Versailles, Marie- Antoinette appeared in a superb and charming dress. " This stuff must have cost much," said Joseph II. to her. " No, brother, since families live by it," answered the Queen. " If I only chose simple dresses, two hundred trading houses would close their workshops to-morrow." This might be quite true, for in those days artists themselves collaborated with the milliners for the good of trade, and it was in 1777 that the most wonderful collection of fashion engravings that has ever been published appeared. It was due to the talent of the younger Moreau, a well-known artist, and was quite remarkable. It was called " A Series of Prints with Text to illustrate the French Costume." And this work was really very important, as throwing light on the luminous systems of Mile. Bertin and Sieur Beaulard.

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 79

The year 1777 brought Rose Bertin an unexpected customer — a customer whose personality equally puzzled his contemporaries and posterity, and who was no other than the Knight, alias the Lady, of Eon. In consequence o£ disputes which the Chevalier d'Eon had had in London with the French Ambassador, the Comte de Guerchy, to whom the English Courts had not given satisfaction, the *' Charge d'AfFaires " of King Louis XV. had an irreconcilable enemy in the Ambassador. When he died, his son inherited his hatred for the Chevalier d'Eon, so that after the death of Louis XV., when d'Eon wished to return to France, the younger de Guerchy declared that he would challenge him to fight to the death for having treated his father so impudently. The Coratesse de Guerchy was afraid ; the Chevalier d'Eon had the reputation of being a remarkable fencer. She went to the King and begged him to intervene to save her from the misery she dreaded.

Louis XVI. did intervene, and, using Beaumarchais as an intermediary, made d'Eon sign a paper by which he undertook to wear only woman's clothes when he returned to France, and to acknowledge that they were the only clothes fit for him, and which, for some reason which cannot be explained, he had worn some years before at the Russian Court.

D'Eon left London August 13, 1777, and arrived at Versailles on the 17th. He still wore his uni- form as a Captain of Dragoons. M. de Vergennes,

80 EOSE BERTIN

meeting him on the 27th of the same month, handed him the following peremptory order :

" By Order of the Kmg.

" Charles Genevieve Louise Auguste Andre- Thimoth(3e d'Eon de Beaumont ivS commanded to leave off the dragoon uniform he has been accustomed to wear, and to wear again the dress of his sex ; he must not appear in the kingdom in any dress not proper to women.

"(Signed) Louis. "(Countersigned) Gravier de Vergennes."

The Knight maintained that he had not the necessary funds to get a proper trousseau, and Marie-Antoinette interposed — " I will undertake his trousseau " — and immediately sent him a fan with a sum of 24,000 livres. " Tell him," she said to the messenger she sent with this present, " that to replace his sword I arm him with a fan, and I make him a lady."

D'Eon went to Rose Bertin, to whom the Queen had sent him. He was at once on the best terms with the famous woman, and wrote a letter to M. de Vergennes which bears the date August 29, 1777 :

" Sir,

" In order to obey the King's orders, which you communicated to me, as well as the Count of

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 81

Maurepas, I have put off my journey to Burgundy. I could not possibly present myself at Versailles with the few woman's clothes I had left. I had to have new ones. Mile. Bertin, in the Queen's service, will have the honour to tell you to-morrow that she has undertaken, not only to make them during my absence, but to make a passably modest and obedient girl of me. As to prudence, which is just as necessary in a girl as courage is in a Captain of dragoons, Heaven and necessity in the manifold habits of my life so cruelly agitated have given me visible habits which cost me nothing. It will be a hundred times more easy to be modest and obedient. After Heaven, the King and his Ministers, Mile. Bertin will have the most merit in my miraculous conversion.

" I am, sir, with profound respect, your very humble and obedient servant,

" The Chevalier d'Eon

for a short while still."

The Knight, as is seen, got on well with the milliner from the first ; and it is written in the '' Memoires Secret," under the date of September 7, 1777 : "Two dresses are being trimmed for him by Mile. Bertin, the Queen's dressmaker, and he has already had supper with her, once as a man and once dressed as a woman. In woman's dress he is very clumsy. Whatever may come of it, everything

6

8S ROSE BERTIN

seems to prove that his real name is the only feminine thing about him."

The author of the forged " M^moires de Leonard," who spied into all the stories and memoirs of the time, to find any anecdotes, relates the fact, altering it to suit his purpose, and mixing his personality in it. His want of authenticity is proved in this business ; for the hairdresser-wigmaker who was ordered to supply a wig " in three stories *' was not the celebrated Leonard, but another hairdresser not so well known, M. Brunet, who plied his trade at Yersailles, where he lived in the Rue de la Paroisse. Anyhow, the author of the memoirs makes the story about the reception of the Chevalier d'Eon by the Queen's dressmaker very amusing :

''In the last davs of August Mile. Bertin invited me to sup with her on the morrow, warning me that I should find another guest. I went on the following day, and found there in fact a dragoon officer, ugly enough in the face, but well made, and whose con- versation, so easy and brilliant, showed him to be a man of great merit. ... I believed that the dragoon had asked the dressmaker for her hand, and that she was inclined to allow herself to be led to the altar. Several times in the scraps of con versation while the servants were waiting at table I asked her why the gentleman was there. Mile. Bertin, answering my question by another, asked me why I said that. I answered stupidly: 'Nothing.' Then the mysterious dressmaker said : * To-morrow,

AND THE CHEVALIER FEON 83

M. Leonard, you will understand the enigma. I shall expect you to supper/ The following day I went to Mile. Bertin's. This time the captain of dragoons was not the guest, but a large, fat, ugly lady, who nevertheless was very like the officer. So said I to myself : ' This is the mother of the future husband.'

" ' Well, M. Leonard,' said Mile. Bertin, smiling, ' will you not tell me the reason of your pre- occupation ?'

" ' I prevsume, mademoiselle, that you perhaps suspect it.'

" * Doubtless ; but, my friend, for a man at Court you know but little, if you do not know that last Thursday the Chevalier d'Eon was presented to the King, and I have been obliged by the King's order to make a woman of him — at least, in his dress. When yesterday morning, in walking through my shop, you asked me for whom were the dresses that my girls were trimming with so much skill, I could have answered, '* For a captain of dragoons"; and the lady has just put on for the first time the clothes, of her sex.' "

There is certainly some imagination in this story, and one inexactitude— the Chevalier had not been presented to the King ; but it is a fact that he had accepted the dressmaker's invitations, whose conversa- tion he seemed to enjoy, without attaching any further importance to the story. This man was not of the stuff that Don Juans are made of, and he

84 ROSE BERTIN

had adventures which certainly he was the last to seek.

But if he was satisfied with the dressmaker, he certainly was not satisfied to be obliged to accept her offices, and not pleased to wear feminine clothes which Rose's girls made so hurriedly for him. *' It is mourning that I am going to wear, and not clothes for a feast," he wrote to the Comte de Ver- gennes. " I will give myself up to misfortune," he said, '' but not to ridicule."

He left Paris, and went to spend some time at Tonnerre, where his old mother lived, and where he arrived September 2, and stayed six weeks. During this time Mme. Barmant boned stays for him, and Rose Bertin superintended the making of his costume. But as he was long in returning, she told him that his presence was indispensable for trying on, and he decided to return to Versailles. That was, as he wrote in the papers which have been preserved, October 22, 1777, that he ''put on his robe of innocence to appear at Versailles, as he had been ordered by the King and his Ministers " a week after his return from Burgundy. The dress he wore was a black dress, " a mourning robe," as he wrote to the Comte de Vergennes, and as the editor of the English Spy agrees : " She was dressed in black, as a widow of the secret of Louis XV. . . . Her throat was covered up to her chin, so that no one should remark on it.

It was on November 23 that he appeared at

AND THE CHEVALIER D'EON 85

Versailles. He did not easily accustom himself to the new costume, as a letter to his old Colonel, Marquis d'Autichamp, proves : '' The loss of my leathern breeches is o^rievous to me. Never will silk skirt or gold or silver thread, although made by Mile. Bertin, console me." Mile. Bertin, however, did not remain the regular costumier of the Chevalier, who, with rather a modest income, found it better to employ a person with more reasonable prices, known as Antoinette Maillot, whose address in Rue Saint Paul, Paris, was given to him by the wife of one of his old friends, M. Falconnet, a lawyer.

D'Eon, who was not elegant, preferred low prices to the reputation of the Queen's great dressmaker. He only followed the fashions at a distance ; he was not the person to change his dress perpetually, and new inventions interested him but little. At the end of 1777 the hair was dressed in the fashion called *^ The Insurgents." " It was," says the author of the " Memoires Secret," '* an allegory, made up of the disturbances between England and America. The first was a snake, so perfectly imitated that in a committee meeting held at the house of Mme. la Marquise de Narbonne, Lady of the Bedchamber to Mme. Adelaide, it was decided not to adopt this ornament, as it was likely to upset people's nerves. The maker then decided to sell it to foreigners only, who were anxious to obtain our novelties ; it had been proposed to advertise it in the papers, but the

86 ROSE BERTIN

Government, prudent and circumspect, forbade it. Crowds went to see it out of curiosity."

Caps a la Hedgehog were also made. Rose Bertin sent one to Stockholm, to the address of Desland, valet, and hairdresser to the Queen of Sweden. It cost 72 livres.

CHAPTER III

MME. DU BARRY — THE PILGRIMAGE TO MGNFLIIiRES — THE GREAT FASHION — A VERSAILLES SCANDAL

Rose Bertin continued to enjoy the Queen's confidence, and worked in her rooms sometimes for two or three hours at a stretch. And Marie- Antoinette's confidence was a better advertisement for her than the dolls dressed in the newest fashions which she sent out to foreign cities. "Who loves me follows me, and rallies round my white plume," remains still the best of politics — as many women have understood. That is why Mme. Du Barry at the end of her reign — that is to say, during the last years of the reign of Louis XV. — dealt with Mile. Pagelle, former employer of Rose Bertin, and whose last papers, draw^n up by M. de Beaujon by the King's order, ended with the figure of 23,777 livres 19s. 6d. for a period of seven months from October 1, 1773, to May 27, 1774. That is why Mme. Du Barry, having been dressed for some time by Beaulard, turns to the Queen's dressmaker.

There is still in the Bibliotheque Nationale, as well as in the Biblioth^ue de Versailles, a series of oflicial returns drawn up by the Maison Bertin for

87

88 ROSE BERTIN

the favourite's account. They begin on February 4, 177(S, and go on to 1792. Mme. Du Barry was a faithful customer.

However, although the first of the papers bears the date February 4, 1778, it is probable that Mme. Du Barry was dressed by Rose Bertin as soon as she was allowed to return to Paris, Mme. Du Barry had been exiled to Pont-aux-Dames fi:om May 10, 1774, to March 25, 1775 ; then she withdrew to Saint- Vrain, near Monthlery, and it was in October, 1776, that she was permitted to return to Paris. It is then evident that Mme. Du Barry found it well to seek the favour of Rose Bertin, whom everyone knew to be on such good terms with the Queen. In a note of things supplied by Le Normand et Cie. of Paris to Mme. Du Barry under the date of 1777 we read:

Sent to Mlle. Bertin.

Oct. 15. 16i ells of Indian material, straw- coloured, striped with white satin ... ... 165 livres.

Oct. 16. 2 ells of Genoa velvet, sky blue, 64 livres^ 1 ell of English green Italian taffetas, at 9 livres ... ... ... 9 livres,

Oct. 25. 22 ells English mauve satin, tinted^ with white and green, very strong, at 14 livres ... ... ... ... 308 livres

18 ells nut-coloured satin, English, very strong, at 15 livres ... ... 252 livres

18 ells of blue English satin, at 14 livres ... ... 252 livres^

And farther on, on the same memorandum, we find the following curious entry :

73 livres.

812 Hvres.

( <i.r,iii t'lhj

FASHION IN 177s

Tn f;iLO pMyu ^s

MME. DU BARRY

89

For Present to Mlle. Bertin. Dec. 19. 20 ells of mauve satin at 14 livres

280 livres I ciot:: i-

} 385 livres.

14 ells of white taffetas, at 8.15 livres

105 livres.

Sent to Mlle. Bertin. 10 ells of strong white satin, at 13 livres ... 130 livres.

So Mme. Du Barry paid by little presents for the favours of the great dressmaker. The visits she paid to the Rue Saint-Honore made her feel young again, taking her back to her early days, to the time when, before she had gained the favour of a King by a life of adventure, she was a simple employee in the firm of a dressmaker of the period.

The bills presented by Rose Bertin to Mme. Du Barry in the years which followed, according to the entries which we still possess, amount to the following sums :

			Livres. s.
From February 4, 1778 to October 24, 1779 ... 11,438 9
To the end of 1779	231 5
For the year 1780			3,211 11
1781			2,386 6
1782			. 6,598 2
1783			7,840 10
1784			. 8,519 1
1785			7,756 10
1786			. 6,912 10
1787			7,011 10
1788			. 8,034 12
1789			. 5,370 4
1790			. 1,264 8
1791			2,354 16
1792			713 6

90 ROSE BERTIN

Rose Bertin did not have a bad customer in Mme. Du Barry. We find, in fact, in a memoradum of the things supplied by Le Normand et Cie. of Paris to the Countess, the following entry:

Paid to Mile. Bertin, according to the acknow- ledgment of Mme. la Comtesse, from March 24, 1779 9,837 livres.

This goes to prove that the memorandum beginning February 4, 1778, was not the first debt contracted by Du Barry with the dressmaker of the Rue Saint- Honore. At the head of the memorandum is written ;

Supplied to the Countess Du Barry by Bertin, " of the

Great Mogul."

Livres. s.

Deferred, a memorandum beginning February 4,

1778, and ending October 24, 1779— total = 11,438 9 Received on account, April 12, 1779 5,837 6

Balance due ... ... ... 5,601 3

It is very evident that the 9,837 livres paid by the agency of Le Normand et Cie. have nothing to do with this memorandum.

In glancing through these notes, it will not be uninteresting to notice some of the articles which are designated therein, and which will give us the price-list, as it were, of the first dressmaker of the time.

First of all we find, on October 25, 1779, a large hat of white straw, with brim turned up on both sides and bound with blue and white fluted ribbon

MME. DU BARRY 91

spotted with black, a large plume of black and white feathers supplied by the Countess herself, 24 livres. That is really not very dear ; what do our society ladies think ?

On December 25, 1779, a large cloak of two taffetas, white half- sarcenet, a trimming of striped English gauze, brocaded in chenille, 42 livres. Things had not yet become a madness.

On January 5, 1780, a large hat of white straw, turned up with nut coloured ribbon, a bow of the same spotted ribbon, a plume of seven fine white feathers with fine aigrette in the middle, 120 livres. Here the price has gone up, but the feathers and the aigrette had to be found. It is also remarkable that the hat was straw, and supplied in the depth of winter. The milliner also supplied toilette accessories. On February 2, 1780, she sent, for a " head-band," one ell and a half of wide pink and white spotted satin ribbon at 3 livres for 4.10 livres, which almost shows us Du Barry e7i deshabille.

At the same date she supplied for a sword bow two ells and a half of wide English ribbon, mauve and white spotted with black, at 2 livres = 5 livres.

And among details of a present made to Mme. la Vicomtesse Du Barry are the following articles :

A very large branch of cotton lilac with three sprays, 36 livres.

A head-dress trimmed with crape and spotted with puce velvet, two rows of pleats of fine silk lace, high with straight border and ribbon behind, 72 livres.

92 ROSE BERTIN

A cap trimmed with fine blond and Italian gauze, a butterfly with large wings, long feathers, bordered with blonde lace falling behind, and white ribbon, 48 livres.

The relatively low price asked for '' a large cloak of black taflfetas, lined and trimmed with wide lace on spotted tulle with straight edge," is astonish- ing. This Avas delivered December 6, 1780, and cost 192 livres. Also English straw hats sold June 30, 1781, at 8 livres each.

But here is the description of a costume delivered January 20, 1782, and the price of which is very much higher, we find in the first memorandum kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale :

" The trimming of a blue and silver dress, large puffed pleats all down the front in Italian gauze, edged with big ruchings of cut crape, a garland of silver rope placed over the puffs, each separated by bunches of golden wheat-ears, and fastenings, in cat- kins of blue stones mixed with white pearls, placed each side of the drapery ; the fi'ont of the petticoat entirely covered with Italian gauze, a large flounce at the bottom, a foundation of silver lined with plain crape and edged with fringe, a large garland of gold corn-ears placed over the flounce in shape of shells tied by silver ropes, and by a double acorn of gold and silver, the heads set in stones ; trimmed with firinge cuffs, 900 livres.

'^ A flounce of pleated blonde, 8 livres.

MME. DU BARRY 93

*' A piece of five bands of catkins in blue stones mixed with white pearls, 78 livres.

*' An ornament of three bows in crape, edged with blonde lace, two doable blades of gold at the edge, and a gold braid in the middle and embroidered with stones and sequins.

"A flounce in the Provencal fashion, a fine blonde very wide, on Alen^on lace with shells, a fine lining of pleated Alenqon above, 84 livres.

'' A collar of fine blonde lace with straight edge, and a fine plain tulle pleated underneath, 24 livres."

That was what may be called an important order. But Du Barry also economically made use of dresses already worn, which she had altered, and we read in Mile. Bertin's notes : '* For mending- two hats, flowers, and plume, furnished the straw and white satin ribbon and velvet, 15 livres — December 7, 1782."

Independently of anything she paid for with ready money in the milliner's shops, some things, entered wrongly on the bills presented to the Countess, bear these words in the margin, " Nothing," or *' Sold " — for example, a supply of goods for 733 livres of August 27, 1787, was annotated in this manner, " All these things have been sold/' and a hat of 144 livres ''sold," February 20, 1788. Independently, we say, of these things and of former deliveries, the account of Mme. Du Barry with Rose Bertin from February 4, 1778, to September 12, 1792, deduction on the account of 5,837 livres Gs. paid on April 12,

94

ROSE BERTIN

1779, rose to 73,605 livres 4s., as proved by the entry of payments preserved in the Bibliotheque de Versailles. Here is a copy of what Mme. la Comtesse Du Barry owes to Bertin, merchant :

		Livres. 3.
Memorandum up to February 26, 1782		. 13,148 9
July 19, 1784		.. 18,835 19
March 1% 1790 .	« « .	. 37,797 0
„ „ September 12, 1792	.. 3,823 16
		73,605 4
	Livres.
Received by M. Buffault	1,300 \
May 2, 1782	5,000
February 4, 1785, in Bochmer^s notes	17,000
December 18, 1786 ...	3,000	^33,300 livres.
February 5, 1789	3,000
May 30, 1789	3,000
May 17, 1792	1,000,

It seems that Rose Bertin was not able to clear off her account with the celebrated Countess, and the Revolution following, the knife of the guillotine which took the head of her customer cost her 40,000 francs, and besides the payments mentioned above we find no proofs of any other payments made by Mme. Du Barry.

But it is interesting to acknowledge that we find no trace of this credit among the papers arranged after the death of Rose Bertin by Grangeret, the lawyer to her heirs, whose collection of unpaid accounts in the possession of M. J. Doucet has been placed courteously at our disposition. It is, then, likely that Rose Bertin in her lifetime was

^Z^^r&

MADAME DU BARRY

To face page 'J4

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 95

able to recover the balance of 40,305 livres, or that her heirs were able to recover it, and that then the papers concerning Mme. Du Barry were suppressed after payment by the lawyer prosecuting.

We wished to give an idea of the expenditure of Mme. Du Barry in the years succeeding her splendour, after the death of Louis XV. had rung the hour o£ her downfall. We will now take up our subject where we left it — that is to say, in the year 1778.

The sea-victories of 1778 and 1779 caused the head-dresses to be called Boston, Philadelphia, Grenada, d'Estaing, and Belle-Poule. The fight in which this ship distinguished herself under the command of Chaudeau de la Clochetterie was on June 17. There were Te Deums^ feasts, a most extraordinary enthu- siasm, above all, at the taking of Grenada on July 4, 1779. The fashions changed incessantly ; that was the feature of the eighteenth century. La Bruyere wrote : " One fashion no sooner destroys another fashion than it is abolished by a newer one, which in turn gives place to one which will not be the last ; such is our frivolity." One of the most elegant o£ the Queen's head-dresses was the one called " The Queen." This head-dress, which did not attain the exaggerated dimensions o£ so many others, and which suited the figure and carriage of the Queen admirably, has been drawn by Le Clerc, engraved by Patas for the '* Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Fran^ais," drawn from nature, published in Paris, 1778, and

96 ROSE BERTIN

represented tlie Queen herself. It is composed of an ostrich feather with an aigrette of diamonds placed on the left side of the head, a cerise satin ribbon in the hair, with a pearl ornament falling as a drop on the forehead.

This same work contains also a print engraved by Dupin after the drawing by Le Clerc, and represent- ing a " dressmaker carrying goods to the town." Although the garb which the picture shows us was certainly not worn by Rose Bertin at the period of her wealth, it will not be uninteresting, perhaps, after having spoken of the head-dresses she designed for her customers, to describe the costume of the work- girls who frequented the workshops in the early days of Louis XYL, of whom she employed about thirty — a costume which probably did not differ much from that which she had worn herself a few years before, at the time she worked for Mile. Pagelle. We will borrow the description from the " Gallerie des Modes " :

" A large hood of black taffetas with brim turned back, trimmed with gauze, covers her head, and hides a part of her charms from the greedy eyes of passers- by ; but her cloak is arranged to show her figure to the best advantage. She is clad in a simple dress trimmed with the same material, of which the flounce is also made, and lifted up behind in the shape of a polonaise. Open-work silk mittens, showing the bracelet ; gi*een paper fan ; ' content ' in her bosom : the little goose wants nothing." " Content " was

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 97

a little trimming after the manner of a collar which finished off the top of the bodice. This amusing definition gives some idea of what distinguished the milliner in the eighteenth century. But Rose Bertin having become celebrated was certainly not dressed in such a modest fashion. They say that when she was at the height of her celebrity the Comte d'Artois, after- wards Charles X., looked with favour on the Queen's milliner ; he is also said to have courted her slightly, but without success. After her adventure with the Due de Chartres, it is not astonishing that the haughty milliner sent the Comte d'Artois back to his stables. However, this succession of Princes of the blood all interested in the beauty of Rose Bertin permits us to believe that, perhaps for a kind word spoken one day by the Prince who had easy manners, Rose boasted more than she ought. There are so many ways of cultivating the little flower of vanity.

In any case she was at the height of her influence and reputation at the Court, and she was careful to compromise neither, which were certain to satisfy the passing fancy of the Princess, whose conquests did not pass for virtue. She knew the value of her credit. Speculating on the influenoe which she had with the Queen, it often happened that people addressed the milliner to beg her ta place the favour desired before the Queen ; and she agreed willingly, very happy, in reality, to be thought important.

In 1778 Marie- Antoinette, expecting her confine- ment, ordered a kind of loose dress called " Levite."

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98 ROSE BERTm

This dress in the time of Louis XV. hung in the same way as a dressing-gown, and was cut short halfway down the leg, and this fashion was modified to suit the Queen's figure. The skirt was lengthened, and a belt was formed by a draped scarf.

Rose Bertin was able to get a sensation of satis- faction from the feeling of authority she had acquired over the Queen. She had long and frequent con- versations with the Queen, who gladly consulted her, and confided in her even in matters quite foreign to dress. Marie-Antoinette awaited her confinement with apprehension, and told her fears to Mile. Bertin, w^ho informed her that in the neighbourhood of Abbe- ville was a miraculous statue of the Virgin, which enjoyed a great reputation and attracted a great crowd of people to the Chapel of Monflieres, that numerous pilgrimages came from all parts to implore her protection, and that many sick people were cured at the foot of the altar.

'' Certain documents," wrote the Abbe Mille, ''affirm that from the year 1559 a pilgrimage went to Monflieres on the Sunday preceding the Assump- tion, to fulfil a vow made in consequence of the cessation of a plague which had killed 4,000 persons in the town of Abbeville, and 8,000 in the surround- ing country ; this pilgrimage was conducted by a confraternity established in honour of Notre Dame de Monflieres under the title of the Confi^aternity of King David's Quarter, and which continued to exist until after the death of Louis XVL, as the last

LA GKANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 99 report of the confraternity, dated August 11, 1793,

proves."

Rose Bertin persuaded Marie - Antoinette to recommend herself to the good Virgin of Monflieres, and succeeded so well in convincing her that she was charged by the Queen to go herself to carry an offering of a robe of gold brocade to the Madonna. This was a delightful journey for Rose, this return to Picardy, which she had left with so much goodwill and courage and uncertainty fifteen years ago.

The office where places could be booked for the coach was at Huet's, Rue Saint-Denis, opposite the Filles-Dieu. The journey to Abbeville cost 36 livres ; the coach left every Friday at half-past eleven at night. Rose, having retained her place in the coach, set out from Paris. We may believe that she slept the first hours of the journey, well protected from the night air, and soothed to sleep by the rhythmic sound of the horses' hoofs and the tinkling of their harness bells. The coach left Paris by the gate of la Chapelle, passed Saint-Denis and Luzarches, and on summer nights reached Chantilly as the first streaks of dawn appeared in the sky. Now and again, as the driver stopped to change horses, the weary passengers could get down to walk about, or repose themselves in the guest-room of some inn, the White Horse, of the Golden Sun, and admire the fantastic wall-paper and hundred knick-knacks.

The fresh horses would start off at a grand trot, and as the coach dashed through some village the

100 ROSE BERTIN

driver would crack his whip furiously, while frightened hens ran helplessly backwards and forwards, and small boys followed behind shouting till the coach was lost to view^ in a cloud of dust. Then, as it passed along the country road bordered by trees, Rose closed her eyes : her mind went back fifteen years, to the day when she had passed along this same road, and a fugitive smile of pleasure played upon her lips.

On the top of the coach the case containing the precious dress was safely stowed away, with the rest of the great dressmaker's luggage, who thought of the time when, on leaving Abbeville, all her worldly goods could be packed into a narrow cheap little trunk and a modest cardboard box which she care- fully held on her knees. The coach reached Clermont at midday, where the travellers dined, and then went on to Amiens, passing through Breteuil. At Amiens the passengers passed the night at Berny's, Rue de Beauvais, and the coach restarted next day for Abbeville, passing through Picquigny and Flixecourt in the Somme Valley. The terminus was in the Rue Saint-Gilles, so full of souvenirs for the young Abbevilloise, and the office being in charge of the same Mile. Tevenart who was there when Rose left the country.

The dress which the Queen had sent her to tit on the Madonna at Monflieres was valued at 500 livres. According to the manuscripts of M. SiiFait, preserved at Abbeville, the lace was given by an Abbeville lady,

Bibliol]it</ue Nationale MISS CONEINGUE OUT OF OPERA

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LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 101

whose name is unknown to us. The dress was used for the first time on March 25, 1779, titular feast of the Chapel of Monfli^res. Marie- Antoinette's prayer had been heard : she had been happily delivered of a daughter, on December 19, 1778. This was Madame Royale, the future Duchess of Angouleme. Marie- Fran^oise Bertin-Havard, arelativeof Rose's, was chosen to superintend the wet-nurses who had been engaged.

Having accomplished her mission, Rose left Abbe- ville, and returned in haste to Paris, where her presence was indispensable to the interests of her establishment. The return journey was similar to the outward one : the coach left Saint-Gilles on Sunday at midday, and reached Paris, Rue Saint-Denis, on the morrow at six o'clock at night. Though the statue of the Virgin of Monfli^res was saved from the fary of the Revolution, being hidden away in an oven, the dress made for it by Ml]e. Bertin, as an offering from Marie- Antoinette, has unfortunately disappeared, and cannot be traced.

At the close of the year 1778, lawn bonnets, called bonnets picards^ were sold in the Rue Saint-Honor^. Did the idea come from this journey, we wonder ? The Comtesse de Salles ordered one on November 24, at the moderate price of 9 livres. The gift of a bonnet or hat bearing the mark " Grand-Mogol" was a welcome and gracious present. Thus, on one occasion the Marquise de Tonnerre made a present to the Marquise de Bouzol of a white hat, turned up at the back, lined with taffeta, edged with white and green

102 ROSE BERTIN

ribbon, and with large bows of the same, which cost 18 livres, and gave the Comtesse d'Equevilly a demi- honnet of gauze and blonde lace, worth 36 livres.

Rose Bertin was also employed to make presen- tation costumes, which cost a considerable sum of money ; that of the Comtesse de Montr(^al, delivered on May 10, 1778, amounted to 2,417 livres.

We have seen how the Queen of France listened to the advice of the great milliner, and how her reputa- tion and influence at the Court were great ; if further proof of it is needed, we have but to read what Bachaumont, in his " M^moires Secrets," has to say on the subject, when giving an account of the journey of the King and Queen to Paris on the occasion of the marriage of a hundred young girls whom the King had dowered in honour of the birth of Madame Royale.

The ceremony took place at Notre Dame, and the cortege of twenty-eight carriages coming from la Muette, where the Court then was, passed along the Rue Saint-Honor^, to reach the Pont-Neuf, by the streets du Roule, la Monnaie, and the carrefour of the Trois- Maries. It was February 8, and great crowds filled the streets to see the King and Queen pass ; but there was very little applause, as the police had omitted to station aboyeurs^ or persons to start the cheering, as they usually did, which greatly annoyed Marie-Antoinette, who returned to la Muette in a very bad temper. " We have spoken on various occasions of Mile. Bertin, the Queen's milliner," says the "M^moires Secrets," March 5, 1779, *' who has

LA GEANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 103

the honour to work under Her Majesty's personal direction in what concerns that part of her wardrobe. Her shop gives on to the Rue Saint-Honor^. The day that the Queen made her entrance, the milliner at the head of her thirty work-girls took up her post on her balcony. Her Majesty caught sight of her in passing, and said , * Ah ! there is Mile. Bertin,' and at the same time made her a sign, to which Mile, Bertin replied by a profound curtsy. The King rose and clapped his hands — another curtsy ; all the Royal Family did the same, and the courtiers, aping their masters, did not fail to bow as they passed. So many curtsies fatigued her, but the distinction was a marvellous comfort, and greatly increased the repu- tation she already enjoyed."

There was a good deal of mimicry in this little demonstration. No doubt the King himself was not altogether sincere, being chiefly anxious to please the Queen, and perhaps anxious to turn her thoughts to Mile. Bertin' s art, less costly than gambling, to which she was too much given. Nothing but frivolous subjects appealed to the Queen's childlike brain. The same memoirs for May 31, 1779, speak again of the favour the dressmaker of the Rue Saint- Honor^ enjoyed. '' The Queen continues to show Mile. Bertin, her dressmaker, special favour. At Marly lately she ordered the Due de Duras to find her a place at the theatre, and this nobleman acquitted himself of the order in a way calculated to excite the jealousy of other women."

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Does not this completely prove the importance she had acquired at Court ?

It is true that the Queen, who enjoyed acting, but who acted very badly, had great trouble in getting an audience, as everyone tried to find an excuse — so much so that on one occasion she ordered the Suiss guards to attend, and to take their place during the play.

This unfortunate taste of the Queen's was pleasing to her household at least, as it entailed continual changes o£ dress, disguises, hats and head-gear, of which everyone came in for a share.

Rose Bertin, indeed, considered herself indispen- sable. Her shop was also always full, and the most brilliant clientMe flocked to it. All the nobility of France and all the members of the diplomatic service were among her customers. The wife of the Russian Plenipotentiary, Princess Baratinsky, among others, dealt with her, and was one of those whose bills were not paid. She owed about 15,000 livres, and Rose received 1,000 on account from Prince Baratinsky. The balance for which she held the Princess's note of hand was lost ; according to Russian law, debts of more than ten years' standing cannot be recovered legally, and the bill was never paid.

On all sides customers flocked to her, and even the name of Vestris, the famous dancer, surnamed the God of Dance, who was still at the Opera, is to be seen in her books. The Marquis de Boisgelin gave his niece a Devonshire hat worth 120 livres ; the Baronne de

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 105

la House ordered a Circassian dress, usually made of gauze. The Baronne de Montviller, daughter of Mme. de Misery ; the Marquis de Marboeuf, whose immense grounds of the Champs-Ely sees constituted one of the finest estates in Paris ; Viscomtesse P^rigord, the Marquis de Chabrillant, were to be seen in her shop, and a long line of carriages with armorial bearings stood at the door.

Her work at Court became more and more absorb- ing, and at the instigation of Mme. Campan the famous Beaulard, who for a long time had been skil- fully manoeuvring to gain favour with the Queen and her suite, was made her official collaborator. Beaulard, her active and redoubtable competitor, was Rose's nightmare, to whom nevertheless she had to be agreeable. Rose certainly had done all she could to get the better of this enterprising competitor, and was very mortified that she did not succeed. Never- theless she was sufficiently diplomatic to disguise her displeasure from Mme. Campan, who had to be skil- fully managed. Mme. Campan had become one of the four first ladies of the bedchamber of the Queen. There was no end to the ever-changing toilettes, and the Queen and Mme. Campan really thought that Mile. Bertin might one day find that she was unable to cope with the orders given, and prepared in fevered haste in the Rue Saint-Honore, and dresses expected on a certain day would not be delivered. Mile. Bertin knew that Beaulard was a protdg^ of Mme. de Lamballe, ^^ and her anger was without

106 ROSE BERTIN

bounds when she heard that he had been presented by her to the Queen. He brought Her Majesty an artificial rose, a perfect imitation, which exhaled a delicious perfume. The Queen was delightedly looking at it, when Beaulard called her attention to a spring hidden in the calyx. The Queen pressed it, and immediately the half-blown rose opened, dis- closing a miniature portrait of His Majesty."* The dressmaker conceived a violent resentment towards the Princess, whom she promptly sent to Coventrj^ the latter being greatly concerned, as she professed to wear nothing but hats and bonnets of the best style, and at Court the best style was Rose Bertin's. The Queen took upon herself to effect a reconciliation ; the matter became as important as an international case of arbitration. After lecturing her dressmaker, and representing that the incident had not been in any way prejudicial to her, since she kept her title of " dressmaker to the Queen," and that her orders had not decreased, she succeeded in convincing Mile. Rose, who consented to make her peace with the Princesse de Lamballe and to renew business relations with her.

The era of eccentricities, however, was nearing its end. Without losing her taste for dress, the Queen modified the fashion of her toilettes. It was an abrupt change. It has been said that as the woman gave place to the mother her taste became more simple. This may have been the reason for the change, of which we find mention in Mme. Campan's memoirs.

* Comtesse d'Adhemar, " Souvenirs sur Marie- Antoinette."

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 107

'* The taste for dress to which the Queen was addicted during the first years of the reign gave place to a love for simplicity which she carried to an unwise degree, the splendour and magnificence of the throne being to a certain point inseparable in France from the nation's interests.

" Excepting on days when great receptions were held at Court, such as January 1 and February 2 devoted to the procession of the Order of the Holy Ghost, and at Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, the Queen wore nothing but print dresses or dresses of white taffeta of Florence. She wore the simplest of hats, and her diamonds were never taken out of their cases save on the days I have mentioned. The Queen was not yet twenty-five, and began to fear already that she would be made to wear unwisely flowers and ornaments, which at that time were left to the very youthful.

" Mile. Bertin having brought her a wreath and necklet of roses, the Queen tried it on, and expressed a fear that the bloom of the rose would be trying to her complexion. She was in truth too severe on her- self, as her beauty had suffered no change, and one may easily imagine the concert of praise and com- pliments with which her fears were answered. Approaching me, the Queen said she would rely on my judgment as to when the time was come to refrain from wearing flowers. ' Think of it well,' she said ; ' I charge you from this day to warn me frankly when flowers no longer suit me.' 'I shall do

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nothing of the kind, madame,' I replied ; ' I have not read " Gil Bias " in vain, and I find too much resem- blance in your Majesty's order to that given to him by the Archbishop of Toledo, to warn him when he was deteriorating in his homilies.' ' Ah/ said the Queen, 'you are less sincere than "Gil Bias," and I should have been more generous than the Archbishop of Toledo.' "

In spite of the Queen's simplicity, Rose Bertin's visits to Versailles, to the Tuileries, to Saint-Cloud, wherever the Court happened to be, were none the less frequent.

It was at Versailles that was realized one day the gipsy's prediction that Rose's train would be carried at Court. It was realized, however, in a very comical fashion. Rose's footman who usually accompanied her to the palace had left, his place being filled by an honest country fellow, recommended to her by a friend, a certain M. Moreau Desjardins, a lace- merchant of Chantilly, who had the man's brother in his employ. The poor man straight from the country was quite lost in Paris, and, on being told that he was to accompany mademoiselle to Court, was com- pletely overwhelmed, and felt twice as awkward as he really was. He confided his fears to the lady's-maid, who had other fish to fry than to offer consolation to a provincial footman. '' But what shall I do," he said in despair, " when I am at the palace ?" " Do as the rest do," she replied mockingly. He did it. There were other carriages at the palace when Mile.

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 109

Bertin's arrived. He watched the other footmen ; great ladies got down from their carriages, he saw the noblest ladies in France pass before him, followed by the most elegant of footmen. When Rose's turn arrived, she jumped lightly to the ground and began to go up the staircase. She quickly noticed that she was attracting a good deal of unusual attention ; people looked at each other in amazment, and some seemed on the verge of uncontrollable laughter, and they were not the most impertinent. Astounded, Rose stopped, realizing that she was being laughed at, and, on turning round, found that her rustic footman was carrying the train of her dress as the footmen of Duchesses and Marchionesses had done for their mistresses.

Smiles and laughter wounded her self-love, but at the same time there was satisfaction in remembering that the gipsy's prediction had come true. She saw her- self again on a winter's day in her black dress, un- packing the ornaments of the Demoiselles de Bourbon, and Avarming her feet at the fireplace of the Princesse de Conti, and then glanced at herself in the mirrors of the great gallery of Versailles, where the most secret apartments were open to her, and where she could cross without delay the antechambers where great ladies waited their turn for an audience.

It was therefore not without a certain pleasure that a few minutes later, in the Queen's cabinet, she told the tale of the prediction of her childhood at Abbeville, and its realization ; the Queen laughed

no ROSE BERTIN

heartily, and on the King's entrance, having heard the tale, he joined in the mirth. Rose could not only admire herself in the mirrors of the great gallery, she could also admire her handiwork in the paintings on the walls, as, for example, when she passed before the portrait of the Queen painted by Mme. Yigee-Lebrun in 1799, in which the great painter had immortalized some of the creations of the Rue Saint- Honore. This portrait was the first of the Queen painted by the celebrated artist ; there are two copies, as Mme. Yigee-Lebrun tells us in her souvenirs, one of which is still at Versailles.

''It was in the year 1799," she says, "that I first painted the Queen's portrait. She was then in all the splendour of her youth and beauty. ... It was then that I painted the portrait of her with a large basket, dressed in a satin dress, and holding a rose in her hand. The portrait was intended for her brother, the Emperor Joseph II., and the Queen ordered two copies — one for the Empress of Russia, the other for her apartments at Versailles or Fontaine- bleau."

The Queen's head-dress is not very exaggerated, being composed of a light puff of greenish- white silk gauze, with ostrich feathers. The " Correspondance Litt^raire," June, 1780, speaks of the change in fashion and of the abandoning of the high coiffure, which gave way to a simjDler style, a simplicity which extended to the whole costume. Rose Bertin, how- ever, lost nothing of her reputation, and was still

BiblioUiique So.Lioncde POLONNOISE A LA I'OULETTE, 1779

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LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 111

in favour at Court. One summer day in 1780, when the Court was at Marly, she was present in the theatre Avhen the Queen noticed that she had not a very good place, whereupon she sent for Marshal Duras, who was Master of Ceremonies, and told him to find her dressmaker a better place, which he did with great eagerness and gallantry. This was the second time this honour had been shown to Rose ; but although it caused a good deal of chatter on the first occasion, people were getting used to such things, and little notice w^as taken of it the second time. Comtesse de Ears speaks of the incident, however, with a certain bitterness : " The appearance of that woman at the castle was an event. The best place at the theatre was reserved for this grisette, who was conducted to it by the Due de Duras, Master of Ceremonies, who led her by the hand."

Grisette I the leading dressmaker of Paris, and of the whole world ! The subject of the remark would have died of rage had she heard it.

Marie-Antoinette had returned to her passion for acting. Wherever the Court happened to be, plays by Favart and Rousseau were given, or comic operas by Monsigny: " L' Anglais a Bordeaux," " Le Devin de Village," " Rose et Colas," etc.

All the actresses in these plays were Rose Bertin's clients : The Comtesse de Chalons, Mme. de Coligny, the Duchesse Diane de Polignac, the Duchesse de Guiche, and " that amiable statue of Melancholy, that pale and languishing person whose head drooped to

112 ROSE BERTIN

her shoulder, the Comtesse de Polastron."* Marie- Antoinette for good reasons had definitely abandoned the idea of again appearing herself in her theatre.

The year 1780 closed with the death of the Empress Maria- Theresa (November 29). The Court naturally went into mourning, which occasioned a great deal of work to the Queen's outfitters.

Rose Bertin's character was not calculated to please her exacting clients. Even the persons of the Queen's own household had difficulty in bearing with her. Mme. Campan severely criticizes her in her memoirs. " Mile. Bertin," she says, " took ad- vantage of the Queen's kindness to display great pride. One day a lady went to her establishment to buy certain articles of ajDparel for the Court mourning for the Empress. Several things were shown her, which she refused. Mile. Bertin exclaimed thereupon, in a tone of anger and self-sufficiency : ' Show madam the last samples of my work with Her Ma;jesty.' The remark is silly enough to have been really uttered." Mme. Campan's criticism is harsh, but well deserved. The anecdote went the round, several writers speak of it, and we find it given by the writer who continued Bachaumont's " Memoires Secrets," under the date January 4, 1781. In fact, Rose could speak of nothing but her collabor- ation with the Queen. She spoke of it to all comers boastingly ; people laughed, but she gave little heed to that.

* " Le Theatre a Trianon."

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 113

She had nothing to complain of as to the progress of her establishment ; things were going very well, and the cost of the Queen's toilettes grew more and more considerable. In a statement of expenses drawn up for the years 1777 and 1781 by Randon de la Tour, Treasurer of the Households of the King and Queen, we find the following note appended :

" The supplementary expenses of the wardrobe, which in 1777 amounted to 37,106 livres, amount in 1781 to 84,000 livres, an increase of 46,894 livres."*

The statement of expenses of the Queen's House- hold f shows us that the extraordinary expenses for the wardrobe amount respectively to 194,118 livres 17 sols in 1780, 151,290 livres 3 sols in 1781, 199,509 livres 4 sols in 1782.

The Marchioness of Grammont, Comtesse d*Ossun, who had been Lady-in- Waiting since 1781, explains this increase in a letter dated from Versailles : J

" I have, sir, the honour of sending you a state- ment of the expenses for the Queen's wardrobe during last year, 1782. The sum is considerably higher than I could wish ; but the feasts given for the Count du Nord, and the arrangements I had made for the visit to Marly, which was to have taken place last autumn, compelled me to exceed the limits I had laid down. I am hoping that this present year may be less costly, as I have in reserve articles which I had selected for Marly, and which

* Archives Nationales, Serie 0\ 3,793. t Ibid. X I^^'

8

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may be used this spring. I beg you will please to inform the King of these details, when requesting his orders for the payment to me of a supplementary sum of 111,509 livres, which I require to pay this year's bills."

We learn from the above that Louis XVI. was comptroller of these expenses, although he did not check them.

Overwhelmed as she was by work for the Queen, Rose was necessarily compelled to neglect sometimes other clients, and her arrogance when reproached caused her to lose more than the customer.

"Flattery and attention had turned poor Mile. Bertin s head," writes the Vicomtesse de Ears, who was one of those who had little love for the dress- maker. " A lady of my acquaintance went to her shop in her absence to order a hat d la Bertoiiienne for the wife of a lawyer of Bordeaux." Pierre Montan Berton was the director of the Opera, under whose administration the fame of that house spread abroad from the works of the two rival composers, Gluck and Piccini, presented there. He died in 1780, and his name was the pretext for a new style of hat. " The price," adds Mme. de Ears, " was settled by Mile. Picot, first workwoman of the establishment, and paid in advance by my friend, who left giving her address. Two hours later a servant dressed in green livery with gold braid brought back the money left for the hat, with a note from Mile. Bertin, worded in a ridiculous fashion, stating that it was impossible

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 115

for her to work for the wife of a lawyer, as all her time and that of her workers was employed in carry- ing out the orders of Her Majesty and the Court."

Charlotte Picot realized the advantage she might derive from the situation ; her conduct, in fact, differed in no way from that of Rose Bertin herself with respect to her employer, Mile. Pagelle. Charlotte was " a very skilful, intelligent, and, above all, enterprising worker," says the " Memoires Secrets," " who, realizing her talent, set up for herself, and soon robbed her former mistress of the majority of her clients." Which is perhaps somewhat exaggerated.

" Besides her intelligence," says the Comtesse de Fars, '' she had a pretty face and great tact ; she left Mile. Bertin, therefore, and raised an altar against her altar."

This was quite sufficient to arouse the anger of a person as quick-tempered as Rose Bertin ; bat there was perhaps another motive more serious still — that is, if the statement in the " Souvenirs de Leonard " is correct. It is related in this book that Mile. Picot circulated a story among the scandal-loving ladies who frequented her shop, that " Mile. Bertin, at the time when the King's Household had been dismissed by the Comte de Saint-Germain, had not troubled to reform a grey musketeer, whose maintenance had already been very costly, not only because of his five feet seven and a half inches, but also because of his habit of losing eight or ten louis every evening at faro, to which habit he added that of beating Mile.

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Bertin whenever he was unable to satisfy this fatal passion.'*

That Mile. Bertin had been the subject of scandal- mongering tongues is not surprising ; the contrary would have been surprising at a time when loose morals were general, and when pamphleteers spared neither the Queen nor any prominent person. But it is quite incredible that the arrogant milliner would have tolerated such treatment as is described by the author of the " Souvenirs de Leonard."

Fate decreed that, at the moment when Mile. Bertin was most exasperated with Mile. Picot, they should meet in the gallery at Versailles. The " Mdmoires Secrets '* tells us that in a moment of anger Mile. Bertin spat in her enemy's face and insulted her. A lawsuit followed, and on Monday, September 3, judgment was given against Rose Bertin, who was sentenced to pay 20 livres as alms and all the costs. " Considering the place where the insult was com- mitted, the punishment is regarded as insufficient."

In view of Rose Bertin's pride, the sentence was pleasing to many who had suffered from her imperti- nence. The "Mdmoires Secrets" goes on to say, after reporting the incident under date September 8, 1781, that Rose Bertin appealed to the Grand Conseil : *'The case was to have been heard on Wednesday — that is to say, to-day — but the Queen, whose kindness to Mile. Bertin, her dressmaker, is well known, caused a letter to be written to M. de Nicolai, President of the Court, asking him to come to report the state of the case to

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 117

her before proceeding farther. The case has been, therefore, remanded for a week." The documents relating to the case are preserved in the archives of Seine-et-Oise.*

The following is the complaint of Mile. Picot :

'' To the Lieutenant-General of the Police for Civil and Criminal Matters, etc., at Versailles. Humbly sheweth, that Charlotte Picot, spinster of age, dress- maker, residing in Paris, Rue Saint- Honore, at the ' Corbeille Galante/ parish of Saint- Germain I'Auxer- rois, having furnished dresses to the ladies Vassy who were presented at Court on the 15th of this month of April, Easter Day, petitioner went on the morning of the said day to Versailles on business. After dinner the petitioner went into the gallery of the castle to walk about and see the effect of the dresses.

" Towards half-past six, petitioner being in the Queen's card-room, awaiting the King and Royal Family, who were in the chaj^el, she perceived Mile. Bertin, dressmaker of Paris, Rue Saint- Honore, facing Saint-Honore, accompanied by two young ladies, walking in the gallery. Mile. Bertin, in passing before petitioner, stopped, gazed at her attentively, and con- tinued her walk, but returned a moment later, stopped in front of the petitioner, and fixed her eyes on her

* Serie B, Prevote de PHotel. Procedures de 1782 et Registre des Audiences de 1781-82. See also " Un Moment d'Humeur de Mile. Rose Bertin,'*'* par E. Conard, Versailles, 1891.

118 ROSE BERTIN

for two or three minutes; which perceiving, petitioner turned her head away, whereupon Mile. Bertin, seek- ing an opportunity of insulting her, seized that moment to spit in petitioner's face.

" Such a grave insult is infinitely reprehensible in every point of view. It was committed in the Castle of Versailles, in the room facing the Queen's apart- ments— that is to say, at a spot where everything brings the Royal Family, and the respect due to them, to one's mind ; for which reason it is absolutely necessary that measures should be adopted to prevent a recurrence of such a scandal, which can only be eflfected by imposing a severe penalty. On the other hand, to spit in a person's face is to show the greatest contempt for that person. The petitioner, who did not expect such an insult, fainted and lost consciousness, and would have perished but for the ready assistance of persons near her. It was not, indeed, until half an hour later that she recovered consciousness, and was able to leave the gallery of the castle, and to return to her cariage, and thus to Paris.

" The petitioner, jealous of her honour and reputa- tion, is anxious to obtain legal reparation for the insult given her by Mile. Bertin, for which reason she has recourse to your authority.

" Having considered which, sir, may it please you to give petitioner satisfaction for the insult given her by Mile. Bertin as related above, and permit petitioner in your presence to bring evidence of the matter, according to the facts communicated to the King's

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 119

Attorney, in conjunction with whom you, sir, may come to some fitting decision. . . .

^' Charlotte Picot."

We learn from the above the exact site of Rose Bertin's establishment, "facing Saint- Honor6"; no trace of this church remains, nor of the house where the dressmaker resided, the Louvre being built upon the site. In answer to Mile. Picot, Rose's counsel produced his defence, of which the " Correspondance Litt^raire " gives certain extracts, as follows :

" Mile. Picot desires to cover with shame her to whom she owes her existence and position. How shall I find words to express the horror such an action inspires ? I will not try — I pity her ; but I owe it to justice, to the public who esteem me, to the great who honour me with their protection and kindness, and above all to myself, to defend myself from an accusation so atrocious, so false, and, I dare to say it, so incredible.

" Without following in detail the history of all the services rendered by Mile. Bertin to Mile. Picot, a history unimportant in itself, but throughout which the greatest names in France have a place, we will limit ourselves to the principal fact and defence.

" I never have, and I never shall, do harm to anyone, not even to Mile. Picot. But who would say that it is criminal for me to look with contempt upon a person who should be deeply grateful to me,

120 ROSE BERTIlSr

and instead has deceived me so cruelly ? I despise her absolutely, I admit it — it is but what she deserves. I met her about six o'clock in the evening: of the 15th of last April, in the room giving on to the gallery at Versailles. 1 did not see her ; the persons who accom- panied me mentioned her name. The sight of her revolted me, my stomach turned, the horror she in- spired me with caused my gorge to rise, and no doubt the involuntary contraction of the muscles of my face made apparent the disgust and repulsion I felt at the sight of her ; but I did not spit, I could not have done so, I was petrified, and the persons who accom- panied me, and who never lost sight of me, can bear me witness of this, and I desire to give evidence of this and all the facts of which I have spoken, if it is thought fit. . . .

'' I am ignorant of what lies Mile. Picot's friends may have told . . . but I am morally certain none of them can have said that they saw me spit in her face. I commit such an outrage, and in the King's palace, close to the apartments of the Queen, who is so good as to sometimes stoop to show me kindness — I dare to say no one will believe it. My Judge did not believe it, and referred the case to the Civil Court, but my counsel will explain all this."

The hearing of the witnesses brought by Mile. Picot was fixed for April 23. They were five in number.

Jean-Baptiste de Gumin, gentleman, native of Dauphiny, a stockbroker of Lyons, declared that he

Br(jl /othc'inc Nal iiiihuli.

A FASHIOxXABLE DRESSMAKP^R DELIVERI\(; HER M ORK

Ajl'-i- Le Cltrr (/(./., Ih' inii.< .<c.. 177'J

'J'n face iiayc 1211

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-3 781) 121

was with his party, composed of M. Thon, cloth- merchant of Paris, Mme. de Gumin, his wife, and her lady's-maid, " in the room at the entrance of the gallery, on the side of the chapel and facing the Queen's apartments." This witness's deposition con- firms the facts of the plaintiff's case, but does not agree with it as to the spot where the insult occurred, as, indeed, none of the witnesses do. "In the Queen's card-room," says Mile. Picot. Well, the latter room was at the extreme south end of the gallery, and is known as the Peace Room, while the room facing it is called the War Room. Charlotte Picot's fainting fit must have affected her memory, or she did not know the palace, otherwise she could not have mistaken the two rooms ; but we confess that we are a little sceptical as to the importance of the outrage which the girl, who thought she would die on the spot, is alleged to have suffered. We are more inclined than Rose Bertin's contemporaries to diminish her guilt, as it seems probable that Charlotte Picot was a hypocrite only too glad to seize the occasion as an advertisement, at a time when sandwich men had not been imported from England to promenade in single file in the gallery of the Palais-Royal, the centre then of the Parisian world, as the boulevards which stretch from Saint-Denis to the Madeleine are now. The second witness was Mme. de Gumin, whose maiden name was Catherine Thon, who also says that the incident took place " in the room before the gallery of the castle," where she was standing

122 ROSE BERTIN

"to see the Royal Family coming from Benediction in the chapel." Aime Thon says the same. Madeleine Bailly, Mme. de Gumin's lady's-maid, is of the same opinion, so we may conclude that it was in the War Room that the insult offered by the warlike Mile. Bertin to her ex-employ^ took place. The deposition of Pierre Guertin, employe of Messrs. Thon, Joly and Co. , is identical with that of his employer.

The five witnesses were agreed in putting the blame on Mile. Bertin ; but were they not exaggerat- ing the incident, had they no interest in the matter ? I consider one witness at least suspect — that is, Pierre Guertin ; what was he doing at Versailles that day, and how came he to be in Charlotte Picot's company ? It is evident from M. Thon's deposition, given below, that all these people were acquainted with each other. M. Thon deposes that " on Easter Day last, 15th instant, having come to Versailles to see the Court, and being, about six or half-past six in the evening, in company with M. and Mme. Gumin, deponent's brother-in-law and sister, in His Majesty's palace, in the room called the War Room, giving on to the gallery on the side of the chapel, having taken up position near the windows leading to the terrace to see the Court on their way from Benediction, Mile. Picot, accompanied by M. Guertin, deponent^s employe, approached the party, and placed them- selves by deponent's side ; at the same moment he saw Mile. Bertin, also a dressmaker of Paris, coming from the gallery, Mile. Picot being at the time in

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 123

conversation with deponent. The said Mile. Bertin approached the said Mile. Picot, and, gazing on her fixedly with a look of contempt, spat upon her neck on the left side, saying, 'I promised you this — I have kept my word,' and then went on her way. Imme- diately the said Mile. Picot felt unwell, and they were obliged to lean her against one of the windows and apply eau de Cologne to relieve her. A little later deponent saw the said Mile. Bertin return, while deponent's sister was still endeavouring to revive the said Mile. Picot from her fainting fit, upon whom the said Mile. Bertin cast a look of contempt and disdain. After the said Mile. Picot came to herself, deponent and his party left her."

We trust that Pierre Guertin did not do the same, that he bid good-bye to his employer, M. Thon, and remained behind to render further assistance to the wretched Charlotte. In any case, the return from Versailles after such a scene, in company with a woman still nervous and trembling from the effects of it, cannot have presented the same charm as the journey there, with the young green of the trees to brighten the route, and the indescribable joy of April to lend enhanced beauty to the luxurious carriages bearing the noblest in France to the Palace of Versailles.

The text of the sentences pronounced against Rose Bertin on August 18 and September 1 bear witness that thouofh the Court considered a certain censure necessary, yet, like us, they considered that the wit-

124 ROSE BEKTIN

nesses were not entirely reliable, and that a nominal fine would meet the case.

The sentence of August 18 prohibits the defendant from spitting again in the plaintiff's face, and con- demns her to pay a fine of 20 livres, applicable, with plaintiff's consent, to the poor of the parish of Saint-Germain I'Auxerrois. The sentence of Septem- ber 1 merely confirms the first.

Rose Bertin was not a woman to capitulate without fighting. At the news that the first sentence had been confirmed, no doubt doors were slammed in the privacy of the Rue Saint- Honor e ; but at Versailles, or anywhere else where her business with the Queen took her, she presented a serene countenance and succeeded in interesting Her Majesty in her case. " The amusing part of the adventure," says the Yicomtesse de Ears in her memoirs, " was that Mile. Bertin, pending judgment, solicited the Queen to interpose her authority in the matter, assuring her that her royal dignity would be compromised in the affront which she who worked with her might receive ; and when sentence was passed, Mile. Bertin replied to all who came with sympathy : '* Alas ! it is not I who am offended in all this, but her Majesty herself."

She then appealed to the Grand Conseil. Sentence was about to be pronounced, when the Queen sent for M. de Nicolai, President of the Court, to confer with him upon the point, and the case was remanded for eight days. Judgment was finally passed on

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 125

December 19, and the sentence may be seen in the Archives Nationales (vol. v., p. 894).

" Between Mile. Bertin, dressmaker to the Queen . . . the appellant, according to her petition presented to the Council on December 11 . . . begs that her appeal be granted, and the sentence and proceedings of the Prevote de THotel be declared null, and the said Mile. Picot be condemned in such damages as the Council shall think fit . . . the appellant denies formally all the facts set forth in Mile. Picot 's complaint of April 18, 1781, and, on the contrary, is ready to bring evidence in proof of the following facts :

*' 1. That at the hour appellant is accused of spitting in Mile. Picot's face she was in the Queen's apartments, having received instructions to await Her Majesty there on her return from Benediction, on Easter Day, 1 5th of last April ; and that she remained there until seven o'clock in the evening.

"2. That when apellant passed and repassed through the gallery and in the War Room it was not more than a quarter after five, and that she passed and repassed without spitting in Mile. Picot's face, nor on her, nor on any person whatsoever.

" 3. That at the moment she passed, one of the young ladies who work in her shop, and who accompanied her, called her attention to Mile. Picot, near to one of the Suiss guards of the castle, who was there to keep back the crowd and leave a free passage ; nearly hidden by the Suisse, appellant was more than

126 ROSE BERXm

six feet from Mile. Picot, so that even had she had a tube in her mouth she could not have spat such a distance, and still less take aim at the face of the said Mile. Picot ; and had she spat, and if the spittle had reached as far as Mile. Picot the Suisse and other persons standing near would have been spattered and would have complained, and appellant would have been arrested on the spot.

*' 4. That Mile. Picot was standing with her right shoulder to the people passing to the chapel, and not the left, as her witnesses have stated. ,

'* 5. That there were more than sixty persons in the War Room when appellant passed and repassed on April 15, 1781, being Easter Day, at about a quarter past five in the evening, so that if the appellant had really spat in Mile. Picot's face, and if the alleged insult had caused the commotion she has depicted in her complaint, and had she fainted, and been carried half dead to the window, while smelling salts were used to revive her and restore her from her fainting condition, she might have had sixty witnesses ready to depose to the truth of so scandalous and notorious an outrage, which had aroused the attention of all the spectators ; and had she not delayed three days in bringing a charge, she would not have been reduced to the four or ^yq persons whom she thought fit to choose fi:*om her own party, and who during the three days she had made accomplices of her little plot.

" The appellant begs leave to bring evidence in

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 127

contradiction of the facts set forth in Mile. Picot's complaint. . . .

'' And the said Mile. Picot, appellant, presents petition dated December 17, 1781, begging that the Council may be pleased to disregard the appeal of the said Mile. Bertin. . . .

" After Desnos, counsel for Mile. Bertin, assisted by Carteron his attorney, had concluded his speech, and Mitte, counsel for Mile. Picot, assisted by his attorney Maillon, had concluded his speech, and after De Yaucresson, for the King's Attorney-General, had likewise been heard, and the case had been heard in two sittings —

" The Council finds that the appeal of the party represented by Desnos, against the sentences in question, is well founded, and, in accordance with the King's Attorney- General, declares the sentence given at the Pr^vot^ de I'Hotel, May 12, 1781, null and void, as also all proceedings connected with it . . . and condemns the party represented by Mitte to pay the costs of appeal.

"Given in Paris, by the Council, December 19, 1781."

The Queen's influence had perhaps something to do with the sentence, which was nevertheless justified by the insufficient evidence brought by Charlotte Picot.

A new case was brought, however, and for six months the litigation was continued, to the profit and amusement of magistrates, lawyers, and public.

128 * ROSE BERTIN

The jurisdiction of the Pr^vot^ de rH6tel had been already turned into ridicule, notably by Cochu, lawyer of the Council. The Provost of the^Hotel was nicknamed " Roi des Ribands," it being alleged that his chief duty was to watch over the gay ladies who followed the Court. The lawsuit of the two dress- makers was well calculated to provoke public laughter anew.

A new case was opened in January, 1782, and the appeal was heard in April before Claude-Joseph Clos, King's Counsel, Lieutenant-General of the Police for Civil and Criminal Causes. A complete inquiry was made and new witnesses heard. Petitions and objec- tions were multiplied on both sides, and the case dragged on until 1784 — that is, more than three years, during which time, no doubt, the work-girls and clients of the Rue Saint-Honord suffered greatly at the hands of the irritable Rose.

Various events which happened during the course of 1781 diverted public attention from lawsuits and minor incidents. The Opera-house took fire. Rose Bertin's establishment in the Rue Saint-Honord was situated between the Rue Champfleuri and Rue du Chantre, both of which have disappeared ; in fact, it was built almost on the spot where now stands the entrance to the Louvre, called the Saint-Honord Door. The Opera was at the corner of the Rue de Valois, quite near to Rose Bertin's shop.

The fire was very considerable, and there were various victims ; but the number would have been

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 129

much greater but for the presence of mind of the ballet-master, who was on the stage when the fire broke out. It was on the night of June 8. The air was heavy and stormy, and rain had begun to fall. The ballet *' Orpheus" was being given, when the ballet- master gave an abrupt order for the dancing to cease, which caused a certain amount of murmuring among the audience ; the curtain was instantly dropped. Order was then given to cut the ropes which held the piece of burning scenery ; the order was clumsily carried out, the ropes being cut on one side only. Hanging in this way the scenery burnt more quickly, and soon the whole theatre was in flames. The smoke had already driven the audience out, their cries awakening the whole district. People crowded to their windows, and the street filled quickly. A fire in the Paris of olden days, with its narrow streets, was a terrible business. People could still remember the fire which consumed the Hotel Dieu on December 30, 1772, and cries of alarm arose as a column of flame more than 200 feet high shot into the air, " tinged with many colours, an effect due to the burning oil-painted scenery and gilded boxes." The Palais-Royal was in great danger ; the roof several times caught fire, but was speedily extinguished. Not only the Palais-Royal but, indeed, the whole district, was in danger from the continual shower of burning sparks and splinters which fell on the adjoin- ing roofs. The reservoirs, which should have been full, were absolutely empty. Anxiety was at its height

9

130 ROSE BERTIN

during the whole of that night, the panic being con- siderably increased about half-past nine by the falling in of the rafters, which caused a great shower of sparks.

Happily there was no wind, and, as rain continued to fall, the fire was confined to the theatre, which was completely burnt; it had been burnt before in 1773, and rebuilt on the same site. On June 15, a week after it had broken out, the fire was still burning in the foundations of the theatre.

There were, unfortunately, various victims, amongst whom w^ere several of the dancers. Eleven corpses were found in the first instance, and taken to the Morgue. M. de Caumartin, Provost of Merchants, and Le Noir, Chief of the Police, w^ere on the spot from the begin- ning, endeavouring to organize willing helpers in order to save what was possible ; " but the firemen's efforts," says Mercier, '^ were powerless to save anything but the facade on the Rue Saint-Honore."

Rose Bertin might have watched from her windows the sad cortege which bore the bodies of the victims to the Church Saint-Honore, facing her shop ; and as the search in the ruins of the theatre continued some days, she was an eyewitness of the heart-rending scenes, no one being better able than she to carry news of the search to the Queen, who was at Marly expecting her second child. The fire at the Opera- house, of all theatrical fires in Paris, has only been surpassed in horror by that which consumed the

LA GRANDE VOGUE (1778-1781) 131

Opera Comique in 1887, when there was a holocaust of more than 200 victims.

In spite of the Queen's condition, the inventive genius of milliners continued to design new fashions. The Dauphin was born on October 22, 1781, and this event also helped to divert public attention from the Bertin law^suit. The birth was the occasion, too, of new styles of hats ; bonnets a la Henri IV., a la Ger- trude, aux Cerises, a la Fanfan, aitx Sentiments replies y a V Esclavage brisSy a Colin- Maillardy gave place to hats au Dauphin^ and then to hats in honour of the churching of the Queen.

Louise Fusil has told us in her " Souvenirs d'une Actrice " how a society woman spent her day at this time. On rising she would put on a dressing-gown and receive a few intimate friends, change this for a morning cloak to go into her oratory, and the cloak for a light peignoir to retire into her cabinet. t' The pretty boudoir, with its favourite ornaments ; the walls covered with engravings of past fashions, which look so ridiculous when they have passed. One says to oneself : ' Great God ! did I wear that ?' ' Yes, madam, and very charming you looked in that hat.' ' It is not possible.' To go out one wore a long cloak with blonde lace, and veil, and in winter white hood and wadded satin cloak. For dinner, if one was alone, a neglige toilette was permissible, unless there was a ball or visits to follow. Dresses and coiffures were similar to the style often to be

132 ROSE BERTIN

seen at our theatres, with the exception of the hats a la Henri IV,, which have not yet been adopted.

" One may suppose, considering the taste for luxury, that it was above all at Longchamps that the greatest display was made. Long beforehand ladies could think of nothing but how to invent some fashion no one else had thought of. . . . Milliners and costumiers were worth their weight in gold, and came to assist in planning the attack."

CHAPTER lY

THE END OF ECCENTRICITIES ROSE BERTIN, RUE DE

RICHELIEU — HER PRETENDED BANKRUPTCY

(1782-1787)

In 1782 Marie -Antoinette discovered a new amuse- ment. As little girls play at keeping shop, the Queen took to playing at being a milkmaid and a shepherdess, with the whole village of Trianon for her playground. But she was a clean shepherdess, a coquettish milkmaid, a village maiden in silk attire, after Watteau ; and consequently hats and dresses were required to suit the part.

White became her favourite colour. The Creoles of St. Domingo had introduced it into Bordeaux, where it had become very fashionable. Linen, linon, cotton, and calico, pure white or striped with pale colours, supplanted all other kinds of material, to the great advantage of the manufactory of figured cottons established by Oberkampf at Jouy in 1750.

Fichus were discarded in favour of swansdown palatines called chats.

The two most fashionable types of dress were the

133

134 ROSE BEKTIN

polonaise and the anglaise. The polonaise was an open overdress, above a rather short skirt, with three breadths raised and draped, one on each side and one at the back. The sleeves stopped short above the elbow ; a hood was sometimes adapted to the bodice. The anglaise was a kind of coat generally worn for walking.

Rose kept her monopoly and her notoriety ; nothing so stimulates the latter as caricature and satire. The obscure are not made fun of, nor do they appear upon the stage in a transparent disguise. Not everyone can be the theme of a popular song; still less is it given to many people to see themselves in a theatrical representation. Rose had that unheard- of stroke of luck, an advertisement quite unique at that date. On April 9, 1782, a comedy-vaudeville by Pr^vot, an advocate of Parliament, was produced at the Theatre Italien. This comedy was a sort of allegorical revue^ at first presented without a title, and afterwards called " Le Public Yengd."

We read in " Correspondance Litt^raire " : " The background of the scene represents a desert. Truth appears asleep in the arms of Time. . . . Opinion and Caprice twist and twirl, holding the portfolio of the Public. Amphigouri and her troupe, consisting of Cabal, Paradox, Nycticorax, Dramomane, and Har- moniche, had long endeavoured to keep the public beyond the reach of Truth. The national Genius, exiled by bad taste, returns to his native France after long travels. He puts to flight all the ridiculous

M V si'c Cii ma vale t

DIIKSS \ LA SUZANNE IN THE PLAY ''^ LE MARIAGE DE FIGARO '

Desiijncd bit WaAtf^uu, ciinrc re<l i.nj Baniv.ojj

Til face page 134

THE END OF ECCENTRICITIES 135

phantoms which had taken possession of tiie Public, breaks the bonds with which they had bound him, and reconciles him with Truth, Laughter, and the

Graces."

This is surely a transparent satire upon past eccen- tricities, given at a moment when the public taste showed a reaction towards simplicity. The " Cor- respondance Litt^raire " continues : '' The part of Mme. du Costume, or Mile. Bertin, who comes forward, of course, to give the Public an account of her success, contains a rather agreeably rhymed madrigal, but it is introduced so awkwardly that it produced very little effect :

Sitr Pair de ^''La Baronne.''''

" C'est un mystere : Trop tard vos cartons sont venus.

C'est un mystere Sur une Grace je voulus Epuiser tons les dons de plaire Elle avait tout pris chez Venus,

Cest un mystere/'

Pr^vot was not a great poet, and these verses are very mediocre. It is not surprising that they got rather a cold reception. The mystery enwraps the author's meaning so delicately that it renders it a trifle obscure.

" At my place," says Mme. Costume elsewhere, "you will find jointed dolls, representing the manners, morals, and characteristics, of our time, and in six seances, at the very most, you will get a complete description of the whole nation."

136 ROSE BERTIN

The character of Mme. de Costume was used as a pretext for a panegyric of the new spirit which seemed destined to rule the world of dress.

The fashions, indeed, appeared much simpler ; but Mile. Bertin worked as hard as ever, and Marie- Antoin- ette's expenditure was not in the least diminished.

The Queen had not willingly abandoned the fashion of dressing the hair in huge erections, and pyramids surmounted by flowers, feathers, etc. Her hair began to fall out in 1778 after the birth of Madame Roy ale, and none of the remedies she essayed was successful in stopping it. Then she adopted the coiffure called a V enfant^ which consisted of a flat chignon and a long floating curl, like the peruke of an abb^. This had taught her that some advantage may be drawn from the fashion even by following it with simplicity.

A picture in the galleries of Versailles gives some idea of the fashions of that time. It represents Mme. de Lamballe, one of Rose's titled customers. Though it was painted by Rioult in 1843, there is every indication that it is only a reproduction or enlarge- ment of an early miniature painted from life. In this picture, Mme. de Lamballe wears a straw hat covered with white gauze, and trimmed with a wreath of roses, myosotis, and jasmine. This is certainly the most elegant head-dress designed in the workshops of the Rue Saint-Honor^ ; and not only the most elegant, but one of those which most nearly approaches the present fashions, and perhaps the only one in really good taste.

THE END OF ECCENTRICITIES 137

At that time flowers and rustic fancies were all the rage ; a breath of spring had inspired the fashion, which was, indeed, sorely in need of rejuvenation and deliverance from the increasingly cumbersome and heavy extravagances of the last ten years. It was a complete transformation, but, as we have said, it did not cost a penny the less.

In May and June of 1781 the Grand-Duke of Russia, afterwards Paul L, made a journey to Paris with his wife, under the name of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord, and their visit offered a pretext for holding festivities at Court in their honour.

The Grand-Duchess ordered her dresses from Mile. Rose, and commissioned the Baroness Oberkirch to superintend their making. She alludes to this in the following passage of her memoirs, in which we find once more the impression made by Mile. Bertin upon those who visited her establishment, and one of those repartees so characteristic of the proprietress of the " Grand- Mogol." Mme. Oberkirch writes on May 17 : " According to the orders of the Grand-Duchess, I called on Mile. Rose Bertin, the Queen's celebrated dressmaker, to inquire if her dresses were ready. The whole establishment was at work upon them ; damasks, dauphines, figured satins, brocades, and- lace, were scattered in every direction. The Court' ladies came to inspect them out of curiosity, but it was forbidden to imitate any of the models until they had been worn by the Princess. Mile. Bertin seemed to me an extraordinary person, full of

138 ROSE BERTIN

her own importance, and treating Princesses as her equals.

" A story is told that a lady from the provinces came to order a head-dress for her presentation ; she wanted something new. Mile. Bertin looked her coolly up and down, and, apparently satisfied with this scrutiny, turned to one of her young ladies, and said majestically : * Show madam the result of my last collaboration with Her Majesty.' "

The ball in honour of the Grand-Duchess of Russia was given on June 8, but the presentation took place on May 20. Mme. Oberkirch tells us that ''the Grand-Duchess was very richly dressed that day in a state costume of brocade bordered with pearls, over a pannier six yards wide. She wore the most beautiful jewels that can be imagined."

The description of the dress worn by Marie- Antoi- nette on the day of the ball is preserved for us by the Marquis de Valfons who says in his " Souvenirs " :

"The Queen was dressed in the costume of Gabrielle d'Estrde — a black hat with white feathers, a mass of heron's plumes held by four diamonds and a diamond band, fastened with the diamond called Pitt, worth two millions ; a stomacher of diamonds, and a diamond belt over a dress of white silver gauze, powdered with paillettes^ and ruchings of gold studded with diamonds."

Mme. Oberkirch tells us that two days before she tried on, meaning to wear it at the ball, " something very fashionable, but rather uncomfortable : little flat bottles curved to the shape of the head, holding a drop

THE END OF ECCENTRICITIES 139

of water to moisten the stalks of the natural jflowers and keep them fresh in the coiffure. It was not always successful, but when it could be managed it was charming. Spring on the head in the midst of snow-white powder produced an unequalled effect."

The effect must indeed have been very graceful ; flowers being the fashion, some ingenious device was necessary to keep them fresh, when the flowers of Joseph Wengel were not used.

A certain Joseph Wengel had lately put artificial flowers on the market ; he had first got the idea from Italy, where they were made by the nuns for the decoration of the altar. Until that time natural flowers had been almost solely used for the adorn- ment of ladies. It was therefore an innovation of which Rose and her rivals hastened to take advantage.

A very curious collection of patterns of the dresses worn by the Queen in the year 1782 is preserved in the National Archives. The brothers Goncourt speak of it as follows in their ^' Histoire de Marie- Antoinette."

" The Archives of the Empire possess a curious volume bearing the following inscription upon its cover of green parchment : * Mme. la Comtesse d'Ossun : Garde-robe des Atours de la Reine. Gazette pour I'Ann^e 1782.' It contains patterns of the dresses worn by the Queen from 1782 to 1784 stuck on white paper with red wafers. It is like a palette of pale colours youthful and gay ; their brightness, youth, and gaiety, are all the more noticeable when we

140 ROSE BERTIN

compare them with the dead leaf, carmelite brown, and other almost Jansenistic colours of the dresses worn by Mme. Elizabeth, which we find in another register. Dainty relics, appealing to the eye, in which a painter might find enough to reconstruct the Queen's costume on any given day, or even at any given hour of her life ! He would only have to glance through the divisions of the book : Dresses on the large •pannier, Dresses on the small pannier, Turkish dresses^ Levites, English dresses^ and state dress of taffeta ; chief provinces of the kingdom divided between Mme. Bertin, trimming the costumes of ceremony for Easter ; Mme. Lenormand, trimming the Turkish dresses of the shade called Paris mud with em- broideries of Spanish jasmine ; and Romand, and Barbier, and Pompee, working and manipulating in blue, white, pink, and pearl-grey, sometimes powered with gold sequins, the costumes for Versailles and Marly, which were brought to the Queen every morning in great wrappings of taffeta."

We have tried to discover what was the exact share of Mile. Bertin in this collection, which mentions ninety-seven costumes, and consisted of eighty-nine patterns, of which seventy-eight have been preserved. The last mentioned belonged to the summer of 1784. But the way in which the register was kept is rather unsatisfactory, and is lacking in method. The name of the dressmaker is mentioned in most cases, but that of the modiste less frequently ; only occasionally is there any indication that such

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and such a costume was trimmed by Mme. Pompee or Mile. Bertin. The name of the former is mentioned once, and that of the latter six times ; but this does not mean that Rose Bertin only trimmed six dresses for the royal wardrobe in two years, namely : a state dress for Easter in white satin ; a brown silk levite embroidered with small flowers ; a dress on the small pannier of white silk gauze ; a white state dress trimmed with sweet peas ; a white Turkish dress trimmed with sweet peas; and coat of wine-coloured silk.

This register seems to us like a herbal, and the patterns like pressed flowers which have kept their fresh colouring in despite o£ time. By its aid we can evoke an image of the Queen in the days of her happiness, surrounded by affection and admiration, happy in the luxury of Versailles and the charm of Trianon, her hands stroking the soft texture of these delicate fabrics, and an image of other industrious hands fixing, with skilful needle, flowers, ruchings, garlands, pearls, and embroideries, upon all these shimmering staffs, in the disorder of a busy workroom from which dazzling marvels will presently emerge.

No wearer of a crown or bearer of an illustrious name could escape a visit to Mile. Rose.

The voyage of the Comtesse du Nord to Paris, and her visits to the Rue Saint- Honore, made Mile. Bertin the fashion in Russian society. Princess Tcherbinine, Princess Baratinsky, wife of the Ambassador, and Baroness Benekendorf sent her orders. x\mong those

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of the latter were two Russian costumes, one of blue satin worth 240 livres, and the other of blue and silver cloth worth 420 livres.

These Russian costumes were cheap compared with the presentation robes which Rose Bertin supplied to the great ladies who were to appear before the Royal Family for the first time. One of these dresses made for the Vicomtesse de Polastron, on December 2, 1780, cost 3,090 livres. Towards the end of August, 1782, Rose delivered to her the costume of a priestess which cost 2,434 livres, and certain alterations made a few days later to the same dress cost 1,150 livres.

In this year of 1782 the modistes, always on the watch for topical novelties to retain their importance and their profitable influence over women, could think o£ nothing better than to start a fashion for the chapeau a la Marlborough, because the Queen was heard one day singing the popular song of Marl- borough. At that time bonnets a la Religieuse were still in fashion, and one of these cost 18 livres.

In the year 1783 experiments in aeronautics brought in the fashions in hairdressing called the Ballon, a la Mongoljier^ an Globe de Paphos^ and au Globe de Robert. The success of the " Mariage de Figaro " gave rise to fashions a la Cherubin, d la Suzan7ie, smd a la Basile.

Rulers of fashions are always eager to avail them- selves of successful plays in naming their novelties. Thus, "La Veuve du Malabar," by Lemierre, in 1780 ; " Les Amours," by Bayard de Monvel, in 1786 ; " La

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Brouette du Vinaigrier," by Mercier, in 1787 ; and " Tartare," by Beaumarchais, all stood sponsors to the novelties of the season.

On October 13, 1783, it is reported in the " Memoires Secrets" : " Hats a la Caisse d'Escompte are already on the market. These hats have no crowns. All the women have hastened to adopt this new fashion, which is a cruel pun against the directors." (" Crowns of hats " happen to be synony- mous with ''funds" in French, hence the pun.)

A few years ago, after a celebrated krach, these hats reappeared. They were called chapeaux Comptoir (CEscompte. Several of our contemporaries have worn them. Indeed, nothing is new under the sun, in fashions as in other things ; it is but the turn of the wheel. "New things are only those which have been forgotten," as Rose Bertin said very truly one day to Marie-Antoinette.

This fashion had only a relatively small and restricted vogue. That which made the most sensa- tion outside France was the fashion a la Marlhorough.

" The Duchess of Marlborough, granddaughter of the famous General of that name, which was adopted by her husband . . . made a collection of all the songs, plays, farces, puns, and epigrams, relating to him."* But she was not satisfied with this. "At the same time she commissioned Mile. Bertin to send her samples of all the fashions a la Marlborough, both for men and women." f

'■^' Bachaumont, " Memoires Secrets," 1783 (August 14). t Ibid,

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The King rarely paid attention to the Qaeens costumes, but one day in