IMPERICAL OPULENCE
France during Napoleon III’s Second Empire (1852 - 1870) was a place of prosperity, quickly made fortunes, and rampant consumerism.
Visitors flocked to see Baron Haussmann’s transformation of Paris into a city of grand boulevards, and the theaters, opera houses, and new department stores buzzed with life.
The favorite court painter, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, who painted the scene opposite, captured a glittering imperial life, providing powerful public relations for the regime.
At the center of this court life was Napoleon’s striking, Spanish-born empress, Eugenie — a leading fashion icon of her day, whose patronage of designer Charles Frederick Worth made him the first real “dictator” of Paris fashion.
Eugenie (fourth from the left) wears trimmings in purple, a color she loved.
Purple was an expensive natural dye, suitable for royalty, when this was painted in 1855, but just one year later a synthetic dye was made and soon “mauve madness” swept Europe and the United States, fueled by Eugenie’s example.
The luxuriantly stylish court ladies, shown in tulle, taffeta, silk, muslin, lace, and ribbons, also display the newly fashionable crinolines, which became enormous during the Second Empire.
In 1861 one English fashion magazine noted: “ The Empress Eugenie’s petticoats stood out a great deal: and following her example, all the Paris ladies are wearing their skirts very wide and ample.”
富饶帝国
拿破仑三世第二帝国期间的法国（1852 - 1870）是一个繁荣昌盛的地方，追求快速享乐，消费主义猖獗。
到访者蜂拥至哈斯曼男爵改造的巴黎林荫大道，剧院，歌剧厅和百货公司，到处人头攒动。
作为最受欢迎的宫廷画家Franz Xaver Winterhalter，创作了许多与现实场景相对的作品，捕捉下闪闪发光的帝国生活，为当时政权配备了强大公共关系。
这幅皇室生活场景图的中心，是拿破仑引人注目的皇后，出生西班牙的Eugenie尤金妮。她是当时的时尚先锋，由于她对设计师查尔斯 弗雷德里克 沃斯的赞助，使他成为巴黎时尚界第一个真正的“独裁者”。
尤金妮（左四）衣着带有紫色饰边，那是她最爱的颜色。
紫色是一种昂贵的天然染料，适用于皇室成员。当这幅画1855年被绘制，仅一年后合成颜料被制成，很快“紫色疯狂”便席卷欧洲与美国，因为尤金妮。
奢华造型的皇室女士们，以薄纱，塔夫绸，丝绸，薄棉布，蕾丝与丝带展现这种崭新的时尚疯狂，同时第二帝国变的越来越强大。
1861年有英国时尚杂志表示：“皇后尤金妮优雅的衬裙独占鳌头，以她作为榜样，所有巴黎的女士们都穿着非常宽阔与丰满的裙子。”