Some of the names given to trimmings are curious, and remind us of the “précieuses” of the Hôtel de Rambouillet. Such are: “indiscreet complaints,” “great reputation,” “the unfeeling,” “an unfulfilled wish,” “preference,” “the vapours,” “the sweet smile,” “agitation,” “regrets,” and many others. Paniers were generally small, but padded at the top. Shoes, either puce colour or “queen’s hair,” were embroidered in diamonds, and women’s feet might be compared to jewel-cases. Long narrow shoes, with the seam at the heel studded with emeralds, were called in the trade “venez-y-voir,” or “come-and-see.” Women wore over their shoulders an arrangement of lace, gauze, or blond, closely gathered, and called “Archiduchesse,” or “Médicis,” or “collet monté.” Tulle was in great request, and was manufactured everywhere. As for ribbons, the most fashionable were called “attention,” “a sign of hope,” “a sunken eye,” “the sigh of Venus,” “an instant,” and “a conviction.” Sashes were worn “à la Praxitèle,” an opera by Devismes. Once more we are reminded of Molière’s “Précieuses.” A great sensation was caused at the opera one night by the arrival of a lady dressed as follows. Her gown was “a stifled sigh” trimmed with “superfluous regrets,” with a bow at the waist of “perfect innocence,” ribbons of “marked attention,” and shoes of “the queen’s hair” embroidered in diamonds, with the “venez-y-voir” in emeralds. Her hair was curled in “sustained sentiments,” a cap of “assured conquest” trimmed with waving feathers and ribbons of “sunken eye,” a “cat” or palatine of swans’-down on her shoulders of a colour called “newly-arrived people” (parvenus), a “Médicis” arranged “as befitting,” a “despair” in opals, and a muff of “momentary agitation.” Since that evening how many extraordinary costumes have been displayed at the opera, and have attracted the attention of the fair spectators! [Illustration] [Illustration: Louis XVI 1789 Louis XVI 1780] CHAPTER XIX. REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. (CONTINUED). 1780 to 1789. Peasant dress is universal—Fashion “à la Marlborough”—Caps—Bonnets—Mdlles. Fredin and Quentin—Ruches—Low bodices; “postiches”—Costume of Contat-Suzanne—Fashions “à la Figaro”—Literature and politics signified in dress; the Princess de Monaco’s pouf—Pouf “à la circonstance;” the “inoculation” pouf—The “innocence made manifest” caraco—The “harpy” costume—Coats, cravats, and waistcoats—Sailor jackets and “pierrots”—Déshabillés; “the lying fichu”—Etiquette in dress—Seasonable costumes—The queen’s card-table—State of trade in Paris, _circa_ 1787—“Pinceauteuses,” or female colourers.