In the course of the following year, 1790, the Federation at the Champs de Mars was commemorated by the creation of the Federal uniform for ladies by a dressmaker of the Palais Royal. Fans “à la fédération” were on sale, and women, joining in the movement, wore hats in honour of “the nation and the charms of liberty,” with flowers, feathers, and tricoloured ribbons. I might give many more examples, for each event of the Revolution was marked by a corresponding innovation in dress, but let it suffice to state that at the period of which I am speaking, the whole theory of fashion was based on the assumption of equality in dress. This may be proved by referring to an engraving of the time, that I have published in my “Histoire-Musée de la République.” All classes were commingled, willingly or unwillingly, through love or through fear; and many wealthy persons rigidly adopted simple attire. It is easy to understand the effect of this state of things on Fashion. The Revolution had proscribed gowns of silk or white muslin, as recalling too vividly the attire of the Ancien Régime. The Republican style of garment entirely enveloped the wearer, and gracefully defined the figure. It was fastened with buttons, and a sash “à la Romaine” was knotted on one side. The effect, taken as a whole, was charming. Jouy cambric was the material usually adopted; the “déshabillé à la démocrate,” however, allowed of a “pierrot” in brownish-green satin. The reign of Rose Bertin had ceased with that of Marie Antoinette. But although the queen of France found no one to take her place, that of the queen of Fashion was aspired to by a Mme. Rispal, who, advertising in the “Journal de Paris,” “offered a choice of dresses ‘pékin velouté et lacté’ (velvety and milk-like), in African silk and in Chinese satin.” She undertook, moreover, to make up caracos “à la Nina,” “à la Sultane,” and “à la cavalière;” short skirts “à la Junon” and “à la Renommée;” and gowns “à la Psyché,” “à la ménagère,” “à la Turque,” and “au lever de Vénus.” The above were republican garments, of which the cost bore no comparison with that of dress in the eighteenth century. But the reaction of Thermidor was followed by a reaction in dress; and under the Directory, when the Terror was over, women went from one extreme to the other, and spent ruinous sums in flowers, jewellery, and diamonds. In this respect the year 1795 is a remarkable one. Were the fashions of Louis XV.’s time about to return? Were red heels, paniers, powder, and patches “coming in” again? Well, not absolutely; but the return to things of the past was manifested in many ways, and the more so because the number of parties, balls, and concerts was simply incalculable. The imitation of the classical dress worn by the Greeks and Romans produced the “incroyables” and the “merveilleuses,” the mere pictures of whom seem to us at the present day like caricatures, and afford us some idea of the extraordinary freaks of Fashion.