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The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep336: HEADLINE: The Empire Style: Colonial Influence and the End of Sumptuary Laws GUEST AUTHOR: Anne Higonnet SUMMARY: During the Directory, Teresia and Rose dominated Parisian society, where Rose eventually captivated a young Napoleon Bonaparte. Higonnet expl

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Arts, News, Society & Culture, Books

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

HEADLINE: The Empire Style: Colonial Influence and the End of Sumptuary Laws GUEST AUTHOR: Anne Higonnet
SUMMARY: During the Directory, Teresia and Rose dominated Parisian society, where Rose eventually captivated a young Napoleon Bonaparte. Higonnet explains that their signature "chemise" dress was a fusion of Teresia’s prison shift and the simple white muslins Rose knew from the Caribbean, inspired by the dress of women of color in Martinique. This style, while mimicking Neoclassicism, relied on colonial Indian cottons. The revolution’s abolition of guilds and sumptuary laws allowed these women to dismantle centuries of class-based dress codes, shocking observers with an aesthetic of "expensive undress" that defied traditional European modesty.
1812 HOTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:34.4

with Indeed. I'm John of Professor Anne Higone.

0:38.4

Her new book is Liberty, Equality Fashion,

0:40.7

the women who style the French Revolution.

0:43.3

And the dresses we're talking about in the styles

0:47.8

are available online.

0:50.2

Anne and her colleagues and her students make it available.

0:53.6

They were at the Morgan.

0:55.2

And Ann, there's a joy in your book because the journal that you've rediscovered for us was always there at the Morgan, but we couldn't find it.

1:06.8

What was the secret that allowed you to find like a detective?

1:19.6

Well, the fashion plates, which were the rarest in the world, because, you know, things get lost during a revolution,

1:32.3

had been cataloged in a quirky way. So they were sort of caught between two different departments at the Morgan. And even though generations of scholars had roved from library to library,

1:39.3

looking at one plate here, three plates there, in order to understand this period, the complete set was there unknown and forgotten at the Morgan.

1:52.0

And I happened to see this quirky entry and I decided, well, I told me subway right away.

1:59.0

So I went to the Morgan and to my delight discovered this forgotten treasure.

2:05.6

And then after the delight came the shock of realizing that the true story of this marvelous

2:12.9

fashion revolution had not only never been told, it had been concealed from the world because it was so radical.

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