Lady Hamilton, a woman who became famous in Europe for her
astonishing beauty, as well as her political influence, spread ancient Greek-inspired fashion across the continent for the first time.
Born in poverty and working as a maid when she was a
teenager, she met Sir William Hamilton, the British Ambassador to Italy, who
fell madly in love with her and got married to her, against all social norms.
Lady Hamilton soon became a fashion icon and started trends
such as draping herself in garments inspired by Greek classical times. She
called these Greek-inspired themes “Attitudes” and was known to have used many
shawls based on ancient Greek symposia.
Goethe wrote of Lady Hamilton: “She wears a Greek garb, becoming her to
perfection. She then merely loosens her
locks and takes a pair of shawls and effects changes of postures, moods,
gestures, and appearances that make one really feel as if one were in some
dream….Successively, standing, kneeling, seated, reclining, grave, sad,
sportive, teasing, abandoned, penitent, alluring threatening. agonized…one
follows the other and grows out of it.
She knows how to choose and shift the folds in her single kerchief of
every expression and to adjust it to a hundred kinds of headgear,” he wrote.
Her “a la Grec” clothing soon became a must-have item in
those days. Her wardrobe resembled that
of a Greek goddess, with simple and modern robing, so different from the
fashion of the time.
Lady Hamilton chose loose-fitting gowns with waistline set
just below the bosom. Her hairstyle,
which was soon copied by all ladies of fashion of the day, was inspired by ancient
Greek statues. Even the French women
tossed away their massive wigs to achieve Lady Hamilton’s new look.
She was adored by the Italian aristocracy for her beauty, intelligence
and high spirits.
No comments:
Post a Comment