Beauty is a terrible force. So great that sometimes it kills. When, for example, out of a desire to be in trend, you start powdering yourself with white lead or wearing dresses made of toxic materials. Are you stupid enough to do that? Ha, we assure you: the fashion victims thought the same way and considered themselves not only smart, but also advanced people. They did not know that, in a hurry to keep up with the times, they were putting themselves in mortal danger …
THE GREAT DICTATOR
You can't blindly follow fashion trends. In the end, she only offers. But you always choose - what you like, what adorns you. Everyone will subscribe to these words. But what will he do? To answer this question, just look around - everywhere you will see bearded young men and girls with blue-black wide eyebrows. To tell the truth, beards go only to every fifth, everyone else should shave without delay. As for the eyebrows, in the vast majority of cases they act as classic villains and steal their freshness and charm from young creatures. Simply put, this is a complete nightmare and voluntary universal depersonalization! But try to prove something to the "young, unfamiliar tribe." "This is fashionable," they will say, and they will find the conversation over and over, and you will be written into the backward elements.
Fashion is a dictator. And with dictators, no matter what orders they give, they don't argue. And it has always been this way …
PARIS GREEN
Natural dyes are good for everyone, except for one thing: rather quickly, fabrics dyed with them lose color. Three washes ago you had a wonderful cornflower blue dress, and now it looks like a pale blue rag. It's a shame. But when you live in the 18th century, it is also ruinous: each dress is individual, clothes are not yet sold in stores. You need a new thing - either neck herself, or stomp to the seamstress. That is why the women of fashion were so delighted when the Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele invented a green dye, which he called “Scheele greens”. It did not dissolve in water, and therefore the fabrics dyed with it retained their original beauty for a long time.
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French women of fashion were the first to appreciate the novelty. And soon so many elegant ladies in bright emerald robes appeared on the streets of Paris that the true name of the dye fell out of use. It became known as "Parisian green" and was widely used wherever possible. They dyed fabrics, painted dishes and children's toys, even applied them to wallpaper! True, only wealthy people could afford this pleasure: Scheele's greens were expensive. The dye literally made industrialists rich, who at one time ventured to contact the novelty.
NOT THE SAME SHEEELE
Grateful Frenchmen even came to the Swedish king Gustav III to express their admiration for his subjects - the chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele. Gustav III, a man infinitely far from both fashion and science, had never heard of any scientist, but just in case he hastened to issue a decree on raising him to the dignity of knighthood. Alas, his prime minister did not know the chemist either, so the first Scheele who came to the minister's hand was given the title of count: he was the captain of the artillery. The true hero remained without a reward … And perhaps that was the providence of the Lord.
The fact is that over time, people living in the environment of the "Parisian green" began to complain more and more of frequent headaches and dizziness, nausea and eating disorders, general weakness. The ladies fainted for no apparent reason. And even worse, small but very painful sores began to appear on their skin, which refused to go away.
Doctors advised in such cases to go to the water. And there the townspeople more or less came to their senses. But upon returning to Paris, everything returned to normal!
What was the cause of the ailments?
Of course, he is “Parisian green”. Scheele never made a secret of its composition: it was a mixture of copper and … arsenic. Toxic compound. Today it is used only as an insecticide - a means to combat harmful insects. And at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, people willingly put on clothes made of toxic materials, sat in rooms covered with poisonous wallpaper. They are forgiven: they did not know about the poisonous properties of arsenic. By the way, on the notorious waters, the effect of the poison weakened only because people were more in the fresh air. In contrast to Paris, where the audience moved from one salon with trendy green wallpaper to another similar one, where food was served on plates painted with emerald colors …
LADIES 'HAT
Arsenic was used not only as a dye, but also as a preservative. And since tiaras and headdresses decorated with fresh flowers and stuffed songbirds were in fashion, it is no wonder that the hatters were ready to pray for this chemical element. To prevent the plants from losing their color and shape, the craftsmen soaked them in a solution of arsenic. And taxidermists, with his help, prevented the decomposition of bird carcasses. The output, of course, was masterpieces. Only very poisonous. And while the ladies chatted sweetly with their gentlemen, poisonous vapors enveloped both and shortened the days of their lives.
When, finally, humanity realized how dangerous arsenic is, and this happened only at the end of the 19th century, samples were taken from hats decorated with fresh flowers. After spending a hundred years in my grandmother's mezzanines, they remained beautiful. And deadly: one such headdress contained so much poison that it could kill 20 people. It's good that fashion is fleeting: if flower hats were to be worn constantly for several years, then the aristocracy would die out as a class.
HOW DANDY LONDON IS CLOTHED
In terms of passion for fashion, the gentlemen were in no way inferior to the ladies. Take a look at any depiction of an early 19th century dandy. An obligatory attribute of his suit is a top hat. Do you know what these hats were originally made of? Made of beaver felt. Simply put, from beaver or - to reduce the cost of the process - rabbit fur, dressed in a special way. To remove the skin from the animal as quickly as possible, the hatters used a solution, the main ingredient of which was … camel urine. The product, frankly speaking, is rare in Europe. In the absence of it, the masters used their own urine. However, here's the trouble - not everyone showed themselves equally well in the business of skinning rabbits. To the delight of the hatters in London - and this story happened there - a certain supplier was wound up, whose urine was in no way inferior to that of a camel. "What's your secret?" - tortured by the master of the "donor". And he admitted that since he suffers from syphilis, he is treated with mercury …
So this poisonous element has become firmly established in hat practice. With all the ensuing consequences. The poisonous couples drove the masters crazy - they suffered from hallucinations, obsessions. Add to this hand tremors, increased fatigue, headaches, bleeding gums and dizziness - and you will understand that the fate of the hatters was unenviable. However, one should sympathize with the gentlemen who wore top hats. Let in smaller volumes, but they too were poisoned with mercury for nothing. True, quite soon it became customary to sew cylinders from felt or satin. But other fur hats remained, which were made, including with the help of mercury, right before the start of World War II. And then - hat workshops were forbidden to touch it only because mercury, as an important component of detonators, was massively required by the military.
MUSLIN DISEASE
Muslin. It would seem, what could be dangerous in it? Thin airy cotton fabric - almost transparent, but very durable. A miracle!.. But it depends on where and how to wear it. In his homeland - in the Middle East - he was more than appropriate: in the heat he protected from the scorching rays of the sun and at the same time did not allow him to overheat. Indianok - and in India the finest muslin was used most actively - it was unusually decorated. When tightly draped in muslin, they swirled in national dances, the thin fabric did not hide the seductive curves of their bodies. The British, who colonized India in the 18th century, were overwhelmed. And together they decided that a little oriental flavor would not hurt their own ladies. This is how muslin ended up in Europe. And then it became a hit. It was worn by everyone - who could afford it - everywhere and at any time of the year. But it's one thing to wrap yourself in "spirits and mists" in hot India. And quite different - in cold England or France. It was cold. Very. Deadly. The popularity of muslin has led to a sharp increase in cases of pneumonia and influenza among women. In 1803, an epidemic hit Paris: doctors recorded up to 60,000 new cases every day. During that time period, pneumonia even became known as "muslin disease".
Why did the peak incidence occur precisely in the first decades of the 19th century? Because it has become fashionable to wear dresses made of … wet muslin. It became almost transparent and sculpturally covered the body, giving its owners the appearance of ancient Greek statues.
The preparations for the ball looked like this: hair, make-up, dressing up and … shower.
Then we run into the carriage and go out into the light - to catch admiring glances and viruses. Where to go? Fashionable!
LIVE TORCH
But the wet muslin had one advantage: it burned much worse. While the ladies, dressed in dry cotton dresses, flashed like matches. The lighting was candlelight, and the dresses were wide and luxuriant in the latest fashion. Imagine a society gathered in a cramped living room: sooner or later, one of the visitors would certainly brush the candle to the floor or awkwardly brushed it with his sleeve. And - lit up. Sometimes so quickly that they did not have time to extinguish it.
In 1844, ballerina Clara Webster was burned alive in London - right on stage during a performance. Klara's light and lush ballet skirts caught fire from the gas burner, which at that time - before the invention of electricity - illuminated the stage. The death of the ballerina, who was only 23 years old, was covered in all European newspapers. But this unfortunate incident did not make anyone give up cotton dresses. Nobody bothered to replace even cotton curtains with less flammable ones! But almost half of all fires took place according to the same pattern. Candles that have not yet been extinguished stand by the open window. The wind raises the curtain, it touches the fire and - voila - the house burns. Everyone is crying and in a hurry to save property: fur top hats and dresses of the color of "Parisian green". After all, even when grieving, one must look decent!
Natalia KUVSHINOVA