We all heard the phrase “fashion victim”, and, as a rule, it refers to a person who falls into fashionable extremes. But sometimes these extremes are fatal!
Caricature of William Heath (1829) They say that the well-known description "fashion victim" was invented by the famous designer Oscar de la Renta. In his interpretation, fashion victims can be considered those who follow fashion trends blindly, excessively and contrary to common sense.
In fact, a similar term already existed in France in the 18th century - shortly after the French Revolution of 1789, chiffon dresses became fashionable, in which young ladies jumped out into the street even in winter, which led to an extraordinary increase in deaths from pneumonia.
Alas, the passion for fashion can really be insidious, and today we will share with you the most incredible stories when famous people became victims of fashion!
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Anna Pavlova
The greatest ballerina of the 20th century, unsurpassed Anna Pavlova was a real fashionable idol, a role model and innovator.“Pavlomania” encompassed contemporaries of the diva: ladies smelled the perfumes of Pavlova, roses, similar in shape and color to her ballet tutu, were bought out in flower shops, and don’t forget the marvelous manila shawls ... Anna Pavlova came up with a peculiar style of wearing manila silk shawls instead of a dress that were draped in the Spanish manner.
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But unfortunately, the love of light dresses went to the side of the ballerina: on the road, Pavlova caught a cold after a rehearsal in an unheated hall, and on the way to Paris on January 11, the train the star traveled had in a small accident. Passengers were asked to leave the carriage, and the ballerina came out, as she was, in a thin silk dress. The common cold quickly grew into pneumonia, and then into pleurisy, which cost her her life.
Horatio Nelson
According to contemporaries, the commander of the British fleet, Admiral Nelson was distinguished by extraordinary vanity and did not miss the chance to show all his awards, wearing them all at once.
One of the major victories brought the military commander a luxurious sign of military distinction, a plume decorated with three hundred diamonds! Despite material difficulties, Nelson did not want to part with the jewel under any circumstances. On the very first day of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Nelson was mortally wounded by a French sniper - the shooter noticed the admiral due to the brilliance of diamonds.
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Louise Casati
This eccentric Italian aristocrat was reputed to be the patroness of artists and poets, as well as an extreme lover of outrageous. She regularly shocked the Venetians by going for a walk with two cheetahs and wearing live snakes instead of a necklace!
Kazati not only received a rich inheritance from her father, but also successfully married a millionaire, which allowed her to live without limiting her addictions. They say that even her dogs wore diamond collars!
Alas, wealth did not bring her happiness: quickly having squandered all the money and done millions of debts, Kazati died in poverty.
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Fanny longfellow
The wife of the American poet Henry Longfellow clearly demonstrated the danger of crinolines, which became fashionable in the 19th century. On a hot July day, the girl put the locks of her children in an envelope, intending to seal it with sealing wax. The exact events of this tragic day are unknown, but the supposedly red-hot sealing wax (or, in another version, a lit match) fell on a dress of silk gas, and it flared up in an instant. Despite the fact that the fire was extinguished, the poor girl later died from burns.
And, alas, this is far from the only story about tanned crinolines - in those years, the press even launched a wide campaign against flammable outfits. The Austrian Archduke Matilda, the two half-sisters of the poet Oscar Wilde, the Parisian ballerina Emma Livry and many, many others became victims of this wardrobe item.
Photo: Creative Commons
