The Mantilla of Empress Eugénie: Interlacing Identities

Abstract

Eugénie de Montijo was the last Empress of the French, as spouse of Napoleon III, between 1853 until the collapse of the Second Empire in 1870. The implications of the Spanish origins of the Countess of Teba fluctuated during her reign, acting both for and against her. I am interested in studying Eugénie’s navigation of her two national identities through her agency in the use of fashion, focusing on her popularization of the Spanish mantilla in France. This thesis will analyze the reception of this garment, whose symbolism as a romantic symbol of Spanishness was already complex, through the analysis of the references in the historical press and any existing image of the Empress sporting it. Eugénie proved to be well aware of the power of fashion as consort, which she used together with her factual power as regent. This thesis aims to highlight the importance of her (self) representation, especially her apparel, in negotiating and defining her identity as Empress of the French and her transnational background. She was Spanish and French, Countess of Teba and Empress of France, a political figure and a fashion icon, and the complexity of her figure deserves a deeper understanding.