Fashion Queen

Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

From the #HistoryOfUs series: Luise of Prussia (1776–1810)

Double statue of the princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia, Johann Gottfried Schadow, 1795 - 1797, From the collection of: Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Princess Luise and later Queen of Prussia was no Regina George - but she played in the same league as Regina when it came to influence.

Double statue of the princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia, Johann Gottfried Schadow, 1795 - 1797, From the collection of: Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Regina, who? Regina George! From "Mean Girls": someone pranks most-popular-girl-in-school Regina George by cutting two... let’s say ‘strategically placed’ holes in her vest. Shrugging, Regina styles it out and, the next day, every girl in school is wearing a vest with the same two holes in it.

Double statue of the princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia, Johann Gottfried Schadow, 1795 - 1797, From the collection of: Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

For Luise it was a scarf, more precisely a chin band. According to the sculptor, Johann Gottfried Schadow, Princess Luise wore an elaborate scarf in her hair that she tied under her chin the day the sisters posed for him to hide an unsightly swelling.

Queen Luise with her sons in Luisenwahl Park, Carl Steffeck, 1886, From the collection of: Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

So graceful did she make it look, that it started the next hot fashion trend among the young ladies of Prussia. Even if the story is apocryphal ...

Portrait of Queen Luise of Prussia, Johann Friedrich Tielker, 1798, From the collection of: Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

and some say Luise was just following an existing fashion from France ...

Cup with the Profile Image of the Crown Princess Louise of Prussia, Unknown, ca. 1800, From the collection of: Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

it is still an indication of just how remarkable the impact of an influential icon can be on society at large.

Double statue of the princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia, Johann Gottfried Schadow, 1795 - 1797, From the collection of: Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Being immortalized in marble helped, of course. These days you’re more likely to find your next fashion megastar while thumbing through your feed in Instagram.
read more

Credits: Story

#HistoryOfUs series

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz

www.smb.museum

Credits: All media

The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Kunstgewerbemuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin