Buzz
Do maids in France actually wear those revealing uniforms while working?
Not at all. A mini skirt, high heels, and fishnets aren’t exactly ideal for cleaning or doing household chores. In a more traditional European setting, a maid or housekeeper might wear a knee-length dress in blue, black, or grey with a white apron (similar to the uniform of Alice from The Brady Bunch). And for the sake of comfort, she’d likely opt for practical footwear like nurse’s oxfords or sneakers rather than stilettos.
So how did the image of the provocative French maid outfit come to be? In the late 1800s, the Can-Can dancers of Paris, known for their high kicks, were seen as scandalous and often the reason for nightclubs being shut down for “public indecency” (which referred to the glimpse of thigh between the top of their stockings and the edge of their underpants when they raised their skirts).
In American burlesque, it became a popular routine to feature a clumsy, confused, slender young French maid in revealing attire, often finding herself in awkward or compromising situations. Her costume, of course, was a provocative take on the typical black-and-white uniform worn by French housekeepers. Just risqué enough to titillate audiences without causing a censor crackdown, the character of the French maid remained popular long enough to solidify the costume’s iconic status.
