Maid Uniforms
When most of us think about maid uniforms, we picture the French maid costume in old movies. The uniform consists of a black and white short dress. Such a uniform is also portrayed for Halloween and as a costume for sex fantasy, often complete with black fishnet stockings.
Maid uniforms originated during the prosperous times of wealthy families. Maids generally had various uniforms for different times of the day. Morning uniforms were very basic as that is when the majority of the cleaning was done. They were usually black in color. Afternoon uniforms were casual, but clean and neat. They were dark colors of blue or green. Matching hairpieces to keep hair neat were often a part of the ensemble. Meals were served, and often company was invited. Evening uniforms were semi-formal for meals and frequent dinner parties. They were dark in color, often black. They had a bit of lace to soften the look as well as a matching apron and hairpiece.
It is rumored that uniforms for maids stemmed from a wealthy woman’s jealousy of the youth and beautiful bodies of the young maids her husband hired. She wanted them to dress in drab clothing to make them appear less striking as well as to make her husband more aware that she was the lady of the house and they were merely servants. It is likely their clothing was developed to be practical and inexpensive for completing their work, while maintaining standards of attire in homes of the wealthy.
Maid uniforms have changed over time, but appear to still have their appeal with the opposite sex. In October of 2006, a man in Detroit was arrested for smashing store windows and taking mannequins. He was arrested while taking one in a black and white maid uniform from a cleaning supply company. This fetish has lead him to six convictions in 13 years. Sadly, he was released from prison less than a week prior to the incident.
