During the 1800s being able to hire a french maid was seen as a status symbol and slightly poorer upper-class families who couldn't afford to bring a girl over from France would sometimes pay a local maid to pretend to be French.
The upper class in the late 19th century wore certain types of chokers. However, at that same time, a plain thin red or black ribbon choker had ties to prostitution, as seen in Manet's Olympia (1861). A plain black woven choker or ribbon could signify sec
