Французская горничная: от исторического персонажа к современному образу.

Stock character and costume
the 1897 British musical comedy

French maid was a term applied in the Victorian and early 20th century periods to a lady's maid of French nationality. A lady's maid was a senior servant who reported directly to the lady of the house, and accompanied her mistress on travel. She helped her mistress with her appearance, including make up, hairdressing, clothing, jewellery, and shoes, and sometimes served as confidante. A French maid was considered likely to be more expert in current fashions, and was also able to apply her knowledge of the French language when travelling in Europe.

Erotic fantasies revolving around young French women later led to the appearance of French maids as desirable and stereotypical soubrette characters in burlesque dramas and bedroom farces. This stock character was a flirtatious, cheeky, and saucy figure. The term French maid is now often applied to an eroticised and strongly modified style of servant's dress that evolved from typical housemaid's black and white afternoon uniforms of 19th century France, despite a housemaid being junior to a lady's maid. Some styles are conservative while others are revealing. The French maid costume is often used in cosplay, sexual roleplaying, and uniform fetishism. Depending on design details, some forms can be classified as lingerie. In the anime and manga fandom, and especially among , maid outfits are considered to be In the 21st century, restaurants known as "maid cafés" have been opened in Japan and other countries to appeal to the aforementioned moe aesthetic.