French Maid



While the French Maid costume has some basis in the black and white uniforms once worn by actual maids in the 19th century, the original costumes were almost never as fan servicy as those found in modern times. The attitude is also part of the package, inasmuch as she is essentially the soubrette of the old French comedy: she will be extremely flirty, often with a feather duster. She also acts snippy, pert and cheeky to everyone who isn't her employer (and sometimes him) and superior to any of the other servants except the butler and maybe the cook. The French Maid will speak with an over-exaggerated French accent and use Gratuitous French.

Contrast to Meido, which is a Japanese concept developed from this one. The key difference being that a Meido is intended to be Moe and subservient, while a French Maid is sexy and saucy. Contrast even further to the Scullery Maid, who is decidedly less sexy, but has much more power in the plot.

For the costume rather than the character, see French Maid Outfit.

Film

 * "Yvette, The French Maid" (Colleen Camp, pictured above) in the movie Clue. She also wore a relatively modest version of the sexy French Maid's outfit.
 * Given that you could use her... assets as a place to set your drink down, provided you didn't mind a little spillage from the bounce and jiggle, the fact that her French maid uniform is considered "modest" should tell you something about this trope.
 * The maid from Beauty and the Beast, who was transformed into a feather duster. Even moreso in the stage show, where her role is greatly expanded. She was named Babette in the stage adaptation, and named Fifi in the midquel Belle's Magical World.
 * Louise from Eight Women fits here as well, though she's not as blatantly sexual (usually).
 * The Maids, who take the whole Perverse Sexual Lust thing too far.
 * The 1943 movie Heaven Can Wait, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, features a prime example of this trope, with the character of "Madame". She lacks the classic black and white maid uniform, but acts very flirtatiously with the main character, and has one of the most over the top (fake) french accents you're ever likely to hear.
 * You'd expect this trope a lot in porn, and there is, although it's more common in softcore erotica. The mainstream, tame soft-core Young Lady Chatterley from the 1980s includes two examples of this type, slightly averted since the maids are Cockney, not French. But the trope is definitely played up for its erotic appeal, as the maids flirt, flounce, and repeatedly lose their uniforms.

Literature

 * In Aaron Allston's Galatea in 2-D, Kevin's paintings include one of an extremely cliched French Maid.

Live Action TV

 * In a long ago Tonight Show with Johnny Carson skit, Juliet Prowse portrayed a spy pretending to be a French Maid.
 * In Allo Allo Yvette and Mimi might technically have been waitresses, but they were the incarnation of this trope in everything except name.
 * In an episode of Scrubs, Turk fantasizes about being married to Elliot. Carla (Turk's wife) is portrayed in the same fantasy as being the maid, complete with uniform, with whom Turk is having an affair.
 * The French TV show Palace averts this. Since it is set in a five-star hotel, there are of course a whole bunch of French maids around, but every time (Once Per Episode) characters comment that the shows need a Ms. Fanservice or the viewers will stop watching, the girl they bring in is not wearing a maid outfit. Actually, she only wears a thong most of the time.
 * An episode of CSI New York involved an expensive New York maid service that supplied maids who met the requirements of this trope.

Music

 * Give me a Rap Music Video and when discussing the man's influence, he may or may not have Playboy French maids cleaning his house or servicing the guests.

Theater

 * Magda in Tanz der Vampire doesn't wear the traditional frilly maid uniform, but she's put into an equally objectifying tavern-wench costume that suits her role as the inn's girl of all trades.

Video Games

 * In Laura Bow: The Colonel's Bequest, there is a stereotypical French maid named Fifi who exemplifies all of these traits.
 * Betrapped! has a maid very similar to Clue's Yvette.

Webcomics

 * In PvP, Robbie hires a French maid called Suitecannes (pronounced Sweet Can) to staff his mansion. It turns out she was a call girl who dressed as a maid because she thought it was his fetish.

Western Animation

 * In the Phineas and Ferb episode Invasion of the Ferb Snatchers, Major Monogram hired two French Maids to clean the secret lair.