was a solely female adornment. Jewelers taking inspiration from Ancient Greece and Rome created new wreaths made from precious gemstones. Napoleon and his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais are credited with popularizing tiaras along with the new Empire style. Napoleon wanted the French court to be the grandest in Europe and gave his wife many parures which included tiaras. A number of tiaras made for Napoleon's first wife Joséphine are still in the possession of European royal houses, such as the Swedish cameo tiara. In the 19th century, the tiara quickly became popular among royal and noble women as a way of expressing status and attracting attention. The tiara became an essential part of women's attire for court ceremonies, balls, dinners and other gala occasions. Often, a bride received a tiara as a gift from her husband or father on her wedding day. The height of the tiara's popularity lay between 1890 and 1914. Women from the highest - and richest - social classes often had several tiaras to choose from. Wearing a tiara was no longer something just for the nobility. In the United States, too, tiaras were common at gala occasions, especially in New York upper social circles. Great jewelry houses like Garrard, Fabergé, Chaumet, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels all produced tiaras for their clientele. 20th and 21st century With the advent of Jugendstil and Art Nouveau, the line between jewellery and art became blurred. Artists such as René Lalique and the British architect and jewellery designer Henry Wilson created artistic tiaras that could not easily be worn in real life. After the First World War, it became less fashionable to wear a tiara. This was due to social and economic changes (ostentatious display of wealth was considered less acceptable) but also to the fact that women cut their hair short and - after the introduction of shampoo - washed their hair more often. Clean hair is smooth and soft, offering less 'grip' for a tiara. During the Art Deco period between World War I and World War II, tiaras were made using the rigid geometric patterns associated with this style; these were also often designed to be easy to wear with short hair. In the 1960s, the tiara briefly reappeared when the high-cropped beehive hairstyle became popular. Since the end of the twentieth century, tiaras are worn almost exclusively at state banquets, royal weddings and coronations.