She was strongly aware of her position as an empress to lead the policy of Europeanization, and after 1886, she changed all her clothes she wore, except nightclothes, to western clothing.
皇后として欧化政策の先頭に立たなければいけない立場を強く自覚しており、1886年（明治19年）以降は、着用の衣服を寝間着を除いてすべて洋服に切り替えた。