Joan DeJean (1948–2023)

DeJean provides a fascinating tour of French architecture, interior design, furniture design, and textiles in what she calls the "age of comfort" and charts the transition to the age of comfort from the "age of magnificence." The story she tells is both fascinating -- especially for someone who has little exposure to 18th century French fashion and design other than what he's seen in a museum -- and written in a lively, fast-paced style that makes what is for me a somewhat foreign subject show more interesting and engaging (at least for the space of the book itself). However, because she first gives what she calls a brief history of comfort and then approaches it from several different angles (the bathroom, the bedroom, furniture, clothing, etc.), it does begin to be repetitive. My suggestion: read the brief history, then space out the reading of the rest of the book over several weeks (instead of two days) so that it doesn't feel like you're being told the same thing, over and over again, from different angles. show less

The invention of the superfluous

When Louis XIV's reign began, his nation in no way exercised dominion over the realm of fashion. By its end, his subjects had become accepted all over the Western world as the absolute arbiters in matters of style and taste, and his nation had found an economic mission: it ruled over the sectors of the luxury trade that have dominated that commerce ever since. Louis XIV set new standards for food, fashion, and interior decoration, standards that still prevail show more today. The extraordinary wave of creativity that swept over France during his patronage unleashed desires that now seem fundamental. In particular he wanted to overshadow the country he contemptuously referred to as "that nation of shopkeepers", the Dutch. He did so particularly with the help of his minister of finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the man who wrote the modern book on economic protectionism and trade wars. Colbert worked closely with the country's business elite; he made sure that every aspect of high-end merchandising - from trade regulations to import duties - was tailored to favour his nation's business community.

Renaissance Italy had played a somewhat equivalent role, but had only inspired an elite. France still reigns, because it understands the importance of marketing.

Never underestimate the importance of decor and ambiance.

The Cafe Procope was an example. It created the first coffee house scene in Saint-Germain-des-Pres woth marble, crystal chandeliers, and elegant mirrors instead of beer, inspiring even "elegant women" to frequent them.

Interior decoration shops were the first to employ shop girls, dressed in fashionable clothes, and the first guide books for foreign tourists specialised in shopping.

The first coiffeur invented fashions that changed with the fashion seasons. Hair dressing was promoted by the king's appreciation of his mistress' elaborate fontange hairstyle, that was soon followed by other ladies of the court. It often required wigs, which lead to a new international trade flow.

The 1670's saw the dissemination of fashion trends, as well as an expanded clientele. La mode became a constantly and quickly changing phenomenon with France at the centre. Earlier the quality of garments had been the distinguishing element. High quality garments had been so expensive that styles barely changed. Now the fashion season was invented. The greater variety in garments and colours made ladies visit tailors, instead of the other way around. Ladies fashion was designed by women; men only started to dominate the world of couture in the late nineteenth century. When Chinese fabrics became too popular, Colbert made them illegal, and ordered the industry to "imitate and thereby eliminate".

Local magazines described the seasons' trends and mannequins and gravures were sent to the rich in the countryside and to overseas fashion victims. The fashion plates, showing women much slimmer than on paintings of the time, soon started to show the hand of the artist, just like photography today. They showed ladies of the court, turning them into what we now call celebrities. These plates also sold the image of France as the centre of sophistication and that chic Parisiennes were sexier than women anywhere else.

The publication in 1651 of Francois Pierre la Varenne's Le Cuisinier français laid down the recipes for what is now classical French cuisine. Some 90,000 cookbooks circulated, which indicated they were read outside the circle of professional chefs. The use of spices was reduced for the benefit of new meats (beef), fresh vegetables, and the use of butter. The concept of terroir for cheeses, game, etc. was also born during this era. Traiteurs started to serve meals that cost between 25 and 100 dollars, and were the predecessors of modern day restaurants.

Coffee, at the price of caviar today, was first served in France in the 1640's, and was popularised by the Turkish ambassador. Unlike coffee houses in other countries, French cafes where places where smoking was not allowed, and that looked elegant enough to attract ditto ladies. By 1715, Paris had over 300 such cafes. Champagne also started its march to prominence during this period.

At the start of the reign of Louis XIV, the royal family had a standard collection of gems only. The king showed a special fondness for the sparkly character of diamonds, and his fondness helped diamonds to overtake pearls as the most popular type of gemstone. The king limited his use of pearls to days of mourning. The age not only saw the availability of (Indian) diamonds rise, but also the technology to polish them. Polishing techniques soon moved from giving dept to giving sparkle, leading to the brilliant. The stones were set to jewels by the first joailliers of the city. Catalogues showed jewels in elegant settings, not unlike modern advertisements for watches. At the time of his death Louis had amassed 600 million dollars of crown jewels, used, not in the least, on clothes.

When Louis came to power, all mirrors were still made in Venice. State sponsorship, espionage and Colbert's supervision moved this business to France, despite the fact that the inquisition in Venice was responsible for keeping this profitable technique a secret. Lavish payment kept the master mirror makers in France, despite Venetian terror attacks and attempts to poisoning. The French developed a new technique that allowed a quadrupled size of mirrors of up to nine feet tall, and French mirrors were sold from Warsaw to Siam. The Galerie des Glaces in Versailles was the best marketing one can think of (quite like today the palace gardens were open to paying visitors). With the technology available to make large mirrors, smaller ones became cheaper and spread among the bourgeoisie.

Cities were still dark at night and consequently dangerous. The government first introduced torch bearers that could bring you around town quite like a modern day taxi. In 1667 street lanterns (with huge candles) were introduced for which a special tax was raised. The city could now function without interruption after sundown. Soon other important European cities followed the newly minted Ville Lumiere's example. Street lights were followed by many renovation and beautification projects that put François Mitterrand's to shame.

The invention of the umbrella did something equivalent to streetlights: it increased the possibility to spend time and money outdoors. Just like with torch bearers, the first umbrellas were offered in fixed location by people that would bring you to your destination.

The specific workshops of the age and the modern ways to display merchandise created the brand and antiques. The fair of Saint Germain had reduced circus-style entertainment at the benefit of high end shopping for many items, all under one roof. For sale were silverware, jewellery, linens, porcelain, mirrors, paintings, etc. Even the king visited the fair. Later antiques and Oriental objects became fashionable.

The haute volée needed at least 3 hours for la toilette, an often communal and theatrical experience that including pomades and perfume, another art taken over from the Italians. Grasse and colonies like Mauritius were used by Colbert to develop the scent business, that must have been helped by the unpopularity of bathing as well. In the mid 16th century perfume referred to fumes, but the French turned them into sweet-smelling goods from soap to powder.

Court parties were used to broadcast French style through newspaper articles around Europe.

The Essence of Style is a high-octane history book that is clearly a product of America's gilded age of mortgage debt/credit card debt/car debt and whatever debt before the financial crisis of 2008. The book contains a lot more "glamorous" (modern) designer name dropping than is necessary to make its case. The book contains no assessment of the economic effect of this concentration on the production of luxury products. It can be very lucrative to reign in a market niche, but if that is caused by import restrictions or government hand-outs the overall economic effect can be a lot less positive. At the end of the reign of Louis XIV the state coffers were empty. How much of this can be attributed to Louis bellicose adventures and how much to his mercantile economic strategies is a question that I would have liked to see covered.

What also disturbed me was that Ms. Dejean organised her facts in such a way that there is maximal "revolutionary effect". As an example, Susan Pinkard's A Revolution in Taste describes the development of gastronomy in a broader and longer term perspective. This brings the evolution in the revolution to the surface, and is ultimately more rewarding for the reader. show less

Sometime in the late sixteenth century, architects and designers in Paris became increasingly interested in comfort and style. Out of this movement, came almost all of the modern versions of today's furniture--the armchair, the couch/sofa, the private bedroom, the bathroom, and even cotton clothing. Joan DeJean does an excellent job of tracking the progress of these new innovators, even including the public and social backlash each new design created. Her book is meticulously researched, but show more does rely heavily on the few contemporary sources that existed on the subject. It does get a bit tedious to read about sofa design for twenty or so pages, but the end result is an intriguing look at how the design of the modern home came about. A good read. show less

This was an academic book, but it was rather short for an academic book. It had 226 pages of reading and another 50 pages of end notes and bibliography. It covered the development of Paris from the reign of Henri IV to the end of the reign of Louis XIV. I learned a great deal about the history of Paris at this time and also learned many other things about Paris and the development of cities. Paris was the first city to develop a postal system. The first to have public transportation. It was show more the first city to ask the public to participate in city planning. The book also covered social and cultural developments of the era and laid some convincing groundwork for the idea that the French Revolution of 1789 was really only an extension of the leveling of French society that had occurred during the previous 150 years. There were chapters on the royal building projects of the years 1600 - 1789 and this included the housing developments, the building of what we now call the Ile de la Citie, the creation of public parks, public shopping areas, and the Pont Neuf. There was even a chapter on how all of this building was financed. This chapter was very enlightening, as it turns out that very little of the building was financed with public money. This book explained how the French developed their financial system and how this system contributed to the problems that the French monarchy faced throughout the 18th century. At the same time, the financial system created a very socially mobile society, with commoners able to enter the ranks of the very wealthy and become part of the aristocracy. France during the 17th and 18th century was a very socially mobile place. Much more so than I had thought it was. It was this mobility that, along with the financial system, directly lead to the political problems that manifested itself in 1789. The author takes the position that the Paris of these centuries was a great social and cultural leveler with the free mixing of people of all classes that encouraged democratizing ideas. There are chapters on the development of financiers, the freedom of women to move around and mix in with society, and a great chapter on the development of shopping, in the modern sense of the word, and the infrastructure needed to support shopping, the arcades and covered malls and the rudiments of department stores. Very interesting book. Now I need to go see Paris. show less