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The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour (2005)

by Joan DeJean

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1963137,536 (3.77)3
One of the foremost authorities on seventeenth-century French culture provides an account of how, at one glittering moment in history, the French under Louis XIV set the standards of sophistication, style, and glamour that still rule our lives today. DeJean explains how a handsome and charismatic young king with a great sense of style decided to make both himself and his country legendary. When the Sun King's reign began, his nation had no particular association with elegance, yet by its end, the French had become accepted as the world's arbiters in matters of taste and style. DeJean takes us back to the birth of haute cuisine, the first appearance of celebrity hairdressers, chic cafe?s, nightlife, and fashion in elegant dress that extended well beyond the limited confines of court circles--and Paris was its magical center. --From publisher description.… (more)
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A book of how the French invented high fashion, find foods, chic cafe's, style, sophistication and flamour.

So this was the beginning of "keeping up wtih the Joneses?"
it was a bit tedious, but there were interesting parts. I think it would have been more interesting if this were written by someone without a biased opinion of France. ( )
  VhartPowers | Dec 27, 2018 |
As someone said, this book should've been called "The Essence of Style: How Louis XIV Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, ..."

you get the picture. The thing is, I think the book could've been a lot better if it had focused on other people's impact as well. It felt like there was a lot of book padding because she limited herself to things in Louis XIV's reign. Why? There have been plenty of other people throughout time who contributed to France's reputation and creations.

A chapter on umbrellas? Come on!

( )
  broccolima | Jan 26, 2014 |
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 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. ( )
1 vote mercure | Apr 26, 2011 |
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One of the foremost authorities on seventeenth-century French culture provides an account of how, at one glittering moment in history, the French under Louis XIV set the standards of sophistication, style, and glamour that still rule our lives today. DeJean explains how a handsome and charismatic young king with a great sense of style decided to make both himself and his country legendary. When the Sun King's reign began, his nation had no particular association with elegance, yet by its end, the French had become accepted as the world's arbiters in matters of taste and style. DeJean takes us back to the birth of haute cuisine, the first appearance of celebrity hairdressers, chic cafe?s, nightlife, and fashion in elegant dress that extended well beyond the limited confines of court circles--and Paris was its magical center. --From publisher description.

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