French haute couture, dictated by famous clothing designers, has only existed since the mid-19th century. Those who set fashion until then were mostly the kings of France, and this sometimes led to ridiculous results.
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How did the wig become fashionable?
For example, Louis XIII (1601-1643), who began losing his hair in 1624, is responsible for introducing the foreign wig into fashion, while his son Louis XIV, who inherited his father's baldness, made the wig a fashionable item throughout Europe. In the 18th century, the wig became white because as the king grew old and what remained of his hair turned white, the old look became very fashionable.
Fortunately for us, at the end of the 18th century French Revolution And the British wig tax contributed to the disappearance of the wig from fashion, and as a result I don't have to wear wigs today. Unfortunately, however, not all the ridiculous fashions that were created during the reign of Louis XIV have disappeared into the darkness of history and one of them continues to haunt us to this day - the tie.
Why does the tie continue to suffocate us to this day?
king France He employed quite a few mercenaries from different nations for his many wars, including a battalion of Croats, who, for some unknown reason, used to tie a handkerchief around their necks. One day in 1660, Louis XIV noticed this and was so enamored with the item that he decided to adopt it, and thus the tie was created, which is called Cravatte in French, which is actually a corruption of the word Croate.
If you thought a man wearing a white foreign wig looked stupid, please look at pictures of French men from the early 19th century. At that time, the tie was basically a cloth that wrapped around the entire neck, and as a result, the person wearing the tie could not move their neck at all and had to move their entire body to look to the sides. The Mehadrin even wore a double tie, and as a result, they had to use the services of a servant, who carried a mirror and thus allowed them to look to the sides.
Unfortunately, the tie is still with us, but it has gone through some upheavals and today, at least the person wearing it doesn't look like they've been in a car accident...
The king is dead, long live the fashion designer!
Louis XIV also had something to say in the field of women's fashion, and during his time, court ladies wore dresses, the train of which lengthened as the woman's rank in the king's court grew (this is quite ironic in my opinion, since under Louis XIV quite a few women rose in rank precisely by removing their dresses).
Like men's fashion, French women's fashion also conquered all of Europe starting in the 17th century and led to the creation of the French haute couture industry. French tailors were considered the best in Europe, but they had to wait until the 19th century to become fashion designers.
Ironically, like quite a few inventions that are considered entirely French, such as Champagne wineAn Englishman is also responsible for the concept of haute couture. The creator of modern French fashion is Charles Worth, who began his career as a clothing merchant but, because he was very attracted to the field of fashion design, came to Paris to work for a textile merchant who also sewed clothes.
While working for the textile merchant, Worth designed his first dresses, which won prizes at the London (1851) and Paris (1855) exhibitions and allowed him to open his own business in 1858 at 7 rue de la Paix. Unlike professionals in his field, who worked in the service of the fashion created by kings, nobles or their mistresses, Worth was the first to create fashion himself. Thus, instead of coming to his customers, customers began to come to him.
Among his most famous clients were Empress Agnès, wife of Napoleon III, the famous courtesans Cora Perl and Catherine Walters, and Pauline Metternich, wife of the Austrian ambassador in Paris. All of these made him wealthy and kept his business alive after his death in 1895. So what was the secret of Worth's success?
His success can be attributed to three of his inventions. The first was the branding of his dresses. Worth was the first to add a label to each dress that read “Worth, 7 Rue de la Paix,” thus branding them as works of art rather than just clothing. The second was the use of live models instead of dolls to show his potential customers how beautiful they would look if they wore his clothes. The last was the fashion shows he held to let his customers know what they would be wearing in the upcoming season.
In 1868, Worth founded the French Association of Haute Couture, and as we know, once a French professional association is created, nothing will ever change in the field... and so it is to this day, whether it is the fashion houses of Chanel, Christian Dior or Yves Saint Laurent, they all maintain the same basic model: create a new look, infuse it with Parisian exclusivity and…make people admire you.
Want to read more about French fashion?
Here are some more articles that may interest you:
- The Nightgown Mistress and the Poison By Ariella Goichman Gerber
- Head Cleaning – The Story of the Foreign Wig in France By Ronen Sass
- Parisian Chic – How to Translate Parisian Fashion into Your Own Wardrobe By Nathan Evergreen