Liberty equality fashion : the women who styled the French Revolution / Anne Higonnet.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Higonnet, Anne, 1959- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fashion--France--History--18th century.

Fashion.

Women's clothing--France--History--18th century.

Women's clothing.

Josephine, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1763-1814.

Josephine.

Tallien, Thérésia Cabarrus, 1773-1835.

Tallien, Thérésia Cabarrus.

Récamier, Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard, 1777-1849.

Récamier, Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard.

France--History--18th century.

France.

Physical Description:

xvii, 286 pages : color illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W.W. Norton & Company, [2024]

Summary:

"Three women led a fashion revolution and turned themselves into international style celebrities. Joséphine Bonaparte, future Empress of France; Térézia Tallien, the most beautiful woman in Europe; and Juliette Récamier, muse of intellectuals, had nothing left to lose. After surviving incarceration and forced incestuous marriage during the worst violence of the French Revolution of 1789, they dared sartorial revolt. Together, Joséphine and Térézia shed the underwear cages and massive, rigid garments that women had been obliged to wear for centuries. They slipped into light, mobile dresses, cropped their hair short, wrapped themselves in shawls, and championed the handbag. Juliette made the new style stand for individual liberty. The erotic audacity of these fashion revolutionaries conquered Europe, starting with Napoleon. Everywhere a fashion magazine could reach, women imitated the news coming from Paris. It was the fastest and most total change in clothing history. Two centuries ahead of its time, it was rolled back after only a decade by misogynist rumors of obscene extravagance. New evidence allows the real fashion revolution to be told. This is a story for our time: of a revolution that demanded universal human rights, of self-creation, of women empowering each other, and of transcendent glamor"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cast of characters

An approximate guide to money

French Revolution timeline

Introduction

Part I: Three Paris shopping trips

Sumptuary dictates (Joséphine)

Style enterprise (Térézia)

Strained seams (Juliette)

Part II: During the Revolution, 1789-1804

Off with their silks, 1789-1793

Cut to nothing, 1794

Desperate measures (Térézia & Joséphine), 1794-1796

At ease (Térézia), 1794-1799

Altered fortune (Joséphine & Napoléon), 1794-1796

Minimalist principles (Juliette), 1794-1799

A directory of accessories, 1794-1804

Freedom from clothes (Térézia), 1797-1804

Dressed for success (Joséphine), 1797-1804

Opposition patterns (Juliette), 1799-1804

Part III: After the Revolution

Order in the wardrobe

Epilogues

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-268) and index.

ISBN:

9780393867954

0393867951

OCLC:

1379265169

Publisher Number:

99996610503