Queen of Fashion, as you know in fashion one day you’re in and the next day you’re out (and it’s off with your head)
Gazettes des atours – marvelous 18th century look books containing fabric swatches and shorthand dress descriptions, preserved in France’s Archives Nationales
Pouf – thickly powdered, teetering hairstyles that recreated current events
Poupees de mode or “fashion dolls” were the precursors of both the store mannequin and the runway model – outfitted in doll-sized versions of the latest Parisian styles, commonly known as Pandoras. These dolls were crucial in disseminating the latest trends coming out of the city that was already recognized as the standard-bearer for international style. As soon as the Archduchess turned 13 scores of pandoras wearing miniature versions of the robes and gowns proposed for her and included ball gowns, afternoon dresses, robes and petticoats in a score of delicate shades, the silks embroidered with floral designs or silk ribbon appliqué, the borders trimmed with serpentine garlands of silver and gold lace . . . already over-decorated fabrics (trimmed) with fields of artificial flowers, feathers, tassels and silk ribbon bows, rosettes and ruffles, passementerie and beading and costly metallic fringe.
Grand habit de cour – formal court dress of Versailles, cut from the most lustrous brocade that money could buy, lavishly beribboned, tight-fitting low cut bodices, voluminous hoopskirts draped over panniers (baskets fastened to the hips underneath the dress), with long matching trains hanging from stiff pleats behind the shoulders.
Echelle – a “ladder” of billowy satin bows attached over the bodice
Rouge - Makeup of the grand habit de cour included hair briskly coated with powder, pasty white face makeup, cheeks bearing large precisely defined circles of rouge. This makeup was not so much intended to beautify as much as it was to symbolize royal standing. Heavy rouge was the province of high-born ladies, designed to set them apart from the more drably attired social inferiors.
Marchande des modes, female fashion merchants, offered their services as stylists focusing on readily modifiable, ever changing trimmings and ornaments designed to alter and enhance already made dresses and skirts. Far more than the garments, they adorned, it was the artful decorative touches of the marchande de modes that established a woman’s flair for dress. Rose Bertin was the marchande de modes that launched Marie Antoinette’s matchless chic.
Rose Bertin’s boutique, was located near the Paris Opera on the rue saint-Honore, which was then and is now, the epicenter of European fashion. Her establishment boasted large windows filled with displays that were designed to divert foot traffic from the Palais Royal. With their artistic arrangements of bonnets, shawls, fans, spangles, furbelows, silk flowers, gemstones, laces and other accessories, the displays set up a bewitching siren’s song. Once lured inside, ushered through the door by a liveried footman, potential customers found himself or herself in a setting as luxurious as an aristocrat’s salon: gilded moldings adorned the ceilings, full-length mirrors and fine oil paintings hung on the walls, and expensive furniture was scattered about among the piles of damasks, silks, brocades, and baubles that announced the place’s true purpose. Rose Bertin presided over a team of elegantly clothed shopgirls with an air of supreme authority, sometimes even issuing recommendations from the comfort of her personal chaise lounge.
Revolution in Clothing – the last three decades of the 18th century are considered a fashion revolution as the marchandes de modes emerged as a major force in the French garment industry, driven by increases in textile production and changing attitudes toward consumption.