Dressing Modern Frenchwomen

At a glance, high fashion and feminism seem unlikely partners. Between the First and Second World Wars, however, these forces combined femininity and modernity to create the new, modern French woman. In this engaging study, Mary Lynn Stewart reveals the fashion industry as an integral part of women's transition into modernity. Analyzing what female columnists in fashion magazines and popular women novelists wrote about the "new silhouette," Stewart shows how bourgeois women feminized the more severe, masculine images that elite designers promoted to create a hybrid form of modern that both emancipated women and celebrated their femininity. She delves into the intricacies of marketing the new clothes and the new image to middle-class women and examines the nuts and bolts of a changing industry—including textile production, relationships between suppliers and department stores, and privacy and intellectual property issues surrounding ready-to-wear couture designs. Dressing Modern Frenchwomen draws from thousands of magazine covers, advertisements, fashion columns, and features to uncover and untangle the fascinating relationships among the fashion industry, the development of modern marketing techniques, and the evolution of the modern woman as active, mobile, and liberated.

A top fashion journalist reveals the secrets of French style and shows how American women can make French chic, allure, and confidence a part of their own style.

"The sustainable fashion revolution has begun, and we must all be part of it." - Aloïs Guinut Stylish women everywhere are realizing the environmental damage of fast fashion and looking for new ways to dress that don't involve cramming their wardrobe with clothes that may never get worn. As Paris-based style-coach Aloïs Guinut explores in this invaluable book, French women have a lot to teach us about how to cherish the planet without sacrificing your style: - Know what works for you. - Buy less and buy better. - Mix vintage items with a few wisely chosen modern pieces. - Optimize your closet. - Look after what you have and make it last. - Seek out quality fabrics that don't poison the environment.

Paris has been the international capital of fashion for more than 300 years. Even before the rise of the haute couture, Parisians were notorious for their obsession with fashion, and foreigners eagerly followed their lead. From Charles Frederick Worth to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, fashion history is dominated by the names of Parisian couturiers. But Valerie Steele's Paris Fashion is much more than just a history of great designers. This fascinating book demonstrates that the success of Paris ultimately rests on the strength of its fashion culture – created by a host of fashion performers and spectators, including actresses, dandies, milliners, artists, and writers. First published in 1988 to great international acclaim, this pioneering book has now been completely revised and brought up to date, encompassing the rise of fashion's multiple world cities in the 21st century. Lavishly illustrated, deeply learned, and elegantly written, Valerie Steele's masterwork explores with brilliance and flair why Paris remains the capital of fashion.

A gorgeous, groundbreaking survey of the evolution of the world’s renowned French ateliers, from the vision of their founding designers to those today who both preserve the signature iconographies and bring their own interpretations to bear on modern couture fashion. The world awaits Paris’s flawless fashion presentations year after year, just as the evolutionary arc of French fashion grows richer with each season and each new talent. The New French Couture identifies those fashion leaders whose long-standing ateliers have persevered, and whose current creative pioneers continue to reinvent the signature iconographies upon which each house was founded. Saint Laurent, Dior, Chanel, Lanvin, Givenchy, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Balenciaga have all made undeniable contributions to fashion, both historically and today, through their distinct and potent visions. With more than two hundred images by fashion’s top photographers, this beautifully designed volume provides an exclusive tour through the evolutions of these eight ateliers, revealing each brand via an encapsulated history of definitive looks and fashion moments. Fashion icon and blogger Leandra Medine contributes to an exposition that highlights designers who have carved out new visions for French luxury in the contemporary era, including Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, Céline, Rick Owens, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, and Yohji Yamamoto, among others. The New French Couture is a comprehensive survey of the revolutionary creative talents who are bringing their genius to bear on the City of Light today via the ateliers that have defined and defended fashion for nearly a century.

“In this entertaining academic history of these rival magazines, Mesch . . . explores the emergence of the working woman in France.” —Publishers Weekly At once deeply historical and surprisingly timely, Having It All in the Belle Epoque shows how the debates that continue to captivate high-achieving women in America and Europe can be traced back to the early 1900s in France. The first two photographic magazines aimed at women, Femina and La Vie Heureuse created a female role model who could balance age-old convention with new equalities. Often referred to simply as the “modern woman,” this captivating figure embodied the hopes and dreams as well as the most pressing internal conflicts of large numbers of French women during what was a period of profound change. Full of never-before-studied images of the modern French woman in action, Having It All shows how these early magazines exploited new photographic technologies, artistic currents, and literary trends to create a powerful model of French femininity, one that has exerted a lasting influence on French expression. This book introduces and explores the concept of Belle Epoque literary feminism, a product of the elite milieu from which the magazines emerged. Defined by its refusal of political engagement, this feminism was nevertheless preoccupied with expanding women’s roles, as it worked to construct a collective fantasy of female achievement. Through an astute blend of historical research, literary criticism, and visual analysis, Mesch’s study of women’s magazines and the popular writers associated with them offers an original window onto a bygone era that can serve as a framework for ongoing debates about feminism, femininity, and work-life tensions

No other reference work is as wide-ranging or as contemporary Cross-disciplinary: useful to students of cultural disciplines other than French International authorship Extensively cross-referenced with annotated suggestions for further reading Possible departmental purchase as well as campus library

Step into the world where fashion meets law, where innovation intertwines with tradition, and where haute couture unveils its secrets. In the 10th volume of the Series of the Center for Design, Fashion, and Advertisement Law (University of Silesia in Katowice), embark on a journey that delves deep into the long-forgotten haute couture ateliers. From groundbreaking marketing strategies to pioneering legal frameworks, from intricate technical designs to unparalleled branding techniques, this volume uncovers the multifaceted innovations that have shaped the landscape of fashion and beyond. Join us as we explore the intersection of creativity and legality, where every stitch tells a story of ingenuity and inspiration.

For the legions of fans who asked for seconds after devouring French Women Don’t Get Fat, a charming and practical guide to adding some joie to your vie and to your table, every day of the year. By letter, by email and in person, readers of Mireille Guiliano’s phenomenal bestseller French Women Don’t Get Fat have inundated her with requests for more advice. Her answer: this buoyant new book, brimming with tips and tricks for living with the utmost pleasure and style, without gaining weight. More than a theory or ideal, the French woman’s way is an all-encompassing program that can be practised anytime, anywhere. Here are four full seasons of strategies for shopping, cooking and moving throughout the year. Whether your aim is finding two scoopfuls of pleasure in one of crème brûlée, or entertaining beautifully when time is short and expectations are high, the answers are here. And here too are 100 new simple and appetizing recipes that feature French staples such as leeks and chocolate and many more unexpected treats besides, guaranteeing that boredom will never be a guest at your table. Woven through this year of living comme les françaises are more of Mireille’s delectable stories about living in Paris and New York and travelling just about everywhere else – in the voice that has already beguiled a million honorary French women. Lest anyone still wonder: here is a new compendium of reasons – both traditional and modern – why French women don’t get fat.