What do you think?
Rate this book
Paris Fashion: A Cultural History
Paris has been the international capital of style for over three hundred years. In this provocative and richly illustrated volume, Valerie Steele--author of the highly acclaimed Fashion and Eroticism --offers a penetrating social and cultural analysis of fashion in Paris. More than just a
history of famous designers and changing styles, the book is about fashion as a cultural ideal and a social phenomenon. Steele explains why Paris was the center of fashion for so long, providing brilliant insight into the concept of "style" and the significance of fashion in modern society.
Just as Fashion and Eroticism radically revised the stereotype of "prudish" Victorian dress, so also does Paris Fashion debunk many long-standing myths about the fashion industry. Steele shows that the "great names" of fashion, from Worth to Dior, were not so much "dictators" or radical
innovators as they were astute barometers of fashion trends, and that, contrary to popular belief, Coco Chanel was not the first great woman designer, but rather one of a very long line of women who influenced the world of fashion. Both the French belief in the innate national "genius" of their
couturiers and the equally popular idea that American women finally smashed the "dictatorship" of Parisian men are shown to be incorrect.
While focusing primarily on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Steele also traces the early history of fashion, from the cities of Renaissance Italy to the courts of Burgundy and Versailles, and the streets of Revolutionary Paris. She explores the "geography of fashion" in Second Empire
Paris, showing how the new boulevards, cafés, and theaters vastly expanded the stage for the public display of fashion. Steele excels at revealing how fashion has been portrayed in the work of great French writers and artists, with fascinating chapters on the role of fashion in Balzac's
novels--Balzac himself was usually horribly dressed--and how Proust dwelled on the "mute language of clothes." "The Black Prince of Elegance," Steele's analysis of dandyism in the life and work of Baudelaire, illuminates the changing meaning of men's dark apparel in the era of high capitalism, while
her study of fashion and art provides a new way of looking at Impressionism and modernism as an artistic vision.
By focusing on a "case study" of Paris, Steele shows how the clothing we wear today continues to express the way we see the world and ourselves.
history of famous designers and changing styles, the book is about fashion as a cultural ideal and a social phenomenon. Steele explains why Paris was the center of fashion for so long, providing brilliant insight into the concept of "style" and the significance of fashion in modern society.
Just as Fashion and Eroticism radically revised the stereotype of "prudish" Victorian dress, so also does Paris Fashion debunk many long-standing myths about the fashion industry. Steele shows that the "great names" of fashion, from Worth to Dior, were not so much "dictators" or radical
innovators as they were astute barometers of fashion trends, and that, contrary to popular belief, Coco Chanel was not the first great woman designer, but rather one of a very long line of women who influenced the world of fashion. Both the French belief in the innate national "genius" of their
couturiers and the equally popular idea that American women finally smashed the "dictatorship" of Parisian men are shown to be incorrect.
While focusing primarily on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Steele also traces the early history of fashion, from the cities of Renaissance Italy to the courts of Burgundy and Versailles, and the streets of Revolutionary Paris. She explores the "geography of fashion" in Second Empire
Paris, showing how the new boulevards, cafés, and theaters vastly expanded the stage for the public display of fashion. Steele excels at revealing how fashion has been portrayed in the work of great French writers and artists, with fascinating chapters on the role of fashion in Balzac's
novels--Balzac himself was usually horribly dressed--and how Proust dwelled on the "mute language of clothes." "The Black Prince of Elegance," Steele's analysis of dandyism in the life and work of Baudelaire, illuminates the changing meaning of men's dark apparel in the era of high capitalism, while
her study of fashion and art provides a new way of looking at Impressionism and modernism as an artistic vision.
By focusing on a "case study" of Paris, Steele shows how the clothing we wear today continues to express the way we see the world and ourselves.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 1988
About the author
Valerie Steele
143 books151 followersValerie Steele is director and chief curator and Melissa Marra is associate curator of education and public programs, both at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 12, 2022
Excellent! Very well researched and so many beautiful pictures. A wonderful introduction to French fashion history and the social/cultural world of Paris over the years.
December 19, 2023
read for school
November 3, 2018
Buttressed by history, this analysis of the Paris fashion industry is breath-taking in the nearly 400 years that it covers ... from fashion plates in early women’s magazines to runway photos, the book argues for the preminence of Paris as the ultimate capital of haute couture ... splendid illustrations ...
March 26, 2020
Steele's work is a history not of Paris culture but rather how Paris became and remains the fashion center of the world. Written with humor and deep knowledge she brings in enough political history to make sense of the city's history of fashion. Well illustrated and carefully researched, an excellent addition to those interested in fashion and couture history.
Read
May 4, 2018391.00944 S8145 2017
December 31, 2019
Near perfect overview, and even better alongside the companion book, Paris, Capital of Fashion. Recommended.
August 11, 2020
An interesting, lavishly illustrated book in the history of fashion in Paris. It concentrates mainly on the 19th century, tho earlier & later eras are discussed as well.
October 23, 2021
Comprehensive guide to Paris fashion and how it has the cultural capital of the fashion industry
October 16, 2022
Too much of a survey work to be useful with too many tangents on the art side of fashion. There are also an insane number of block quotes.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews