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The essence of style : how the French invented high fashion, fine food, chic cafés, style, sophistication, and glamour by Joan E DeJean; OverDrive, Inc is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is The essence of style : how the French invented high fashion, fine food, chic cafés, style, sophistication, and glamour about?

What makes fashionistas willing to pay a small fortune for a particular designer accessory — a luxe handbag, for example? Why is it that people all over the world share the conviction that a special occasion only becomes really special when a champagne cork pops — and even more special when that cork comes from a bottle of Dom Pérignon? Why are diamonds the status symbol gemstone, instantly signifying wealth, power, and even emotional commitment? One of the foremost authorities on seventeenth-century French culture provides the answer to these and other fascinating questions in her account of how, at one glittering moment in history, the French under Louis XIV set the standards of sophistication, style, and glamour that still rule our lives today. Joan DeJean explains how a handsome and charismatic young king with a great sense of style and an even greater sense of history decided to make both himself and his country legendary. When the reign of Louis XIV began, his nation had no particular association with elegance, yet by its end, the French had become accepted all over the world as the arbiters in matters of taste and style and had established a dominance in the luxury trade t

Who reads The essence of style : how the French invented high fashion, fine food, chic cafés, style, sophistication, and glamour?

Author

Joan E DeJean; OverDrive, Inc

Publisher

Free Press

Published

2007

Language

EN

ISBN

9781416588535

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

History, Sociology, Western

Rating

3.82 / 5 (234 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-13