Home > Media > Books > Joan Dejean - The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour Books
Joan Dejean - The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour Books
You Can Blame All the Current Fashion Hype On Louis XIV
Written: Sep 29 '05 (Updated Sep 30 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: There's some useful and interesting information, but . . .
Cons: this book reads more like a textbook and is seriously lacking in Style!
The Bottom Line: For some reason I'm feeling considerably better. I thought I might just try to write a few final reviews.
ed_grover's Full Review: Joan Dejean - The Essence of Style: How the French...
Lately I seem to be waking up at the oddest hours (anywhere from 1:30 AM to 4 AM) and can't go back to sleep. I've stopped struggling with just lying there and fussing. Now, I head for the living room where I prop myself up with lots of pillows on the couch or some comfortable chair. Once settled in, I start (or continue) to read the piles of literature that people have brought me from our Central library, SAGE/Milwaukee, or our LGBT Community Center. Occasionally, I read and watch late-night TV at the same time.
If you've been watching the Style Channel on Cable TV, you may have noticed that it's Fashion Week in New York and the fashion capitols of Europe. I recently I found a book that tied nicely into all of that divine madness; there was an announcement of The Essence of Style by Joan DeJean in the entertainment section of one of our local free rags. I checked the library to see if they had it, clicked a few buttons, and a few days later, there it was, sitting in a "to-be-read" stack. It soom joined the books that have been read and are ready to be returned to wherever they were borrowed from by my faithful weekly Hospice volunteer/visitor.
The book sounded interesting and featured everything we Fashionistas are hooked on. As the subtitle proclaims, there were chapters with examples of everything from High Fashion to Fine Food and Chic Cafes, all imbued with Style, Sophistication and Glamour. We are told that Louis XIV was the first person to promote everything we currently see, say and do as regards "the good life." The Sun King wanted the world to see his Court as he thought it should be seen: full of "graceful elegance and tasteful opulence."
During the seventeenth century, London and Paris were roughly the same size. They were in competition with Naples and Milan to be classed as style leaders . . . and still are in a way. Louis decided that France should become a mercantile superpower on it's own terms. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, his moneyman at Court, helped him in this matter during the decades between 1661 through 1683. These two men created a partnership between art and merchandising with all the benefits going to France's business community and ultimately Louis' coffers. The style obsessed monarch and the hard-noised businessman created an economy based strictly on style and taste. We get a whole lecture on economics and at times I felt that I was reading a rather dull textbook rather than . . . a very amusing book written by Nancy Mitford.
I don't think that Louis XIV would have been amused by Mademoiselle DeJ's attempt at style, and neither was I. Her telling of the facts lacks Mitford's inimitable wit. Her rendition of "Style" lacks that certain "Je Ne'Cest Pas" that would make this book a little more readable and a lot more amusing. I got the impression that the author tried too hard to be funny . . . and missed the mark by a mile. There are too many quips and quotes that are limp as noodles. She would have done well to mentally have channeled La Mitford.
As for illustrations (and this book desperately needs them), all of them are reproductions of rather dark black and white etchings and drawings that were published in seventeenth century guide books featuring information for travelers on where to shop and what to buy during their stay in the French Capitol. True, they're all related to the chapter headings. They range in size from something like large postage stamp to a half page and are scattered throughout the book in a haphazard manner. While the engravings were interesting I would have like them larger and in a center section, something I usually complain about.
Today we can not only check out modern guide books, but a variety of fashion magazines such as Glamour, Vogue and W. All examples are taken from the time of Louis' reign and list the names of the corresponding movers and shakers of the day right up to the minute; after all, this book was published in 2005, so it should be up to the minute
I'm not going to go into detail describing each chapter as I grow a bit weary, but needless to say if you should ever run across this book, do pick it up and read it. You'll have a hard time finding any Style, and don't expect to be bowled over by wit and sarcasm. (Simon & Schuster - Free Press, ISBN: 13-978-0-7432-6413-6).
I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone from Epinions who has ever read my reviews, trusted me or left a comment. My experience here has been nothing short of a revelation. I joined during the end of the golden days of 1999, unsure of my writing ability and unsure of whether or not I would be accepted because I was a gay man . . . and an old one at that. I found loving, open and accepting arms and have made many friends during the last five years.
My thanks, too, goes to eplovejoy for hosting an "Appreciation Write-Off" in my honor. If you wish to read any of the entries, go to his profile page, scroll down, and click on the very usable 0links. My thanks also go to the many writers that have written tributes and expressed their personal feelings. I am truly honored.
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