Clothing and Fashion

Nautical refers to the sea and to ships. There is a romantic image of life on the sea reflected in a navy jacket with brass buttons, a crisp white sailor’s uniform, a sou’wester hat and yellow slicker, or a fisherman’s sweater. All sailors and those whose occupation depends on the sea deal with the unpredictable nature and allure of the sea. Protection from the salt water, wind, and sun is a primary consideration along with allowing the mobility needed to perform the duties of their job on a ship among the ropes, nets, and sails. Historic traditions in nautical dress continue to influence modern nautical apparel. Read the rest of this entry »

Paris has been the fashion capital of the Western world from the seventeenth century to the twenty-first century, although other cities, such as New York, London, and Milan, also have become important centers of fashion. The clothes we wear today owe a great deal to Paris, even if they were designed (and almost certainly manufactured) elsewhere in the world.

Prior to the rise of the modern nation-state fashions were geographically dispersed, with loci in Florence and other powerful Italian city-states as well as at the courts of Burgundy and Spain. But France emerged from the end of the Thirty Years’ War, in 1648, as by far the largest, richest, and most powerful state in Europe, and the rulers of France—most notably Louis XIV (reigned 1643–1715)—understood that fashion was a potent weapon in establishing France’s cultural preeminence. Louis XIV exercised control over his aristocrats by requiring that all who were in attendance at his new court at Versailles be dressed in appropriate fashions. At the same time the king’s chief minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, recognized the growing economic importance of textiles and clothing and harnessed the power of the state to France’s fashion leadership. Read the rest of this entry »

Jeanne Paquin (1869–1936) was the first woman to gain international celebrity in the fashion business. Her design career spanned the three decades from 1891 to 1920. She was born Jeanne Marie Charlotte Beckers in l’Ile Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris. As a young girl she was employed at a local dressmaker’s shop and then became a seamstress at the distinguished Parisian firm of Maison Rouff. In February 1891 she married Isidore Rene Jacob dit Paquin (legally changed to Paquin in 1899), a former banker and businessman. One month before their marriage he founded the House of Paquin at 3, rue de la Paix, where for two years prior he was a partner in a couture business under the name of Paquin Lalanne et Cie. Creating a new business model, with Madame as head designer and her husband as business administrator, the couple built a couture business whose worldwide scope and stylistic influence were unparalleled during the early years of the twentieth century. Their innovative approaches to marketing and youthful yet sumptuous design aesthetic attracted fashionable women of the world who were poised for a new fashion image at the end of the Victorian era. The diverse and prestigious client list included famous actresses and courtesans, European royals, and the wives of American business tycoons such as Rockefeller, Astor, Vanderbilt, Ballantine, and Wannamaker. At its height the house employed more than two thousand workers, surpassing even the house of Worth. In 1907 Isidore Paquin died suddenly, leaving Jeanne Paquin to head their fashion empire alone. Her half brother, Henri Joire, and his wife, Suzanne, joined her as partners in 1911. She retired in 1920 and eleven years later married Jean-Baptiste Noulens, a French diplomat. The House of Paquin remained open under a series of designers, until it merged with Worth in 1954. Worth-Paquin closed in 1956.

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