Fashion of Louis Xiv's Court Versailles

Portrait of Louis XIV, After Hyacinthe Rigaud, later 1701

"No one has been more important to this history of power dressing than French Male monarch Louis XIV." Ciara Fitzgerald, author

The visionary French King Louis XIV staged a wearable revolution in the 17th century, which would forever alter the fashion landscape. A corking aesthete, Louis focussed on indulgence and luxury, seamlessly blending his ideas into wearable, interiors, architecture and landscapes and transforming the French palace of Versailles into a dazzling Bizarre dream. Enervating the highest standards of clothing for himself and his courtiers, he prepare a strict dress code with a focus on luxurious, immaculate details, including lace, ruffles, ribbons and jewels. Throughout his reign, Louis' radical style reforms spread across Europe, establishing France equally the world's leading uppercase of haute couture.

Before Rex Louis took the throne, Spain led the European style with heavy, dark clothing, worn all yr circular, which was imported into France. Just as his reign progressed, Male monarch Louis worked with finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert to radicalise the textile industry inside French republic. As well equally encouraging the production of new, luxury fabrics, he outlawed the import of material from outside France, pushing the wealthy elite and dignity to only buy from French business.

Louis Xiv as a immature, Jean Nocret, 1655

In a assuming new motion, he even introduced the concept of bi-annual fashion, with new textiles and dress to exist fabricated twice a year, in summertime and winter, an attitude that would later influence today's seasonal fashion. He even passed a law to create the Parisian seamstresses' social club, which supported women who made and sold women's and children's clothing. These changes left a lasting influence on France and by the terminate of Louis XIV's reign, an entire 3rd of the French population were employed in fabric or fashion industries.

Every bit his leadership continued, Louis' own style became increasingly excessive, theatrical and impractical. Recognising the ability for clothing to convey his wealth, condition and power, he styled himself as "The Sun Rex," shining with glistening radiance in the most expensive and luxurious fabrics, cuts and ornamentation, wearing silks and velvets adorned with ruffles, lace, bows, pearls and embroidery. Raised by his parents to believe he was a gift direct from God, Louis' ego was unsurpassed, and as an adult, but the finest clothing could reflect his divinely spiritual aura. In Charles Poerson's painting Portrait of Louis XIV equally Jupiter Conquering the Fronde, 1655, Louis even styles himself as Jupiter, King of all Gods.

The silhouettes of Louis' habiliment typified the flamboyance of the Baroque era, forming natural, curving shapes, free flowing lines, and a focus on book, abandoning the restrictive and ascetic styles of the Renaissance. Moving beyond earlier mix and match style dressing, Louis also invented the en suite, an ensemble made from matching separates, which later evolved into the suit designs of today. Shoes were a particular passion for Louis, particularly those with embellishments and heels, which he is often seen wearing in his nigh ostentatious portraits, such equally Claude Lefebvre's Portrait of Louis Fourteen in Armour and Hyacinthe Rigaud'southward Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701.

Portrait of Louis Fourteen of French republic, Hyacinthe Rigaud , 1701

Within the Palace of Versailles, Louis established obsessively strict, immaculate standards for all his courtiers. Encouraging members of the French court to compete for his attention, he lavished special praise and attention on the very best dressed. Knowing total well his courtiers couldn't beget to go along upwardly with his ongoing demands, he deliberately encouraged them to overspend and button themselves into debt and so they had no power to overthrow him. Some of the best dressed nobles were likewise given privileges and favours, which fostered a competitive environs of strutting peacocks, all vying for the Male monarch'southward attending. Just no ane was allowed to outshine the King himself – in the King's presence, men were expected to wear a habit habille, an extravagant coat made from velvet or silk, while women wore a addiction de cour, an embroidered gown which exposed their blank shoulders. Merely the King, and a tiny choice of his closest noblemen, wore the justaucorps a brevet, a breezy, light blueish silk jacket. A select few were chosen to help the Male monarch go dressed, an act he transformed into a theatrical display which other nobles could fifty-fifty pay to watch. Simply only the King's closest allies could hand him his nearly prized possessions to put on: his heeled shoes.

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