When the Clothes Spoke for themselves

When the Clothes Spoke for Themselves

An art exhibition last year in Los Angeles displayed “Images of Fashion From the Court of Louis XIV,” proving that Louis XIV was the world’s first fashion magazine editor-in-chief

What was in fashion then?

In those days, men dressed as fashionably as women, In fact, but for men wearing britches and a form of pantyhose and women wearing skirts and corsets, they dressed exactly the same.

Among the innovations of Louis’ court was a long, elaborate waistcoat that amounted to the first three-piece suit.

“It took us 300 years to get rid of that,” Rosenbaum said.

Another development was the oversized and elaborate coat cuff, which not only made a fashion statement but also provided an excellent place to stick all those voluminous handkerchiefs and discreet love letters.

It was a hard task to keep all of this finery clean, but that was the reason for the bundles of underwear the courtiers wore. “It kept the body soil from reaching the outer clothes,” she said.

Fashionable but uncomfortable

Though the haute couture stuff was mandatory for official court functions and amusements-Louis didn’t like unfashionable people around him-the courtiers apparently got out of them as soon as they could.

“They’d go to their [palace] rooms and change into clothes they wore there,” Rosenbaum said. These clothes were much more comfortable and loose fitting, such as a T-shaped garment that served as a French kimono.

Here they could also remove their towering, cascading wigs-another fashion of the times. Underneath, the royals and nobility wore haircuts like those in the military today.

It was also fashionable to lather one’s face with thick, white makeup, complete with artificial beauty shpts and red rouge for both women and men.

French fashion did catch on, thanks to Louis’ “fashion magazine.” French style became popular in many places because they could see what was considered “the nicest, the latest, the trendiest.”

Specialized Terms

Britches (n pl) 马裤 pants that do not cover the whole leg

Corset (n) （缩小腰围的）束腹 a tight piece of underwear worn on the middle part of a woman’s body to make her waist appear smaller

Courtier (n) 廷臣；朝臣 a companion of a queen or king in their official home

Haute couture (n) 引领流行的时尚 (French) trend-setting fashions

Vocabulary Focus

Pantyhose (n) 连身裤袜

Voluminous (adj) large and consisting of a lot of cloth

Discreet (adj) careful not to attract too much attention, especially by keeping something secret

Serve (v) to function or be used

French kimono (n) 法式长袍

Rouge (n) reddish cosmetic for coloring the cheeks

Catch on (v) to become popular

Discussion Question

Which is more important, fashionable or comfortable? Why?

Extra Exercise

1. Translate the following sentence into Chinese, ‘Among the innovations of Louis’ court was a long, elaborate waistcoat that amounted to the first three-piece suit.’

2. According to the recording, which men wears britches nowadays?

文 本 下 载          参加讨论组       查看节目单        视频下载        学习方法

880G英语资料高速下载　　两个月精通口译