Friday DayDreaming

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I'm finding myself able to REEEEAAAAD again because I have my glasses… (ergo more time before bed to put in some more wear and tear to my weak eyes…) and one that I'm re-reading is Emile Zola's Au Bonheur des Dames which I may have read sooooo long ago that I forgot how SUCCULENT and SUMPTUOUS it is in fashion and specifically fabric-related language… I have spent a day wondering when will I reach that pinnacle of leisure chat where I'm discussing the different prices of…Taffetas called cuir-d'or, velvet, Cheviot, flannelette, silk faille and different varieties of lace; Chantilly, Mechlin, Valenciennes, Ventian… yes, that's four different kind of lace there…

More importantly, at the heart and title of the book is a new breed of a department store that sprung up in the mid-19th century, which was based on Le Bon Marche which the main character uses to ensnare women and thus Zola pre-empts the sort of madness (as described in this paragraph of text from the book) that of course is very much prevalent today… sound familiar anyone?

"Woman was what the shops were fighting over when they competed, it was woman whom they ensnared without the constant trap of their bargains, after stunning her with their displays.  They had aroused new desires in her flesh, they were a huge temptation to which she must fatally succumb, first of all giving in to the purchases of a good housewife, then seduced by vanity and finally consumed.  By increasing their sales tenfold and democratising luxury they became a dreadful agent of expense, causing ravages in households and operating through the madness of fashion, which was constantly more expensive.  And if in store woman was queen, adulated in herself, humoured in her weaknesses, surrounded by every little attention, she reigned as a queen in love, whose subjects were swindling her so that she paid for each of her whims with a drop of her own blood."

8 comments

  1. Oh i remember this book.. i never finished it… (i find it a bit boring but for fashion i would make a BIG effort) 🙂
    Thks for encouraging us to read susie!!
    Love your blog as always,
    kisses

  2. I’m a bit embarassed to say that until today I’d actually never heard of this book …I’ll have to check it out after a paragraph like that. Especially the last sentence…
    ‘…And if in store woman was queen, adulated in herself, humoured in her weaknesses, surrounded by every little attention, she reigned as a queen in love, whose subjects were swindling her so that she paid for each of her whims with a drop of her own blood…’
    It really is madness isn’t it? Crazy how we all go so gaga over heaps of fabric and material.. I’ve actually been increasingly less interested in all the department store hoopla. Been looking into really just saving for the ‘special’ pieces and what not, but there’s probably some madness involved in the covetables as well ..

  4. OH wow! We have this original print publication at the Library I work at in the rare Books room and I just saw it two weeks ago!

  6. That was my favourite book when I was 17- I remember falling completely in love with the descriptions of umbrellas on display at the front of the shop. Happy reading, Susie!

  7. I read this book in college in an Anthropology class called Consumer Culture. This was my favorite unit. 🙂

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