FashionSpeak Fridays: Dressing Up

French fashion of the late 19th century is known for its allure, its ineffable chic—think of John Singer Sargent’s Madame X and her scandalously slipping strap. For Parisian couturiers and their customers in the United States, it was also serious business.

Join Elizabeth L. Block, the author of Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion for a look into the couturiers’ influential clientele—wealthy women in the United States who bolstered the French fashion industry with a steady stream of orders. Countering the usual narrative of the designer as solo creative genius, Block shows that these clients—as high-volume customers and as pre-Internet influencers—were active participants in the era’s transnational fashion system.

French fashion is highly encouraged! Books available for purchase.











When: Fri., Jun. 3, 2022 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: The National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park S.
212-475-3424
Price: Free
Buy tickets/get more info now
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French fashion of the late 19th century is known for its allure, its ineffable chic—think of John Singer Sargent’s Madame X and her scandalously slipping strap. For Parisian couturiers and their customers in the United States, it was also serious business.

Join Elizabeth L. Block, the author of Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion for a look into the couturiers’ influential clientele—wealthy women in the United States who bolstered the French fashion industry with a steady stream of orders. Countering the usual narrative of the designer as solo creative genius, Block shows that these clients—as high-volume customers and as pre-Internet influencers—were active participants in the era’s transnational fashion system.

French fashion is highly encouraged! Books available for purchase.

Buy tickets/get more info now