8 Conspicous Consumption

1. CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION AND THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS OR WHY ALLIGATORS ARE TACKY

The institution of a leisure class is found in its best development, in feudal Europe or feudal Japan. In such communities the distinction between classes is very rigorously observed; and the feature of most striking economic significance in these class differences is thedistinction maintained between the employments proper to the several classes. The upper classes are by custom exempt or excluded from industrial occupations, and are reserved for certain employments to which a degree of honour attaches

Chief among the honourable employments is warfare; and priestly service is commonly second to warfare.

In order to gain and to hold the esteem of men it is not sufficient merely to possess wealth or power. The wealth or power must be put in evidence, for esteem is awarded only on evidence. And not only does the evidence of wealth serve to impress one's importance on others and to keep their sense of his importance alive and alert, but it is of scarcely less use in building up and preserving one's self-complacency.

Absence from labour is not just a meritorious act, but it presently comes to be a requisite of decency. The insistence on property as the basis of reputability is very naive and very imperious during the early stages of the accumulation of wealth. Abstention from labour is the convenient evidence of wealth and is therefore the conventional mark of social standing; and this insistence on the meritorious ness of wealth leads to a more strenuous insistence on leisure.

It has already been remarked that the term "leisure", as here used, does not connote indolence or quiescence. What it connotes is non-productive consumption of time and the ability to afford a life of idleness.

Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.

The leisure rendered by the wife in such cases is, of course, not a simple manifestation of idleness or indolence. It almost invariably occurs disguised under some form of work or household duties or social amenities, which prove on analysis to serve little or no ulterior end beyond showing that she does not occupy herself with anything that is gainful or that is of substantial use.

NB: Labels on clothes are not high class, it is the cut and knowledge that is high class.

I.e.: Not having a car can either meana) Povertyb) Ability to pay anything to have transport available at all times. (Richest woman in Britain-Duchess of Westminster-uses public transport and does not own a vehicle)

SLOAN RANGERS

Poorly but privately educated, or something like History of Art

Horsy and country

Blouses, pressed jeans, pumps with bows, girls in pearls.

Money from Trade

No Sumptuary Law

BUThaving the masses consume is how they became super rich.

How to look professional and trustworthy.

And how to demonstrate a place in society.

The French treasury, after a long war, stood close to bankruptcy when Louis XIV assumed, upon the death of hisPremier Ministre , Cardinal Mazarin, personal control of the reins of government in 1661.

LouisappointedJean-Baptiste Colbert as Finance Minister in1665.

Note : as part of the general settlement of the war of Spanish Succession France was obliged to cede the colonies and possessions ofNewfoundland ,Rupert's LandandAcadia , while retaining le-Saint-Jean (nowPrince Edward Island ) and le Royale (nowCape Breton Island ), in the Americas to Great Britain;

Followed Cardinal Richelieu and Massacring as Finance Minister. Unlike those he was not a Cardinal and not aristocratic.

B 1661 and 1671 the national revenue of France was doubled. At courtdisplays of wealth supplanted demonstrations of power as proof of nobility and strength .

The sumptuousness of the court wasintendedto persuade others of the kings power. Louis expected the aristocracy to follow his lead, He liked splendor, magnificence, and profusion in everything: you pleased him if you shone through the brilliancy of your houses, your clothes, your table, your equipages. Thus a taste for extravagance and luxury was disseminated through all classes of society. The aim was to please His Majesty, which required attendance at court where life was soexpensive.

A fashionable appearance was taken as part of the Frenchnational character; those who did not follow the king became figures of fun.

A peace treatydecided that Louis would marry his cousin, the Spanish Infanta Maria Teresia, daughter of Philip IV.

France had been an enemy and a challenge to Hapsburg rule in Spain, Philip IV in 1623 had introduced hisCapitulos de Reformacionbanning French clothing and hairstyles in Spain.Catholic Spain wasconservative in manner and in dress, utilizing high, stiff collars and garments, heavy fabrics, dense ornamentation, geometric shapes and tension. Strict codes of conduct and of dress made these styles compulsorythroughout much of Catholic Europe.

In contrast, the French court loved embroidery, display and frivolity. Louis XIV was twenty-one upon his marriage and wanted to shine so that the whole world would see Apollo in his splendor. He wanted his clothes to be fantastic and lively, the opposite of Spanish sobriety. It was a visual display of political rivalry when the final wedding ceremony took place on June ninth, 1660.

F ashion of manners.

An economic tool, a sumptuary tool,a tool to control an over-large aristocracy.

The King set the fashion so it was a fashion of authority

Versailles the centre point, to be away from the centre risked exclusion, to be close risked bankruptcy.

Little sewage at Versailles, importance of linen and perfume.

Versailles for glory not ease of access. Built on a swamp, conspicuous consumption writ large. Clothing became suitable for nothing but indolence. Luxury used by the king to keep court in relative penury.

Louis used the arts to project his vision of centralized government, national unity, and royal control of all aspects of French life. Royal Manufactory of the Goblins employed over 800 tapestry workers, sculptors, artists, goldsmiths and embroiderers.

1663 the Academy of Painting and Sculpture was created,

1665 theJournal des Savants , a national periodical of scientific and literary review began.

In 1666 the French Academies in Rome and in Paris were opened as well as the Academy of Sciences in Paris.

1667 construction began on the Observatory in thefaubourgSaint-Jacques,

1669 the Royal Academy of Music was opened, and in 1671 the Academy of Architecture.

The arts were nationalized into a system of glorification of the king, to increase his international prestige and to promote the economy of the nation.

Mazzarin had set up the system where the Bourgeois were the ministers. The aristocracy had position but no power to challenge the king.

By multiplying the positions around him, Louis XIV excited constant jealousy between the different officeholders and the ranks of the aristocracy. He also ensured that the energies that had once provoked civil wars would be spent in quarreling about the right to a stool, or the order of entrance into the royal bedroom. Wit and lively conversation became a necessity to fill the long, leisurely hours; for although the king worked long hours, most of the courtiers had nothing to do. Indeed, it was at times strenuous to be a noble, (to appear in) full dress, go to Flanders or further, dance, sit up, attend ftes, eat, be merry and good company, go from place to place; appear neither to fear, nor to be inconvenienced by heat, wind, or dust; and all this precisely to the hour and day, without a minutes grace. In attending the king at court, the nobility surrendered not only its personal life but its political power as well. And also pauperized the aristocracy.

By fostering the very latest fashions the glamour and attraction of the court was increased. Fashion in France became big business, exported to other courts and countries in Europe.French fashion wasan extreme styleas was fitting to theyouth of Louis XIV and the tendency of youth to worship extremism . )

The styles worn at the court of Louis XIV were followed by all who could afford to do so and gradually they were emulated by other European courts.

There was so much French influence on English fashion that protests erupted on the part of English tradesmen and manufacturers. Importation of certain French textiles was banned and attempts were made to distinguish the English style from the French.

Louis wanted all to know about Paris fashions: diplomatic immunity in time of war sent life-sized fashion dolls to every Court. Dolls were dressed in latest styles. Ladies would have their tailors imitate the clothes, footwear, hats, accessories.

Dressmakers were able to remove the clothes and copy them as patterns.

France as an international force instyle traced back to the court of Louis XIV,dolls and"fashion plates"promoted not only luxe articles of clothing and accessories, but also a lifestyle. France became the leader in luxury goods.

By the 1670's,England imported 20 times more luxury goods than it exported to France.

Louisshrouded himself in resplendent satin coats with gold embroidery and lace sleeves, silk stockings and full-bottomed wigs--showcased the Sun King's divinely-ordained right to rule France. He also invited his courtiers to watch him dress in an elaborate 90-minute ritual each morning. The highest officialswere admitted while he was shaving; bishops, marshals, and provincial governors could enter later. Visiting dignitaries were sometimes awarded the privilege of handing the king his shirt. The ritual afforded the French court a close look at the king's new clothes--significant because nobles affirmed their allegiance by imitating the king--and kept business flowing to the nation's silk looms and lace factories. The dress industry then employed a third of wage-earners in Franceand if members of the Third Estate were busy stitching sleeves, they had less time to plot rebellion. Male courtiers were required to don silk or velvet coats encrusted with jewels and embroidery, while women squeezed into corseted dresses with puffy sleeves and long trains. Ordinances prohibited untitled aspirants from donning such finery.

One emblematic accessory, which Louis turned into a must-have item among both ladies and gents at court, Was a pair of red high heels, or talons rouges. The fashion, as Mansel explains, advertised a lifestyle of leisure, "demonstrat[ing] that nobles did not dirty their shoes."

When Louis began to grow bald, he started to use wigs, and so did his entourage. Men often mixed false hair with real but it was easier to shave their hair and wear a wig. At first wigs were faithful imitations of natural curled hair. Later they began to increase in size, with hair cascading down the back.

The fashion of the lowdcolletin both court dress and undress was not maintained without considerable opposition. The neckline was edged with a transparent veiling, similar to a collar, which hid some of the ladies anatomy.

Elaborate hairstyles for women were launched by the queen and her ladies as a way to show the superior taste of the French court.

Making lace for the aristocracyIn 1665Venetian lace makers set up schools of lace-making to train French craftsmen. Making fine lace became an important craft industry Smugglers took French lace into England, to avoid heavy import taxes.

Perfumes from Grasse

After 1665, Louiswas persuaded byadvisers topersecute Protestants. (Huguenots)In 1685, he declared that the majority of Protestants had been converted to Catholicism. 250,000 fled abroad (15000 to London)several provinces were depopulated. The revocationweakened the French economy and its ruthless application increased the detestation in which England and the Protestant German states held the French king.

SUGAR AND GEORGIAN SOCIETY

EXPORTS TO EUROPE

COFFEE (Lloyds)

CALICO

The Entrept Trade

Although ready made apparel was not yet commonly available, cloth manufacture was among the first to be industrialized. Cotton and wool fabrics abounded in many qualities, cheap printed cotton muslin being a particular favorite of the era. By 1811 the import of raw cotton exceeded 90 million pounds (around 45,000 tons), about twice the amount imported in the 1770's Messrs. Harding Howell & Co, was one of the choice linen-drapers (as fabric merchants were called) of the era. This interior print shows the large inventory, with shop assistants, all male, serving the female customers Haggling was still common, but fixed prices were now getting a toe-hold. Buying on credit, "coming to terms," was expected by the rich. Many storekeepers went bankrupt while waiting for a year or more to collect what's due.

Plain country Joan is now turned into a fine London madam, can drink tea, can take snuff and carry herself as high as the best. She must have a hoop too, as well as her mistress and her poor scanty linsey woolsey petticoat is changed into a good silk one, four or five yards wide at the least.Decline of the great law of subordination.Daniel Defoe (1659-1731)

Vast torrent of luxury changed the manners of the people, inspired in the poor a desire for things they may not and cannot haveHenry Fielding.

Note: To be rich had meant you stayed up late as you could afford candles.

The pursuit of luxury by the masses became an economic driving force. Concept of conspicuous consumption due to increased wealth and the requirement to differentiate oneself.

Elegance of elegant towns

What gown and what head dress she should wear became her chief concern Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey

Ribbons

Good China: Cutlery (Instead of just a knife)

Good House Fabrics: Wallpaper

Portraits and Prints

A peacock society of fashion prints and new drapery stores.

Dresses slashed to show petticoats (indicator of wealth going deep)

start to despise men in trade

Gluttony: gout the mark of a gentleman. Taking 3-5 hours for dinner showed you did not have to work.

How to show wealth but still be a trusted professional man

Huge increase in small things: Birmingham and the Toy industry

Adam SmithConsumption is the sole end and purpose of production.

Plumpers.

White lead make-up

Vermillion lip-stick on plaster of Paris. (pole screen to stop make-up melting and giving lead poisoning)

Mouse skin eyebrows

False calves for men

False hips and breasts (Bosom Friends)

False teeth, wood and ivory

Outrageous wigs set with lard (Head scratchers)

Patched to hide small pox and lead ravishing

Yardley perfume to cover stink

Political clothes to support French industry

Crinoline Frame by Ms Tavernier in 1856.

Working girls would wear Crinoline on weekends.

Cashmere Shawls.

MEN had to wear uniform as court dress.

Haute Couturecomes into the lexicon as the outward sign of French style and Conspicuous consumption by the wearer.

Huge move back to ostentatious fashion after austerity of Republican period.

Attempt to return to court of Louis XIV: it did revive the French luxury good market (Lyons silk)

Rise of Ladies spaces Printemps, Gallerie Lafayette Bon Marche.

Window shopping in French leche vitrines (licking windows)

Huge nuance of dress by time of day to express place in society. Hair not seen during day, hat not worn in evening, gloves longer as day progressed, neckline lower as day progressed. Society restricted by ability to consume.

Born in Bourne Lincolnshire

Trained as a draper in London

Moved to Paris at 21

Worked as Draper and dressed his wife.

Clothes admired by Princess Pauline Metternich.

Introduced to Eugenie and became her dressmaker

Sensation as a male dressing the Empress.

Founded Syndicate Haute Couture

Labeled clothes (Inside) 1858

Cat Walk models

Dictated Styles

Finest of materials

Never made two of a kind

To be seen was vital

Link with New York society.

To earn the right to call itself a couture house and to use the termhaute couturein its advertising and any other way, members of theChambre Syndicalemust follow these rules:

Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings.

Have a workshop ( atelier ) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time.

Each season, present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least thirty-five runs with outfits for both daytime wear and evening wear.

Adeline Andr

Chanel

Christian Dior

ChristianLacroix

DominiqueSirop

EmanuelUngaro

FranckSorbier

Givenchy

Jean PaulGaultier

Jean-LouisScherrer

Unprecedented economic growth (no Taxes) Activities punctuated by trips to Paris.

Railway and Industrial wealth

Worth Dresses coveted. They became THE symbol of conspicuous society. (Average of $10,000 in 1900)

Average society woman would buy 720 dresses each year.

It was her job to represent the wealth and position of the family.

Society pages reported on the fashions. First celebrity martyrs

Huge endowmentsto art, libraries and good works.

Great Wealth in a short period. Not accepted by high society (Southern Society, Penn, Lodges, Cabbots) so made their own rules.

Astor: Banking, Real Estate. Eden Farm ran from what is now 42 ndto 46 thand Broadway (Original John Jacob born Waldorf Germany)

Guggenheim: Lead

Armor/Swift: Canning and Meat Packing (green Bay Packers)

Vanderbilt (The Commodore) Railroads (Consuelo Vanderbilt married Duke of Marlborough)

Goldman& Sachs : Banking

Rothschild (Hitlers may come and go but Rothschild goes on forever)

Victoria Leiter marred Lord Curzon (Vicereine of India)

RockefellerOil

CarnegieUS Steel

FrickCoke

J P MorganBanking

Flagler Railroads/Miami

PillsburyGrain

Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1830-1908), also known as " TheMrs. Astor," was the matron of New York and Newport society.

Mrs. Astor was born Caroline Webster Schermerhorn in New York City. Mrs. Astor was from a wealthy merchant family whose ancestors were among New York's first Dutch settlers. Mrs. Astor married WILLIAM BACKHOUSE ASTOR Jr. in 1853.

Mrs. Astor created " the Four Hundred," An invitation to one of Mrs. Astor's events solidified one's status as a member of upper-class society.

Mrs. Astor shunned anyone who was not a member of the Four Hundred. But she did make one exception. In 1883, Alva Vanderbilt organized a masquerade ball in New York during the winter season but did not invite the Astors' daughter Caroline. Mrs. Astor acquiesced and called on the Vanderbilts in return for an invitation to the Vanderbilt ball. In so doing, Mrs. Astor allowed the newly monied Vanderbilts into the upper echelon of society.

8 Conspicous Consumption

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