FREN 065

FREN 065.001 La Mode: Fashion in French Culture [FYS]

MW 1:25-2:40pm, Dey 208, Prof. Ellen Welch (erwelch@email.unc.edu)

“The French have never shared the Anglo-American conviction that makes the fashionable the opposite of the serious.” –Susan Sontag

French culture and fashion have been synonymous since the age of Louis XIV. This is not only because Paris traditionally occupied the center of the global fashion industry. It’s also because fashion has a respected place in French culture. This seminar investigates what fashion has meant to French-speaking writers, artists, and philosophers through the centuries. We will explore key episodes in the history of French fashion from the emergence of the idea of fashion in the seventeenth century, to Marie-Antoinette’s role as fashion icon, to the birth of haute couture in the 20th century, to the contemporary “street style” phenomenon and debates about fashion’s impact on the environment and global economy. Along the way, we will discover how French thinkers have interpreted the allure and significance of fashion from the perspectives of sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and gender studies. As these thinkers show us, fashion is a unique object of study because it allows individuals to navigate between novelty and conformity, between the beautiful and the useful, between being au courant and having that inimitable je-ne-sais-quoi. In short, we will consider what it means to take fashion seriously.

First-Year Seminar. 

*Taught in English.