Dressing at Court: Typology, Uses and Economy
The essential elements of “appearance”, the dress codes, defined the distinctive identities of the prince and the courtier, just as they differentiate identity and status in modern society generally. Often mentioned in passing when examining political issues or issues relating to daily life in European courts, court dress has never been studied in itself, primarily because of the heterogeneous nature (texts, images, objects) and geographic dispersal of sources, whence the need for a multi-disciplinary international team.
While not excluding the now classic question of the relationship between dress and power, the research programme intends to take a different approach to the attire of the ruling classes, moving away from focusing solely on the monarch to include the role of court dress and the courtiers within the microcosm of the court. This approach involves questions of rules and practices as well as the economy of appearance and the movement of dress styles between courts.
Team
Project Leader: Isabelle Paresys, Lecturer, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion (IRHIS) at the Université Lille 3-Charles-de-Gaulle;
Christine Aribaud, Lecturer in the History of Modern Art, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, southern France and Spain (FRA.M.ESPA) (Université Toulouse II-Le Mirail);
Martine Aubry, Research Officer in New Technologies, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, IRHIS;
Aurélie Chatenet, Teaching Assistant and Doctoral Student in Modern History at the Université de Limoges;
Natacha Coquery, Professor of Modern History at the Université de Nantes;
Mathieu da Vinha, Senior Research Officer, Scientific Director at the Centre de recherche du château de Versailles;
Ariane Fennetaux, Lecturer on Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries at the Université Paris Diderot;
Pascale Gorguet-Ballesteros, Chief Heritage Curator at the Musée Galliera;
Christine Lebeau, Professor of Modern History at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne;
Bénédicte Lecarpentier-Bertrand, Teaching Assistant and Doctoral Student in Modern History at the Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne;
Frédérique Leferme-Falguières, Professeur Agrégé and Doctor in Modern History;
Pauline Lemaigre-Gaffier, Teaching Assistant and Doctoral Student at the UMR Institutions et Dynamiques Historiques de l’Économie at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne;
Michèle Sapori, Doctoral Student of Modern History at the Université d’Orléans;
Simon Surreaux, Doctoral Student of Modern History at the Université Paris-Sorbonne;
Corinne Thépaut-Cabasset, Research officer at the Palace of Versailles, Doctoral Student of Modern History at the Université Paris-Sorbonne;
Françoise Tétart-Vittu, Project Manager at the Musée Galliera.
In collaboration with the Institut de Recherches Historiques du Septentrion (IRHIS) at the Université Lille 3-Charles-de-Gaulle (Centre national de la recherche scientifique).
Productions
International symposium Material and Visual Cultures of Dress in the European Courts (1400-1815) on 3, 4 and 5 June 2009 accompanying the exhibition Court Pomp and Royal Ceremonies: Court Dress in Europe (1650-1800) held at the Palace of Versailles from 31 March to 28 June 2009.
