Download or read book Paris Insights An Anthology written by Tom Reeves and published by Discover Paris!. This book was released on 2010 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Battle of Versailles written by Robin Givhan and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On November 28, 1973, the world's social elite gathered at the Palace of Versailles for an international fashion show. By the time the curtain came down on the evening's spectacle, history had been made and the industry had been forever transformed. This is that story. Conceived as a fund-raiser for the restoration of King Louis XIV's palace, in the late fall of 1973, five top American designers faced off against five top French designers in an over-the-top runway extravaganza. An audience filled with celebrities and international jet-setters, including Princess Grace of Monaco, the Duchess of Windsor, Paloma Picasso, and Andy Warhol, were treated to an opulent performance featuring Liza Minnelli, Josephine Baker, and Rudolph Nureyev. What they saw would forever alter the history of fashion. The Americans at the Battle of Versailles– Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston, and Stephen Burrows – showed their work against the five French designers considered the best in the world – Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, and Marc Bohan of Christian Dior. Plagued by in-fighting, outsized egos, shoestring budgets, and innumerable technical difficulties, the American contingent had little chance of meeting the European's exquisite and refined standards. But against all odds, the American energy and the domination by the fearless models (ten of whom, in a groundbreaking move, were African American) sent the audience reeling. By the end of the evening, the Americans had officially taken their place on the world's stage, prompting a major shift in the way race, gender, sexuality, and economics would be treated in fashion for decades to come. As the curtain came down on The Battle of Versailles, American fashion was born; no longer would the world look to Europe to determine the stylistic trends of the day, from here forward, American sensibility and taste would command the world's attention. Pulitzer-Prize winning fashion journalist Robin Givhan offers a lively and meticulously well-researched account of this unique event. The Battle of Versailles is a sharp, engaging cultural history; this intimate examination of a single moment shows us how the world of fashion as we know it came to be.

Download or read book The Ball at Versailles written by Danielle Steel and published by Random House. This book was released on 2024-08-20 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Four American debutantes attend a renowned Paris cotillion in Danielle Steel’s captivating new novel. It’s the summer of 1959 and the Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will make history. It is an exclusive dusk-to-dawn ball in which a select group of American and French debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. Four young women, all with something to prove, receive what some see as the invitation of a lifetime. Amelia Alexander, who hopes to eventually attend law school, hesitates to participate in what she sees as an archaic and privileged tradition. But her indomitable widowed mother, Jane, who’s struggled financially and sacrificed for a career, encourages her to attend. Jane would do anything for Amelia to have the chance at a happily ever after. Felicity Smith is equally uncertain about the ball. Although her family is prominent in the Dallas social scene, Felicity prefers to keep to herself, avoiding the older sister who torments her. But to get out of her sister’s shadow, Felicity decides to accept. If it’s a success, the tables will have turned at last. For Caroline Taylor, the beautiful ingénue and daughter of Hollywood legends, the ball is an irresistible opportunity. But an unexpected heartbreak just before she leaves for France gets things off to a bad start. Then there’s Samantha Walker, an art history major with an overprotective father. Her excitement about the invitation is overshadowed by the emotional and physical effects of a past tragedy that still haunts her. For all these young women, Paris and one transcendent night will change their lives forever. Bestselling author Danielle Steel extends an invitation to all, in The Ball at Versailles.

Download or read book Fashion and Versailles written by Laurence Benaïm and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Château de Versailles—the indisputable birthplace of fashion—continues to inspire glamour and style today. The royal residence of Versailles—this unparalleled seat of power and seduction—is an important influence on contemporary fashion, inspiring passions and vocations. Since the establishment of the world’s first dress codes under the rule of Louis XIV to incite the whims of the queens and royal mistresses, fashion at Versailles has been a constant and inexhaustible source of inspiration for designers, photographers, decorators, and directors and has launched countless fashion revolutions. Courtesan Madame de Montespan launched the “innocente” robe to camouflage pregnancy, Sofia Coppola memorialized Marie-Antoinette in extravagant wigs and pastel hues, and Annie Leibovitz captured Kirsten Dunst in a delicate taffeta-and-chiffon Alexander McQueen gown against the dramatic backdrop of a peristyle at Versailles. Haute couture in the 1950s launched the cinched-waist “neo-trianon” trend. Karl Lagerfeld used the château’s gardens as the runway for his 2013 cruise collection featuring Versailles-influenced crinoline dresses and brocade jackets. This stunning volume showcases the best of fashion inspired by Versailles, set against the exquisite background of the most spectacular palace in the world.

Download or read book The Ball at Versailles written by Danielle Steel and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2023-11-23 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A special invitation. A night to remember . . . The Ball at Versailles is a sparkling, captivating tale of four young women and one life-changing night, from the billion-copy bestselling author Danielle Steel. 1958. The Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will go down in history. It is a glamorous dusk-to-dawn ball, where a select group of debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. And for four young women, all with something to prove, it is an event they will never forget. Amelia Alexander is the daughter of a hard-working, single mother who sacrifices everything to ensure that Amelia can take every opportunity for a better life. Caroline Taylor is pursuing a passionate affair with an up-and-coming movie star ten years her senior. But does he love her, or is his interest because of her famous father? Nuclear physics student, Felicity Smith, is uninterested in fashion and socializing, but she attends the ball to please her parents and to step out of the shadow of her sister. And Samantha Walker is the beloved, over-protected daughter of a wealthy businessman, her excitement about the invitation overshadowed by a past tragedy that still haunts her. An exclusive invitation, a trip to Paris, and one spectacular, show stopping night will change these young women’s lives forever . . .

Download or read book Blessing in Disguise written by Danielle Steel and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Isabelle McAvoy, private art consultant in New York City. The first half of the book focuses on her past, having three daughters with three different men and following her through each of those relationships. When the narrative switches back to present-day, Isabelle learns that she's losing her sight and hires an assistant. She bonds with each of her daughters, one in India, one in New York, and one in Tuscany, and falls in love again.

Download or read book Marie Antoinette Serial Killer written by Katie Alender and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2013-09-24 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heads will roll! Paris, France: a city of fashion, chocolate croissants, and cute boys. Colette Iselin is thrilled be there for the first time, on her spring break class trip.But a series of gruesome murders are taking place around the city, putting everyone on edge. And as she tours the sights, Colette keeps seeing a strange vision: a pale woman in a ball gown and powdered wig, who looks like Marie Antoinette.Colette knows her status-obsessed friends won't believe her, so she seeks out the help of a charming French boy. Together, they discover that the murder victims areall descendants of people who ultimately brought about Marie Antoinette's beheading. The queen's ghost has been awakened, and now she's wreaking her bloodthirsty revenge.And Colette may just be one of those descendants . . . which means she might not make it out of this trip alive.Acclaimed author Katie Alender brings heart-stopping suspense to this story of betrayal, glamour, mystery, history--and one killer queen.

Download or read book The Sisters of Versailles written by Sally Christie and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-09 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife. The race is on to find a mistress for the royal bed. The King's scheming ministers push Louise, the eldest of the aristocratic Nesle sisters, into the arms of the King. Over the following decade, of the five Nesle sisters-- Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne-- four will become mistresses to King Louis XV. All will conspire, betray, suffer, and triumph in a desperate fight for both love and power.

Download or read book The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort written by Sir Theodore Martin and published by . This book was released on 1879 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Secret History of the Court of France Under Louis XV written by Annie Emma Challice and published by . This book was released on 1861 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Memoirs of Madame Vig e Lebrun written by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-05-28 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an autobiography and memoirs of the extraordinary life of Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun (1756-1842), one of the finest painters of eighteenth-century France. She was highly esteemed by painters at home and abroad and became one of the few women admitted to the French Academy at a time when a career as an artist was all but restricted to men. Due to this honor, she entered the higher society and got acquainted with both aristocracy and the greatest artists and writers of the day. Among the people she managed to see in her life, a reader will find Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Benjamin Franklin, and Lord Byron.

Download or read book Memoirs written by Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2018-01-18 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction of the original.

Download or read book Dance written by Carol Wallace and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 1986 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Twirling figures, gloved hands clasped, the strains of the violin..." These words from the first essay in this delightful book could be describing an eighteenth-century minuet performed by aristocratic guests at a Versailles ball, a nineteenth-century cotillion of white-gowned debutantes in new York, or a stylish moment created on the silver screen by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The steps and the music and the dresses may vary, but the exciting and elegant sight of society enjoying itself on the dance floor has persisted through the ages. In this book, published to coincide with an exhibition held at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art under the direction of Diana Vreeland, four authors look at the subject of social dancing from four different points of view. Carol McD. Wallace surveys the great balls and dancing parties of Europe, England, and America from the eighteenth century to the present, while Don McDonagh describes the dance steps themselves, from the early basse danze of Italy to the twist of modern-day America. Jean Druesedow, associate curator in charge of the Costume Institute, discusses the evolution of the ball gown and other costumes designed for dancing, and Laurence Libin, curator of musical instruments, assisted by Constance Old, analyzes the way in which dance has been depicted in works of art through the centuries. Illustrated with paintings, works of decorative art, contemporary prints and photographs, these lively essays re-create the rhythmic energy, the social proprieties, the colorful costumes and anecdotes of dances and dancers past and present. -- from dust jacket.

Download or read book Heroes Philosophers and Courtiers of the Time of Louis XVI written by Annie Emma Challice and published by . This book was released on 1863 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Heroes Philosophers and Courtiers of the time of Louis XVI By the author of the Secret History of the Court of France under Louis XV Mrs A E Challice written by and published by . This book was released on 1863 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Queen s Knight written by Mildred Carnegy and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Marie Antoinette s World written by Will Bashor and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This riveting book explores the little-known intimate life of Marie Antoinette and her milieu in a world filled with intrigue, infidelity, adultery, and sexually transmitted diseases. Will Bashor reveals the intrigue and debauchery of the Bourbon kings from Louis XIII to Louis XV, which were closely intertwined with the expansion of Versailles from a simple hunting lodge to a luxurious and intricately ordered palace. It soon became a retreat for scandalous conspiracies and rendezvous—all hidden from the public eye. When Marie Antoinette arrived, she was quickly drawn into a true viper's nest, encouraged by her imprudent entourage. Bashor shows that her often thoughtless, fantasy-driven, and notorious antics were inevitable given her family history and the alluring influences that surrounded her. Marie Antoinette's frivolous and flamboyant lifestyle prompted a torrent of scathing pamphlets, and Bashor scrutinizes the queen's world to discover what was false, what was possible, and what, although shocking, was most probably true. Readers will be fascinated by this glimpse behind the decorative screens to learn the secret language of the queen’s fan and explore the dark passageways and staircases of endless intrigue at Versailles.