Puce is perhaps a better topic (and colour) for Marie Antoinette's Gossip Guide, but it was very much of interest to fashionable gentry in England as well!The invention of "puce" is an amusing story in itself. Every fashion in France had to have a special name and these ranged from the basic to the downright humorous (ie: dauphin's poo). The socially awkward Louis never knew how to tell his wife how to ease up on the extravagant fashions and attempted many methods that all failed. Being straightforward is always the best policy says I! One day when he walked in on the queen trying on a new dress, he attempted to discourage her with the mean humour common at court. As Caroline Weber tells, in Queen of Fashion, "When the Queen asked her husband how he liked the confection, which was made from taffeta of an odd pinkish-tan hue, he replied laconically: 'It is the color of a flea [puce].'" The plan backfired, and the queen (and everyone else with her) loved the nickname for the colour and it stuck.
When Lady Spencer visited France in 1775 she noticed the trend in full-force,
"I have no material intelligence to give you except that you can wear no colour that is not either dos de puce or ventre de puce, it is the uniform at Fontainebleau and the only colour that can be worn..."A few days later she wrote again to Georgiana to tell her she bought her a coat of ventre de puce but had yet to find her something nice in dos de puce. The following month Lady Clermont wrote to Georgiana to tell her
"[Marie Antoinette] has desire'd me to wear the uniform, which is a polonaise, couleur de puce."I'm guessing she did too! You can't reject fashion advice from the Queen of Fashion! It is probably safe to say that the Empress of Fashion (as Walpole dubbed Georgiana) had already sent in her order for a polonaise in puce as soon as these letters had reached her.
Poor Louis--he always tried so hard. He must have felt like he was talking to a brick wall.
ReplyDeleteI know there was also a color called Stifled Sigh, a shade of brown, as well as Devonshire Brown. I'd like to see more of the color names, so I guess I'd better finally get around to reading Queen of Fashion.
(Fleas don't look pinkish-tan to me. Maybe those were ritzy Parisian fleas.)
I wish there was more information on Devonshire Brown, Lauren and I are always bringing it up in conversation and pondering on what it actually looked like.
ReplyDeleteRalph Lauren has a shade of light brown paint called Devonshire but I have no idea if there is any connection.
ReplyDeleteHa, so that's what puce looks like! I agree, it doesn't remind me of fleas. Just the name "puce" reminds me of volcanos, even though the stuff I'm thinking of is "pumice".
ReplyDeleteWait....I thought puce was the color of flea droppings and not the actual fleas? You know this is a REALLY important distinction. ha!
ReplyDeleteOh that is funny! I was basing the source on Caroline Weber's book (which is fabulous). But absolutely, that is an important distinction ;o)
ReplyDeleteno, no I am going purely by memory. thanks for setting me straight. I wouldn't want to drag up that little piece of trivia in polite company and get it wrong.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia opines that couleur puce is a reddish- or purplish-brown. That's certainly the colour of any fleas I've had the misfortune to see, if not of their droppings, which must be, well, extremely teeny tiny! ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for the colour in 18th-century gowns, I like to think of it as a kind of shot-silk taffeta, which would look brown from one angle and reddish-purple from another. But that's just a fancy of mine!
Cate
Puce is actually the colour of a flea that is engorged with blood. Granted, not too savory an image but a realistic image of what was a reality of life in 18th century life. There was also a colour that was referred to as "pate de puce" or "flea foot". The French certainly could come up with whimsical names for their fashions which I think makes them endearing.
ReplyDeleteHello!! I love your blog and I was visiting regularly even before I decided to start blogging. I linked this post to my page, I hope you don't mind!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I don't mind at all!
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