Retail therapy

Printemps: Central hall   

     I'm currently reading Zola's The Ladies' Paradise and shall write properly about the book soon, but wanted to mention it today and use these wonderful illustrations from Bridgeman Art Library. The book concerns the rise of the great Parisian department store, the eponymous "Ladies' Paradise" or "Au Bonheur des Dames" - based on the Bon Marche, - a temple to the art of shopping, to capitalism and to the mechanisms of commercial seduction.

    Putting such pressure on the small, independent specialist shops that they could scarcely survive, the vast bulk and power of the giant store spread through the district, attracting customers of all social strata, and constantly providing new and better delights with which to tempt them:-

"The crowd had reached the silk department....At the far end of the hall, around one of the small cast-iron columns which supported the glass roof, material was streaming down like a bubbling sheet of water, falling from above and spreading out on to the floor. First, pale satins and soft silks were gushing out: royal satins and renaissance satins, with the pearly shades of spring water; light silks as transparent as crystal - Nile green, turquoise, blossom pink, Danube blue. Next came ....the marvellous satins and the duchess silks, in warm shades, rolling in great waves. And at the bottom, as if in a fountain basin...the damasks, the brocades, the silver and gold silks, were sleeping on a deep bed of velvets....their shimmering flecks forming a still lake in which reflections of the sky and of the countryside seemed to dance. Women pale with desire were leaning over as if to look at themselves. Faced with this wild cataract, they all remained standing there, filled with the secret fear of being caught up in the over-flow of all this luxury and with an irresistible desire to throw themselves into it and be lost".

Magasins du Louvre

    There may not be anything subtle about it, but I'm enjoying it greatly!

Comments

[Katherine]

That sounds like a book I'd enjoy, I'll add it to the list. Don't know if you are already aware of this but K1 Yarns of Glasgow are opening a branch on Victoria Street, great news for knitters.

[dovegreyreader]

Karen you almost tempt me to read it again and I can't wait for your take on the book.My favourite bit when someone buys yards and yards of lace trimming and when her husband asks why she replies along the lines of well you never know when you may need it, and there was me, in that book! How on earth did Zola know? This one book opened up a whole new reading trail on department stores because I saw them in a new light, there's a good one called The Bon Marche by Michael Miller and then before I knew it I wanted to know all there was to know about Paris.Happy reading indeed.

[Margaret Powling]

I have ordered this book and look forward to reading it. Two excellent books on the history of shopping are: Shops and Shopping 1800-1814 by Alison Adburgham and Shopping in Style, London from the Restoration to Edwardian Elegance, also by Alison Adburgham (both out of print but possibly available from www.abebooks.co.uk or 2nd hand shops. In print is The Virago Book of The Joy of Shopping. The first quotation in the book is from The Ladies' Paradise by Zola: "The women reigned supreme. They had taken the shops by storm, camping there, as in a conquered country, like an invading horde, surrounded by the ravaged merchandise ..." Ooh, I'm looking forward to this book!

[Harriet]

What gorgeous pictures! and what an intriguing sounding book. I dipped my toe into Zola last year and now I think I'd better get hold of this one soon.

[Fay Sheco]

Karen, after reading this book I watched the DVD of the 1937 film, _The Life of Emile Zola_ and was delighted to see that the set and costume designers had carefully made use of all the different kinds of lace mentioned in this novel--on cafe curtains, on table cloths, on women's clothing.

My read of the novel turned into an art (or craft) history project, with special emphasis on internet surfing to find lace and Persian-style rugs, which are featured in the novel's department store. The images enhanced the read enormously, and I learned a lot about lace.

[Ros]

That sounds like my idea of shopping heaven. I still mourn the old fabric department in Liberty's. However, I did recently spend a very happy couple of hours in Mood Fabrics in NYC - bliss.

[Nicola]

Look forward to your thoughts on The Ladies' Paradise, Karen. It was a set text for my English degree and I remember how much I loved it. Wasn't it Madame Marty who was always overspending in the store? I related to her ...

[elaine]

http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2006/09/ladies_delight.html

here is my write up about this last year. I adored this book. As you say, it a'int subtle but jsut a feast for the senses

[elaine]

http://randomjottings.typepad.com/random_jottings_of_an_ope/2006/09/
ladies_delight.html

sorry chopped some of the end off

[adele geras]

I just love that paragraph. It's almost my ideal sort of description. Zola is absolutely ACE and I urge all Cornflower readers to investigate all his Rougon-Macquart novels which are like an enormous SOAP OPERA covering every aspect of society. They are all fantastic. Germinal and L'assomoir are amazing....and very different from this one.