Marchande de modes was a French

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

organisation for women fashion merchants or

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

s, normally meaning ornaments for headdresses, hats and dresses, within the city of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, active from August 1776 until 1791. It played a dominating role within the commercial life and fashion industry of France during the last decades prior to the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. Amongst its members where

Rose Bertin Marie-Jeanne Rose Bertin (2 July 1747, Abbeville, Picardy, France – 22 September 1813, Épinay-sur-Seine) was a French milliner ('' Marchande de modes''), known as the dressmaker to Queen Marie Antoinette. She was the first celebrated Fr ...

Mademoiselle Alexandre Mademoiselle Alexandre (d. ''after'' 1779), was a French fashion merchant ('' Marchandes de modes''). Mademoiselle Alexandre came from a family of dressmakers. In 1740, she opened a fashion shop at the Rue de la Monnaie in Paris. She foremost sold ...

and Madame Eloffe.

References

* James-Sarazin, Ariane et Lapasin, Régis, Gazette des atours de Marie-Antoinette, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Archives nationales, 2006 {{Expand French, date=January 2018, Marchande de modes Guilds in France Women in France Historical legal occupations 18th century in Paris 1791 disestablishments in France History of fashion 1776 establishments in France Fashion occupations 18th-century fashion French businesspeople in fashion 18th-century French businesspeople 1776 in France 18th century in women's history

See also

References