美国国家公共电台 NPR Vive Le Confort! For Corseted Courtiers, This Dress Was A French Revolution

Vive Le Confort! For Corseted Courtiers, This Dress Was A French Revolution

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Last February in Paris, a really old dress sold for more than $150,000. Granted, the dress might have been worn at Versailles, and it's in mint condition, considering it's been around since the 1720s or '30s. And it was part of a fashion revolution. Still, only museums or collectors of antique textiles would put out that kind of money. NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg says a fashion museum did just that.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE¹: This is the dress? This - there, covered with a sheet?

We're in a big, empty storage room where the Palais Galliera, the fashion museum of the city of Paris, keeps its clothing archive.

That's it?

PASCALE GORGUET-BALLESTEROS: Yes, this is the dress.

STAMBERG: Curator Pascale Gorguet-Ballesteros lifts the sheet off a mannequin to reveal a long, luscious² yellow brocade gown - loose cut, patterned with silver thread, soft pleats in the rear, a deep V in front, graceful³ flowy sleeves. Tell you the truth, it looks like a million bucks⁴. No wonder the museum wanted it.

GORGUET-BALLESTEROS: The dress is interesting for the French history, for Versailles history and for fashion history.

RAPHAEL UTAN: (Speaking French).

STAMBERG: The dress is called a robe volante - means flying dress. The shape is so full. An auction⁵ house in Lyon sent textile expert Raphael Maravelle Utan to Paris by train before the sale to show it to prospective⁶ clients. University of Pennsylvania historian Joan de Jean says Utan took care as he traveled.

JOAN JEAN: He brought it in a specially⁷ designed suitcase.

STAMBERG: En route, a bid arrived by text for over a hundred thousand euros more than he expected. Raphael held the suitcase closer, made his rounds in Paris and went back to Lyon.

MARAVELLE UTAN: (Speaking French).

STAMBERG: Joan de Jean, author of "The Age Of Comfort," says, you had to dress in a certain way in Louis XIV's court.

DE JEAN: You want to look formal. You want to look rich. You want to look powerful. You want to look impressive. That's what a court's about.

STAMBERG: For women, that meant luxurious⁸ fabric⁹, stiff, tight bodices, little waistlines. They were caged in, their bodies rigid¹⁰. Courtiers had to be as formal and magnificent as possible.

DE JEAN: Court dress was obligatory¹¹. His idea was to have a look of the French court. But they were to look all the same, all formal, for when his court was gathered around him, there would be this uniform style.

STAMBERG: In Louis XIV's court, stylish¹² women stood around a lot. All the bindings made it too hard to sit. At the end of that century, the formality begins to wear thin as it were. Magnificence becomes a burden.

DE JEAN: No one in France wants to get dressed up anymore. Everyone just wants to be comfortable.

STAMBERG: And so what Joan de Jean calls the greatest fashion revolution of all time is launched. The revolutionaries were young women of the court, merchants and dressmakers. Down with the corsets and cages. Up with the robe volante - full and comfy, in fancy fabrics¹³ or simple cottons. Everyone could wear it, and they did. The robe becomes a social leveler.

DE JEAN: There were even foreign visitors to Paris who say it's an amazing thing in this city. You can't tell who is who.

STAMBERG: Women could move differently. They could sit and lounge, cross their legs, even show a bit of leg. Painters started fixating on ankles and shins.

DE JEAN: The leg as an object of desire. The leg as an erogenous zone.

STAMBERG: All this from a new style of clothing. That gorgeous, expensive example is at the Palais Galliera in Paris right now. And there, textile specialist Marie-Noelle Sudre says it stands as a beacon¹⁴ of change and progress.

MARIE-NOELLE SUDRE: It's like a sun, this dress.

STAMBERG: Like looking at the sun.

SUDRE: When you cross the museum and you see something like the sun.

STAMBERG: It's really that special, huh?

SUDRE: Yes.

STAMBERG: I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 luscious   

adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的

参考例句：

• The watermelon was very luscious.Everyone wanted another slice.西瓜很可口，每个人都想再来一片。
• What I like most about Gabby is her luscious lips!我最喜欢的是盖比那性感饱满的双唇！

3 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

4 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

6 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

7 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

8 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

9 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

10 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

11 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

12 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

13 fabrics   

织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地

参考例句：

• cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
• The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。

14 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。