Charles Frederick Worth The Englishman who Invented Parisian Haute Couture: … with the invaluable help of his French wife Marie and the Empress Eugénie

by Stephen Clarke

Even the French acknowledge this English designer, Charles Worth (1825-95) as the founder of French haute couture. This new biography by the author of 1000 Years of Annoying the French tells for the first time the full story of Worth's often-underestimated wife Marie, who was his muse, chief saleswoman and the first-ever full-time fashion model.
Writing with the help of the Worth family, Stephen Clarke is able to correct received wisdoms about Charles' and Marie's early life, their methods and their relationship.
Coincides with the bicentenary of both Charles Worth and Marie Worth née Vernet.
The story in
1845: an impoverished Englishman arrives in Paris. Jobless and speaking almost no French, Charles Worth has recently completed an apprenticeship as a fabric salesman in London. After a year of sweeping floors, he gets a job
at a chic Parisian fabric shop, where he meets a salesgirl, Marie Vernet, also newly qualified.
The ambitions of this lower-class Anglo-French couple arouse fierce jealousies in snobbish Paris, but together they will lay the foundations of the modern fashion
- Charles invents himself as France’s first male fashion designer and dictator of style.
- Marie becomes the first full-time fashion model, on the first-ever Parisian catwalk.
- They create the first must-have designer label in history, worn by the 19th century’s most glamorous women.

342 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 18, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

We heard Stephen give a talk locally about subject of this biography/history. I have always thought good speakers are not good writers and vice-versa. But I'm wrong. Stephen writes as well as he speaks.
This history is full of sources taken from French and English materials, and includes lots of French history - but only to contextualise the history of haute couture - a subject I thought I'd never read or appreciate! Charles Worth (a Lincolnshire man) and his wife Marie (a Frenchwoman) invented to whole market for haute couture. This tale brings fascinating contexts - the daily pay of seamstresses; the historic personalities of the French Second Empire; the extravagance of the ladies of the time in high society; and the consequences of revolutions! A really good read with the right balance of history and biography!

[Ettianna Roscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at the Worth exhibit held at the Petit Palais last summer. I was initially skeptical because while I recognized the author’s name, his other books are not my cup of tea and the front and back cover design looks self-published. I was very happily proved wrong. He weaves a fascinating narrative of 19th century Paris, supplementing information about the Worth’s lives and business with information about the various social, political and economic trends affecting Paris, Europe and the world at any given time. At no point was I bored, and I often put the book down to Google the many interesting references made to individuals, historic buildings and events. A great read for anyone who loves fashion and history.

[Mary Anne Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

Interesting especially if you are familiar with culture. This is all I have to say. I will subminterit my opinion