Fashion and the maritime empires

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract / Description of output

These are the opening lines of a popular French song that has its roots in the Caribbean islands that were colonized by France.2 It is written from the perspective of a Creole woman who is expressing her grief as she realizes that her lover – presumably a white French sailor – has left the island. In the song there is a deliberate deployment of textile artefacts (foulard and Madras) as symbols of the loss that the woman experiences. She is not only sorry that her lover is leaving, but also lamenting that she will no longer have access to fine things like textiles and gold jewellery (collier choux), which were fashionable in the eighteenth century in the French Caribbean.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Cambridge Global History of Fashion
Subtitle of host publicationFrom Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century
EditorsChristopher Breward, Beverly Lemire, Giorgio Riello
PublisherCambridge University Press
Chapter11
Pages363-398
Volume1
ISBN (Electronic)9781108850353
ISBN (Print)9781108752657, 9781108495561
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Publication series

Name The Cambridge History of Fashion

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