Robe à la française Detail of robe à la française

A fashionable robe à la française might be made from yards of expensive silk brocade draped over wide hoops, trimmed with handmade lace, and elaborately accessorized. Often dismissed as wasteful, aristocratic luxury supported a host of artisans. According to the great French writer Montesquieu (1748), there was "an absolute necessity for luxury. Were the rich not so lavish, the poor would starve."