House of Worth

House of Worth

The House of Worth was a leading Paris haute couture firm, established by Charles Frederick Worth, called the 'father of haute couture' and continued by his sons.

Charles Worth was raised in Bourne, Lincolnshire, and apprenticed as a draper in London for six years at Swan and Edgars, which specialized in fine wools and silks. In 1845, at the age of twenty-one, he set out to find his fortune in Paris. He became an assistant draper at Maison Gagelin at 83 Rue Richelieu, where he was to remain for over ten years, rising to "premier commis". Among his innovations was the introduction of ready-made muslin dress samples from which patrons could choose a style; he would then match the choice to an appropriate fabric.

At Gagelin's he met Marie Vernet, a "demoiselle de maison" who demonstrated the features of the cloths as draped on a moving woman. They were attracted to each other very early on, but owing to their limited incomes they did not marry until May 21st, 1851. This was just six weeks after the Great Exhibition opened at the Crystal Palace in London. Maison Gagelin showed several of Worth's designs there and although they caused great consternation in their departure from current fashion Gagelin was awarded a gold medal for France.

Charles and Marie had two sons, Gaston and Jean-Phillipe. It was exhausting for Marie to live far away from her employers' and have the children cared for by hired help. Worth opened his own gallery at 7 rue de la Paix in 1858.

His sons, Gaston-Lucien (1853–1924) and Jean-Philippe (1856–1926), took over their father's business following his death in 1895 and succeeded in maintaining his high standards. The house flourished during the sons' tenure and into the 1920s. The great fashion dynasty finally came to an end in 1952 when Charles Frederick Worth's great-grandson, Jean-Charles (1881–1962), retired from the family business. In 1954, the House merged with Paquin. Then in 1956 was closed.

External links

* [http://www.worthparis.com Worth Paris]
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrth/hd_wrth.htm Charles Worth and the House of Worth]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Worth, Charles Frederick — (1826 1895)    Born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England, he started his career working in a dry goods store in London before moving to Paris in 1846, where he worked at a prominent dry goods and dressmaking firm, Gagelin et Opigez. He not only… …   Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry

  • worth — worth1 W2S1 [wə:θ US wə:rθ] prep [: Old English; Origin: weorth worthy, of a particular value ] 1.) be worth sth a) to have a value in money ▪ The house must be worth quite a lot of money now. ▪ One of the pictures is worth £50,000. ▪ Do you know …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • worth — I UK [wɜː(r)θ] / US [wɜrθ] adjective *** Summary: Worth usually follows the verb to be and is always followed by either a noun, pronoun, or number, or by the ing form of a verb: The painting is probably worth thousands of pounds. ♦ It was a… …   English dictionary

  • worth*/*/*/ — [wɜːθ] adj I 1) if you say how much something is worth, you state its value in money How much do you reckon the house is worth?[/ex] a Gucci watch worth £1, 000[/ex] 2) used for saying that there is a good enough reason for doing something,… …   Dictionary for writing and speaking English

  • House on Haunted Hill (1999 film) — Infobox Film name = House on Haunted Hill caption = Theatrical Release Poster director = William Malone producer = Robert Zemeckis Joel Silver Gilbert Adler writer = Robb White Dick Beebe starring = Geoffrey Rush Famke Janssen Taye Diggs Peter… …   Wikipedia

  • Worth School — ist eine private Römisch Katholische Internats und Tagesschule für Schüler zwischen 11 und 18 Jahren. Sie befindet sich in der Nähe von Turners Hill, Crawley in West Sussex/England. Sie liegt auf dem Gelände des Worth Abbey, eines… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Worth Park Gardens — (formerly known as Milton Mount Gardens) is a recreational parkland in Pound Hill, Crawley. The park covers eight hectares and includes formal gardens, and a lake area. [1] [2] …   Wikipedia

  • Worth, West Sussex — Worth, once a separate village but now part of the Crawley New Town, is also a civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex.Worth villageWorth village has Saxon origins: Worth Church still retains its Saxon floor plan. The Wealden iron… …   Wikipedia

  • House (TV series) — House Also known as House, M.D. Format Medical drama Mystery Dramedy …   Wikipedia

  • House of Orléans — Country France Ancestral house House of Bourbon descended from Capetian dynasty Titles …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”