Charles Frederick Worth the Englishman Who Invented Parisian Haute Cou

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 n e Vernet. The story in brief: 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