Fashion at the Beginning of the Department Store Era. Terminological Features in Au Bonheur des dames

Abstract

In the second half of the 19th century, the development of department stores led to a profound transformation in both commercial practices and consumer habits. With a wide range of goods on offer and a modern, functional interior design, Parisian department stores became a major attraction for all visitors to Paris. This emerging phenomenon was described in detail by Zola in his novel Au Bonheur des dames (1883), based on a careful two-month field observation. Assuming that the novel probably contains terms relating to the most significant concepts of fashion and its distribution in the socio-cultural context of department stores in the second half of the 19th century, this study aims to identify and analyse them, focusing on terms concerning the day-to-day running of department stores. The innovative nature of certain concepts is documented with a set of short extracts from the novel. A comparison with the real context of the Bon marché highlights the realistic nature of the setting in which the story takes place.