Fontange
Encyclopedia
A fontange is the name of a hairstyle
popular in the late 17th and early 18th centuries in France
. The name originates from the Marquise de Fontange
, who was for a time the mistress of King Louis XIV of France. One summer day in 1680, Louis XIV returned from hunting and saw his nineteen-year-old mistress doing her hair this way and The King asked her to fix her hair this way all the time. Soon, all the women at the court had copied the style, which then spread across Europe. The hairstyle became taller and more complex, until it was hard to create and difficult to wear. The fontange, in all its forms, was popular between 1680 and 1710.
Hairstyle
A hairstyle, hairdo, or haircut refers to the styling of hair, usually on the human head. The fashioning of hair can be considered an aspect of personal grooming, fashion, and cosmetics, although practical, cultural, and popular considerations also influence some hairstyles.-History of...
popular in the late 17th and early 18th centuries in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The name originates from the Marquise de Fontange
Angélique de Fontanges
Marie Angélique de Scorailles was a French noblewoman and one of the many mistresses of Louis XIV. A lady-in-waiting to his sister-in-law the Duchess of Orléans, she caught the attention of the Sun King and became his lover in 1679...
, who was for a time the mistress of King Louis XIV of France. One summer day in 1680, Louis XIV returned from hunting and saw his nineteen-year-old mistress doing her hair this way and The King asked her to fix her hair this way all the time. Soon, all the women at the court had copied the style, which then spread across Europe. The hairstyle became taller and more complex, until it was hard to create and difficult to wear. The fontange, in all its forms, was popular between 1680 and 1710.