Dare to wear: performing the prohibition of indiennes on the streets of Paris

This chapter analyses a set of Paris police documents from 1727–1738 that record infractions of the protectionist ban on wearing indiennes. These were popular colourful fabrics imported from the East, which were also imitated by European manufacturers. Enforcement of the multiple legislations passed in France during the long period of prohibition (1686–1759) was draconian and inequitable. Women, predominantly from lower and middle classes, were spied upon, named, shamed and fined. As with present day controversies over the hijab, women’s dress was a flashpoint for wider societal debates. The series of ordonnances issued by René Hérault, Lieutenant Général de Police, exhibit a dual performance of upholding and breaking the law, enacted through textual, visual and spatial strategies. As the scopic legal gaze is lured by the exotic and feminine, the subversive properties of indiennes present an opportunity for wider social change.