Charlotte spent time exploring nearby attractions, shopping for smuggled French silks, and from late September taking a course of heated seawater baths.

"I'm in search of truth, like any scholar," he said, seated in his apartment, the walls sheathed in 18th-century French silk, the shelves lined with leather-bound volumes and antique statuary.

All of his dresses and separates are created using couture construction techniques mostly in French silks.

French silk stockings?

The industry contracted as fashion showed a preference for cottons and French silk.

By 1824, with restrictions on importation of French silks relaxed, up to half these looms became idle, and prices were driven down.

Cindy hardly seemed like the same sleek and carefree girl who'd so recently cavorted on the California beaches in a bikini of French silk.

Van Beuningen agreed to the ban on French silk and actions against French brandy and salt.

There is nothing that compares with French silk.

But - surprise - so does Hermès, the super-stylish French silk and saddle leather merchant.