improve his level of knowledge. The National Gallery Trafalgar Square,
which he visited often became his treasure of information. Through the
displayed paintings he observed the changes in the dress styles of women
over the centuries. He was intrigued by the progression of fashion and how
the past influenced the future of fashion, sparking ideas of clothing women in
his mind. The knowledge he acquired during this period later became valu-
able in his career in Paris.
As he continued his apprenticeship and self-education, his appetite for
designing women’s clothes grew and he became restless to satisfy it. He
learnt from magazines that the centre of female fashion was Paris, and he
immediately realized that his dreams could only become reality in Paris. He
decided that his time in London would soon be over and he set his sights on
Paris.
At the age of 19, Worth ended his apprenticeship period at Swan & Edgar
and joined the prestigious establishment of Lewis & Allenby on the same
Regent Street, London. He had become a sophisticated textile salesman and
finessed his skills while planning to leave for Paris. His ambition was real-
ized within a year.Welcome to Paris
In order to realize his dream of going to Paris, Worth once again turned to his
mother for financial support. Between them, they raised enough money to
cover his transport fare from London to Paris, with £5 extra for pocket
money. He had no contacts in Paris, no aristocratic connections, no knowl-
edge of the French language, little education and almost no savings. Yet in
the winter of 1845, just after his twentieth birthday, Charles Frederick Worth
took his own destiny in his hands and left London for Paris to pursue his
ambitions.
His early years in Paris were difficult. His lack of money, verbal and writ-
ten communication skills in the French language and Parisian fashion know-
how forced him to take menial jobs to survive. His hopes of success in
fashion were quickly dashed but he refused to concede to failure and return
home. Even if he had wanted to, he didn’t have enough money for his trans-
port fare back to England.
After one year, he eventually found a menial job in a dry goods store,
where he improved his French language skills and became comfortable with
dealing with customers. He continued to visit galleries, especially the Louvre,
where he observed scores of costumes in paintings. He also frequented the
streets that housed the prestigious shops of silk and textile mercers of high
fashion on Rue Richelieu. He nurtured his dream of becoming a dressmaker
although this was also considered a woman’s job in Paris. Worth was deter-
mined to become a dressmaker rather than a man’s clothing tailor, because he
knew where his talent lay.50
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