ABSTRACT
During the eighteenth century, relations between Sweden and France were good. French culture and French luxury were both desired and detested in Sweden. Furthermore, the attitudes towards luxury were ambiguous and the concepts of luxury, necessity and extravagance were constantly defined and redefined in eighteenth-century Sweden. The Swedish aristocracy was politically powerful, cosmopolitan, francophone, well educated and familiar with aristocratic circles in other European states. This chapter discusses the luxury shopping experience of the Swedish aristocracy in Paris, as well as the meanings and representations of luxury for this aristocracy. It analyses subjective choices in urban shopping and decision-making and explores the role of gender in individual cases. The chapter also presents the variety of goods the Swedish aristocracy bought in Paris. In eighteenth-century Sweden, sumptuary laws forbade most foreign luxury goods. The economic policies of the crown aimed at protecting Swedish production by taxing or banning foreign, most often French luxury.
