This thesis argues for the cultural space of late nineteenth-century Parisian shopgirls as a position of power. The shopgirls' role in society is an ambiguous position connecting fashion consumer culture, class divides, gender and identity perceptions, and the workspace. Using James Tissot's Femme à Paris series, specifically the image Demoiselles de Magasin, and Emile Zola's novel Au Bonheur des Dames as primary sources, I examine the role of the shopgirl as a liminal position within the definition of the iconic 'La Parisienne' woman. By looking at women's work and the role of shopgirls in the boutique and department store world of fashion and consumerism, we can see how shopgirls' unique position gives historical significance to this kind of work. By looking at painting and literature as primary media, we can see how pervasive the shopgirl and La Parisienne imagery really at this time. Using a feminist approach, this thesis shows how the shopgirl occupies a particular social space for women in nineteenth-century France, perhaps even a somewhat influential position in Parisian culture, as she is a primary facilitator in the fashion world for transmitting 'taste'— a marketable branding tool of French fashion that permeates the iconic ideals of French fashion.

Images of shop assistants - class and gender in french urban environments during the 1880’s. The aim of this study is to examine the representation of class and gender in two French paintings by Édouard-Jean Dambourgez and James Tissot from the 1880’s, depicting women working outside the home. I have examined how their roles as shop assistants are captured and if the male gaze, and subsequently the woman as an object, has any explanatory value in the paintings. The artworks were analysed using a somewhat reworked version of Erwin Panofskys Iconography, as well as through marxist and feminist theories. The analysis discusses how class and gender are produced in these paintings and I have reached the conclusion that they can be produced in different ways.