Louis XIV and... Napoleon?

I ADORE Louis XIV. He's such an icon, and he is mainly the reason why we have French as the pioneer of fashion today. I did my Honors in French project on him and other brands in sophomore year. In junior year, I had already maxed out all the French classes I could take, so I was trying to find a project that I could do on my own.

In our library at Culver, we have a whole collection of books about Napoleon, and so I would go up to the librarians quite often to ask whether I can go to this special book collection because I was bored. Because they knew about my proficiency in French, I borrowed a few French books throughout the year, so they just left me to my devices because I went so often.

The more I read about Napoleon, the more I saw how orderly he was. To be fair, prior to my access to this collection, one of the only things I knew about him was that he was supposedly short, and that he was the Emperor of France after the Revolution. But as I read his letters and as I read up what he did during his time as Emperor, I humanized him and saw this historical figure in a new light.

I was reading about his "Legion d'Honneur" and how it was the longest standing order in France today. There are different medals for different ranks, and that is standard for the military. But what I realized is that Napoleon was also into fashion. Not as much as Louis XIV, but in Napoleon used uniforms in his military. He knew that your image is everything, so he knew to revive a lot of the textile industries that were in decline.

This is what I've found so far, but here is my introduction paragraph, because I want to make a formal paper out of this:

For those who know him, Louis XIV was a pioneering figure in fashion and culture in the 18th century. He brought luxury goods manufacturing to France and centralized his power over the aristocrats of France by making Versailles the premier destination, apart from Paris. He was known for his extravagance and blinding opulence, hence the name, the Sun King. His reasons for enabling the country to manufacture luxury items were clear; it was because of mercantilist ideologies and a need for power. But was he the only French ruler to do so? When we think of the Sun King, we think of him being one of a kind. But one French ruler, not a king, may rival Louis XIV himself, Napoleon Bonaparte. Both of them used absolute power to rule the country by amassing power and influence. But one unconventional method was through fashion.