The bling king?

They’ve called Paris the “City of Light” since about 1662, when it became the world’s first urban hub to regularly light its streets after sunset. What a keen insight: that so much of nightlife is about being seen. That’s thanks to the highly fashion-forward Sun King of France, Louis XIV, who at around the same time was busy turning his dad’s country hunting lodge, Versailles, into Europe’s epicenter of extravagant high style.

If old Quatorze were a David Mamet character, he’d be all, “You see that brooch? You see that brooch? That brooch cost more than your horse and carriage combined!” It’s thanks to him that diamonds and full-length mirrors and other glinting things mean so much to us. It’s thanks to him, at least in part, that we live in a world of perfume-soaked 300-page magazines full of emaciated, glam-raging coke fiends. Vive la couture!

Learn more from CSUS French professor Vanessa Arnaud, who lectures on the roots of French chic this Saturday, 4:30 p.m., at the Alliance Française de Sacramento, 1721 25th Street. Admission runs $4 to $6, and seating is limited. For more information, call (916) 453-1723 or visit www.afdesacramento.org.