Bohemian lifestyle

In modern usage, the term "Bohemian" is applied to people who live unconventional, usually artistic, lives. The adherents of the "Bloomsbury Group", which formed around the Stephen sisters, Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf in the early 20th century, are among the best-known examples. The original "Bohemians" were travellers or refugees from central Europe (hence, the French bohémien, for "gypsy").

Reflecting on the fashion style of "boho-chic" in the early years of the 21st century, the Sunday Times thought it ironic that "fashionable girls wore ruffly floral skirts in the hope of looking bohemian, nomadic, spirited and non-bourgeois", whereas "gypsy girls themselves ... are sexy and delightful precisely because they do not give a hoot for fashion". By contrast, in the late 19th century and first half of the 20th, aspects of Bohemian fashion reflected the lifestyle itself.

The bohemian sub-culture has been closely connected with predominantly male artists and intellectuals. The female counterparts have been closely connected with the so called Grisettes,young women who combined part-time prostitution with various other occupations. In the first quarter of the 19th century, the term Grisette also came to refer more specifically to the independent young women. These, often working as seamstresses or milliner's assistants as well frequented bohemian artistic and cultural venues in Paris. Many grisettes worked as artist's models, often providing sexual favours to the artists in addition to posing for them. During the time of King Louis-Philippe they came to dominate the bohemian modelling scene.

"Art is the grand excuse for all actions that are beyond vulgar. It is art that purifies everything, even a poor young woman's submission of her body."

The grisette became a frequent character in French fiction but have been mentioned as early as in 1730 by Jonathan Swift. The term, compare The grisette in poetry, signifies qualities of both flirtatiousness and intellectual aspiration, Du Maurier based large parts of Trilby on his experiences as a student in Parisian bohemia during the 1850s. Poe's 1842 story was based on the unsolved murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers near New York City, subtitled "A Sequel to 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue'", it was the first detective story to attempt the solution of a real crime. The most enduring grisette is Mimi in Henri Murger’s novel (and subsequent play) Scènes de la vie de Bohème, the source for Puccini's famous opera La bohème.

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