Queen Mary II of England wearing fontanges and a frelange, 1688 (mezzotint made 1690s)

A fontange, or frelange, is a high headdress popular during the turn of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in Europe. Technically, fontanges are only part of the assembly, referring to the ribbon bows which support the frelange.^[1]. The frelange was supported by a wire framework called a commode.^[1] A surviving example of a frelange headdress with fontanges and commode in situ is that worn by the 1690s fashion doll Lady Clapham.^[2][3] In England, the style was popularly known as a 'top-knot', versions of which were worn by ladies of all ranks, from the Queen downwards to kitchen maids, making it an easy target for satire and criticism.^[2]

The fontange is said to be named for the Marquise de Fontange, a mistress of King Louis XIV of France. One version of the story is that after losing her cap while hunting with the King, the Marquise tied her hair up using a ribbon in a manner that pleased him, and this was imitated by the other ladies at court, subsequently spreading across Europe.^[4] What started out as a simple headdress of folded ribbon in the 1680s became, with additional fabric, lace and trimmings, taller and more complex, increasingly difficult to create and wear.^[2][5] Despite its courtly origins, fontanges were forbidden to be worn at French state occasions, although the English court accepted them, with Queen Mary having her portrait painted wearing one.^[2][1]

The term "fontange" is also used by some writers to refer to the associated hairstyle or the combination of headdress and hairstyle.^[4] The 'fontange coiffure' was a hairstyle where the front of the hair was worn curled and piled high above the forehead in front of the frelange, which was always higher than the hair. Sometimes the hairstyle was supported by a wire framework called a pallisade.^[6]

References[link]

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Romain Thievin
File:Rom1-racecar.jpg Romain Thievin
Nationality	France
Born	(1979-03-13) March 13, 1979 (age 33) Fontainebleau, France
Years active	1996-2009

Romain Gerard Michel Thievin (born March 13, 1979) is a five-time French champion in car racing and also a co-presenter of FAST CLUB,^[1] a car TV show broadcasting on W9 channel in France and Belgium.^[2] Romain is also an accomplished stunt driver, having worked on more than 150 movies. In 2003, he won a Taurus World Stunt Award ^[3] for his work in The Bourne Identity.

Thievin was born in Fontainebleau, France. With over 10 years of racing instruction, he has been a racing instructor for various racing schools in Europe between 2000 and 2004. He is the founder and owner of Cascadevents (largest racing school in France) since 2004. Thievin is also the founder and owner of Exotics Racing (racing school based at Las Vegas Motor Speedway ) since 2009 ^[4]. As a regular driver handling "ride-alongs" for Cascadevents and Exotics Racing, Romain has had more than 40,000 laps of high-speed drifting rides in the Corvette Z06, Porsche GT3-RS and Ferrari 430 Scuderia without any accidents.

Racing Accomplishments[link]

• 1996: Formula Renault French Championship – 7th place overall
• 1997: Citroen Saxo Cup – 10th best rookie of the year
• 1998: Renault Megane Trophy – 5th best rookie of the year
• 1999: Peugeot 106 Trophy – 2nd overall, Win at the 12 Hours of Le Mans
• 2000: Peugeot 306 Cup – Won Championship
• 2001:

Superproduction French Championship with a Peugeot 306 Maxi: won championship, 13 wins over 14 races

Peugeot 206 CC Cup: won championship and best rookie

• 2002:

Official Driver for Peugeot in the French National Championship of Touring Cars (Supertourisme), in a Peugeot 406 Silhouette: 10th overall in the “A” Championship with a “B”  : Championship car

GT French Championship: 2 races in a Venturi LM400

• 2009: 5 races in the Racecar Euro Series as TV host for French car TV show FAST CLUB – 2 wins, 3 podiums^[5]
• 2011: Racecar Euro Series: Driver with the Fast Club team in the #99 Ford Mustang ^{[6] [7]}

Finished in 2nd place ^[8]

• 2011: World Touring Racecar at Daytona International Speedway ^[9]

2nd place in the Sprint GT 1 Race at Daytona International Speedway

3rd place in the Endurance Louis Chevrolet Race at Daytona International Speedway

• 2012: Racecar Euro Series: Driver with the Exotics Racing team in the #99 Dodge Challenger

Movies and television[link]

• Stunt driver in more than 150 movies & TV series including feature films as Ronin, Taxi and The Bourne Identity^[10]
• Official race car driver and co-host for the French car TV show Fast Club^[11]
• Winner of the Taurus World Stunt Award in 2003 (Hollywood) for doubling Matt Damon in “The Bourne Identity” ^[12]

References[link]