Definitions

I know what you're thinking- what exactly is a quaintrelle, anyways? Well, I can give you both the short and long answer to that question. Briefly, the official definition of a quaintrelle is as follows: 

quaintrelle (n.):  a woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life's pleasures.

The history of the word 'quaintrelle' is not so brief. It did not exist before the nineteenth century, when 'dandyess' (alternately spelled 'dandizette') was used as a feminine form of 'dandy'. Dandyess described a woman who was devoted to her dress and appearance. 

Towards the second half of the 1800s, dandyess died out and quaintrelle was coined, derived from a twelfth century English word, 'coint'. Coint was first applied to skillfully made, beautiful objects and was later used to describe a person who spoke and dressed with elegance. 

This is what we hope to accomplish with Quaintrelle: a platform made for anyone to express their elegance, whether it be through fashion, photographs, poetry, music, or any other creative outlet. It is important to all of us at Quaintrelle that this creativity remains free of any editing so that the style of the original author is kept intact. 
To put it simply, this blog is written for present-day quaintrelles as an homage to the quaintrelles of the past. 

We hope you enjoy our creation.

Yours,

Helen