The development of window shopping, as a form of recreation, is strongly associated with the rise of the middle classes in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. As standards of living improved in the 17th century, consumers from a broad range of social backgrounds began to purchase goods that were in excess of basic necessities. An emergent middle class or
bourgeoisie stimulated demand for
luxury goods, and the act of shopping came to be seen as a pleasurable pastime or form of entertainment. Shopping for pleasure became a particularly important activity for middle and upper-class women, since it allowed them to enter the public sphere without the need for a chaperone. Prior to the 17th century, glazed shop windows were virtually unknown. Instead, early shopkeepers typically had a front door with two wider openings on either side, each covered with shutters. The shutters were designed to open so that the top portion formed a canopy while the bottom was fitted with legs so that it could serve as a shopboard. Scholars have suggested that the medieval shopper's experience was very different. Many stores had openings onto the street from which they served customers. Glazed windows, which were rare in medieval times, meant that shop interiors were dark places which militated against detailed examination of the merchandise. Shoppers, who rarely entered the shop, had relatively few opportunities to inspect the merchandise prior to purchase. Glazing was widely used from the early 18th century. English commentators pointed to the speed at which glazing was installed.
Daniel Defoe, writing in 1726, noted, "Never was there such painting and guildings, such sashings and looking-glasses as the shopkeepers as there is now." The widespread availability of
plate glass in the 18th century led shop owners to build windows that spanned the full lengths of their shops for the display of merchandise to draw in customers. One of the first Londoners to experiment with this new glazing in a retail context was the tailor
Francis Place at his Charing Cross establishment. In Paris, where pedestrian pavements were few, retailers were eager to attract window shoppers by providing a safe shopping environment away from the filthy and noisy streets, and began to construct rudimentary arcades, which eventually evolved into the grand arcades of the late 18th century and which dominated retail throughout the 19th century. Opening in 1771, the
Colisée, situated on the
Champs Elysées, consisted of three arcades, each with ten shops, all running off a central ballroom. Parisians saw this location as too remote, and the arcade closed within two years of opening. Within a decade, the Palais shopping complex added many more shops, as well as cafés and theatres. In its heyday, the Palais-Royal was a complex of gardens, shops and entertainment venues situated on the external perimeter of the old palace grounds, under the original colonnades. The area boasted some 145 boutiques, cafés, salons, hair salons, bookshops, museums, and numerous refreshment kiosks, as well as two theatres. The retail outlets specialised in luxury goods such as fine jewellery, furs, paintings and furniture designed to appeal to the wealthy elite. London's
Burlington Arcade, which opened in 1819, positioned itself as an elegant and exclusive venue designed to attract the elite, from the outset. Some of the earliest examples of shopping arcades with expansive glazed shop-windows appeared in Paris. These were among the first modern shops to make use of glazed windows to display merchandise. Other notable nineteenth-century grand arcades included the
Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert in Brussels which was inaugurated in 1847, Istanbul's
Çiçek Pasajı opened in 1870 and Milan's
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, first opened in 1877. Promenading in these arcades became a popular nineteenth-century pastime for the emerging middle classes. Designed to attract the genteel middle class, these shopping arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. , illustrating use of glass in shop fronts and an atrium roofline By the 1900s the popularity of window displays had heightened and the window display became more elaborate, continuing to attract not only those that wanted to make purchases but also passers-by that appreciated beauty. To achieve the right aesthetics, store owners and managers would hire decorators or window dressers to attractively arrange merchandise in the shop windows; indeed, the professional window display design soon became an object used to lure shoppers into the stores. == As a form of leisure ==