http://ersatz-read.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] ersatz-read.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2012-05-07 09:00 pm

recherche

recherche, adj.  sought out with care; lavishly elegant and refined.

Etymology:  stolen directly from the French recherché, "carefully sought out". 
À la Recherche du Temps Perdu ("Remembrance of Things Past") is a novel by Marcel Proust. 
A la Recherche du Shoe Perdu is a collection from Andy Warhol.

In English, the word was used in the 19th century to denote obscure elegance.