Possibly one of the most iconic images of a woman of the Georgian era wearing a riding habit has to be that of Lady Seymour Worsley. So, with that in mind, we thought we would take a look at this f…
fripperiesandfobs: 1760’s/70’s ensembles featuring a fabo umbrella
Throughout the 18th century, women’s dresses changed constantly as did the concepts of beauty. A noticeable aspect that appeared in England in the beginning of the 18th century was the widesp…
Lotherton's holdings of historical costume have their roots in the Sanderson collection bought by Leeds City Art Galleries in 1949. Especially rich in eighteenth-century dresses and fine suits, the collection has been extended to include work by leading modern designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Zandra Rhodes.
Date: ca. 1730. Culture: French. Medium: silk. Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of The Costume Institute Gifts, 2010. Accession Number: 2010.148. ...
Venetian nobleman in the second half of the 17th century. French Baroque Period fashion in the reign of Louis XIV. Justaucorps, Allonge wig, Rheingraf pants
Beautiful 18th Costume Source
Lately I've had to make the leap in time from colonial fashion to early 19th-century fashion in the new novel I'm writing. Believe me, it's a tricky transition! Though Regency era clothing is lovely in some respects, my heart has always been at home with 18th-century fashions. My love affair with colonial dress began early. When I was a girl, my Kentucky granny sewed me a linen costume much like these above, complete with ivory apron, cap, and fichu, only my dress was burgundy. I loved it and wore it in the 1776 bicentennial parade in Lexington, Kentucky.I also had a love affair with paper dolls. Remember those McCall's magazines that had paper dolls? I awaited my mom's issues every month and cut out those costumes with glee:) When I look back now I see that I was being given inspiration even way back when. Over time I began to long for a "real" colonial gown of my own, a reproduction that would help me identify with the colonial heroines in my books. But these kinds of items are very expensive and I couldn't justify the cost. But, thankfully, the Lord often gives us the desires of our hearts in ways we least expect:) Last October I "stumbled" onto e-bay, a place I'd never been, and found a beautiful period gown. The lace on the gown I bought for a song is over 100 years old. It's made of high quality silk taffeta that rustles when you walk and truly feels like a dream. The seamstress is a colonial artist who sews period gowns for the models who are in her paintings. She was letting some of her gowns go for a very reasonable price and I happened upon this one dress right after she posted it for sale. It didn't take long for me to discover you're only half-dressed for colonial times when you only have the dress. But stays - oh my! Almost as expensive as a gown! This photo shows "jumps" instead of stays. Anyone want to explain the difference? I'm still saving my shillings for stays. Next item needed was a shift. I ordered this one. The feel of this linen shift is so different than cotton and gives a wonderful glimpse into the undergarments or "small clothes" people wore then. The stays go on over the shift, if you're wondering. I won't even begin to talk about pocket hoops and petticoats;) This hat is from the Colonial Williamsburg collection and is my favorite. The needlework is exquisite, don't you think? These complete a woman's wardrobe - clocked stockings and buckles and shoes. No, they're not mine but I can dream, can't I? All that's missing are the garters. My favorite thing about the colonial period? No underpants! What fashion era do you like best?
I've created another "larger" digital scene using several of the "Dancing Maries" and some great vintage toy theater images. Two of these ladies you are probably already acquainted with from previous posts and now there is the 3rd Dancing Marie - making her debut on the far right. Marie #3 is probably the most "intense" looking of all the Dancing Maries; yet her regal appearance makes her a stately stand in for the real Marie Antoinette. Queen of the Castle by EKDuncan All the ladies in the above scene are EKDuncan altered versions based on original French Opera Costumes from the late 1700's. Dancing Marie #1 (on the left) can be found - HERE Dancing Marie #2 (center) can be found - HERE and now for Dancing Marie #3 The new dancing Marie is based on this original fashion plate. It is actually an Opera Costume from the late 1700's. Original Late 18th Century Opera Costume Here again I've worked a bit of Photoshop magic to create a png image and then created several color versions to create art-pieces with. Currently I have 5 color choices for this version of Marie. In her original color combination Blue and Pink ( I used this version on the Castle scene) Harvest Colors Lilac and Gold Skirt Olive and Gold Skirt These "Marie Antoinette" inspired fashion ladies are just so much fun to play with. First - I love to change their appearance and colors in Photoshop. Second - I love to create a digital stage for them to play on. Curtains and any Theater looking images are great for creating these kinds of digital scenes and if you can locate items that have a "period" feel, that's even better. One of the many things I enjoy collecting are backgrounds and curtains for vintage toy theaters, and the background and the curtain used in my "Castle" scene are such items. My "altered" Curtain used in the Castle Scene I have a whole series of "altered curtains" on my deviantART account - HERE This particular curtain is a new variation I created by taking a previously altered vintage curtain and making even more changes to it, till I arrived at this final version. That's one of the great things about creating digitally - you can just keep manipulating an image till you get what you are looking for. Vintage Toy Theater Background of a Gothic style Castle I've also made some modifications to the original toy theater background to make it work better with my digital art-piece. This is what the full backdrop to the finish scene looks like without the curtains and the ladies. Pretty! *********** I've got one more Dancing Marie coming up for you before we move on to other Marie Antoinette styled fashions. So I hope you drop back by for Dancing Marie #4 Teaser of the next Marie - Maire #4 The Gothic Arch on the above "teaser" is from PaperWhimsy Till next time...
Explore Francis Specht's 6427 photos on Flickr!
As evidenced by my habit of waxing poetically about them, hats are one of my passions! Today I thought we would take a look at a few of the more prominent hat styles of the later half of the 18th century. Firstly a note about caps! Cap, Mid 18th century, European, Cotton, MET The cap was an important part of an 18th century woman's wardrobe. A cap, of fine linen or lace for the upper classes, and of the best linen one could afford for the middling and lower classes, was an essential basic hair covering for propriety. Worn alone, or topped with a hat, the cap had many variations. As I am more interested in hats rather than caps, I have collected a few other fantastic posts about caps from other historic costume enthusiasts: - A Most Beguiling Accomplishment: Earlier 18th Century Caps - Isis' Wardrobe: Extant 18th Century Caps - Isis' Wardrobe: 18th Century Wired Caps - The Margret Hunter Millinery Shop of Colonial Williamsburg makes wonderful froofy caps! - Some more excellent cap reproductions here! Portrait of a lady said to be Mrs Godwin, neé Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) , 1792 I did want to include this one portrait portraying a super ginormous late 18th century cap! Caps became more and more elaborate and larger and larger as the century drew closer to a close. So did hats, but lets not get ahead of ourselves... To begin, we will take a look at one of the most popular styles of hat in the 18th century, the bergère! The bergère was a rather flat, round, low crowed had, usually made of straw whether covered with silk on top or not. Decorated with a simple ribbon or a profusion of trimmings, the bergère could be worn curved over the hair, tied onto the front at a rather precarious angle, or simply tied over one's cap flat on the head. Lets take a look at a few bergère... The White Hat, about 1780, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, MFA A lovely example of a trimmed bergère! The low crowned (possibly even no crown, aka flat) hat is covered in white silk, then trimmed with pleated sheer fabric, an ostrich feather and ribbon. Margaret Woffington, ca. 1760, Nathaniel Hone, The Tansey Miniatures Foundation An earlier black silk bergère with lace trim around the brim with a collection of trimmings covering the crown. Hat (bergère), French, 18th Century, MFA Underside of the same hat, Hat (bergère), French, 18th Century, MFA A crown doesn't get lower than this, this is essentially flat! The MFA describes the underside as "Green silk gauze brim bottom and crown lining decorated with green and pink silk cording and lavender silk artificial flowers to one side. Blue-green grosgrain ribbon chin tie" Detail lining, bergère, Netherlands, c.1725-1775. Straw hat with green and red striped silk ribbons, fully lined with cotton (indienne fabric). Underside of the hat above! So simple on the top and so colorful and busy on the bottom! Provenance/Rights: Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart (Photo: P. Frankenstein; H. Zwietsch) A lovely little bergère with multicolored silk fly fringe! Bergère, The Netherlands, 1750-1800. Straw, with a flat crown, grey silk ribbon with woven flowers in pink and purple, underside with a flowered satin lining. I find these extant examples with dramatic silk or patterned undersides so interesting! I never would have guessed these lovely straw hats would have such loud linings! Hat, 1720-50, Italian, Silk, MET A sleeker example in ivory silk with long ribbon ties. You can really tell the hat itself is straw underneath the silk. Colonial Williamsburg Bergere Hat 1760-1785 English, silk over straw, replaced ties So lovely! I want one! Bergère, Great Britain, 1750-1780. Straw, covered in cream silk, outer edge trimmed with cream lace, decorated with cream silk ribbons. Those puffy loops of ribbon around the crown! Swoon! Then we have another variety of hat, that I don't have a name for, in a similar shape to the bergère only with a taller crown. When I say taller, I don't mean by much. I am tempted to just call these hats picture hats, as the huge brims certainly do frame the face! The Honourable Elizabeth Ingram (1762–1817) (later Mrs Hugo Meynell), 1787, Leeds Museum Mrs. Downey by Sir Henry Raeburn, 1788 Woman's Straw Hat, 1750-75, England or France, MFA Look at that detailed straw work embroidery! Superb! "Lady Elizabeth Foster" (in a chemise a la reine), Angelica Kauffman, 1785; Ickworth House Undeniably a huge picture hat! The hat that was copied for Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire to wear in the film the Duchess (ironic if you know who Lady Elizabeth Foster is above), and then copied by me as seen earlier this week! Duchess of Devonshire by Thomas Gainsborough, 1785–87 The Duchess herself, wearing an XXL picture hat in black! Then after the shorter crowned picture hats, there are the taller crowed hats! Mary Boteler (c.1763–1852) by John Hoppner, 1786 Can you just imagine how large this hat actually would be in person? It's gorgeous, but huge! Anna Maria and Thomas Jenkins, by Angelica Kauffman, 1790. National Portrait Gallery (London) Catherine Clemens, George Romney, 1788 That is a really tall crown! The direct opposite of a bergère! Portrait of Marie Dauncey, 1789, by James Northcote Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) Elizabeth, Lady Taylor, ca. 1780 These taller hats also come in varying sizes from proportional to gargantuan! Another popular style was the bonnet, which has seen so many stylistic variations as the basic idea remained the same from the 18th century through the early 20th century. Fashion plate of unknown origin, if you know, let me know! I mean, just look at the size of that thing! Bonnets could also be much smaller and much more practical. A slightly less crazy style was the Market Hat, which Lauren of American Duchess goes into more detail about in this post here. Black silk bonnet "Market Hat" from the collections of Colonial Williamsburg. Seeing Lauren's photos from Williamsburg where she and a few other ladies are rocking their black Market Hats, I now have an intense desire to make one! They are so pretty! "Portrait of Miss Palmer" by Sir Joshua Reynolds, This hat/bonnet seems to be similar in style to the market hat, only is done in white. A reproduction by the Mantua makers of Colonial Williamsburg Are you still reading this? Congrats! This post is super long already and I'm not even done, almost though... I haven't even touched on turbans... Jean-Étienne Liotard, Portrait of a Young Woman, late 18th century "Dorothy Walpole, Viscountess Townshend", Charles Jervas, ca. 1718; Dulwich Picture Gallery Two examples decades apart, and yet the basics of a turban style are relatively timeless. The waves of exoticism in 18th century fashion fueled the turban love. "Portrait d'Aglaé de Gramont née de Polignac, duchesse de Guiche" by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Lebrun (1794) I feel I haven't even brushed the surface :( So many hats, so little time! I adore the chic streamlined bergère and the ginormous picture hats of the 18th century! Hopefully you have enjoyed this photo spam of just a few of the 18th century's most popular styles. All of the information for this post has been gathered from the textbook Survey of Historic Costume (5th edition) by Phyllis G. Tortora and Keith Eurbank, from the links above or my own knowledge. I want to share the resources I come across with all of you as much as possible. The portraits used to illustrate today's post were sourced from Pinterest and can be accessed here.. Again I repeat my disclaimer that I am not a historian, and if you have corrections or additions for this post, please begin the discussion in comments as I would love to learn more!
I have a lovely assortment of French fashion plates from the years 1780-1782 for today's post and a new digital scene depicting one of those beauties. I've stated before that I'm drawn to fashion plates that show the back of a garment. I especially liked this 1780 dress in the "Robe à l'Anglaise" style, so today's digital scene was created using that lovely fashion plate but in a new teal color I created. On a previous post, I created a digital scene using another fashion plate showing the back of a gown; however that garment was in the style of "Robe à la Française" or Sack-Back. Since both scenes show the lady from the back you can check both to see the differences in these two styles. For more information on these styles click HERE "Garden Dreams" created using an altered 1780 French Fashion Plate I enjoy altering the colors on fashion plates and at the bottom of this post you will find a nice selection of the above lady in a nice variety of colors. Enjoy! 1780 French Fashion Plate - Style: Habit en Levite Some vintage styles like the Levite are a bit difficult to find information on. The best I can tell is that for it to be considered Levite the lines are straight (no poofs and swags in the skirt or overskirt), a sash at the waist and a shawl style collar with a bit of ruffle trim on it. For a glossary of French Fashion Terms - click HERE The blog "A Most Beguiling Accomplishment", has a nice post showing a variety of French fashion plates in the Levite style along with Cassidy's personal research on this style. 1780 French Fashion Plate - Style: Cirassienne "Robe a la Cirassienne" which is a version of the "Robe à la Polonaise". "Cirassienne" is a specific looking version of the "Polonaise". The Cirassienne has more elaborate decorations; specifically trim such as fur or tassels, which distinguish it from the typical Polonaise. 1780 French Fashion Plate - Style: Levite Note the lack of poofs and swags on this style and then the tied sash at the waist. The shawl style collar edged with lace also seems to denote the Levite style. 1781 French Fashion Plate - Style: Levite A Levite Pelisse trimmed with ermine fur - how luxurious. I believe this to be a mourning costume. 1781 French Fashion Plate - Style: Polonaise This plate description states the pelisse is grey and bordered in swan. I believe this also to be a mourning costume 1781 French Fashion Plate - Style: Grand Court (Mourning Dress) I previously posted this low bodice, mourning dress HERE "The Naughty Side of French Fashions"; but have included it once more since it is a mourning dress and I thought it should be shown with the other two pictured above. 1782 French Fashion Plate - Style: Robe a l'Anglaise Robe a l'Anglaise - (English/American version with a bustle rather than pannier hoops and a draped back that begins at the lower "v" portion on the back of the bodice where the skirt begins ) For more information on this style click HERE 1782 French Fashion Plate - Style: Levite Again we see straight lines with a lack of poofs and swags on this style. Their is an interesting twist in that the sash drapes across the bodice before being tied at the waist. The shawl style collar edged with lace also seems to denote the Levite style. 1780 French Fashion Plate - Style: Robe a la Turque "Robe a la Turque" or in the Turkish style I'd like to reference the blog "A Most Beguiling Accomplishment" once more; however this time Cassidy's post is on the style "Robe a la Turque" *********** I took the above 1780 "Robe a la Turque" fashion plate, created a PNG and made several new color versions of her. PNG of Fashion Plate in the Original Color Scheme Rose Version Sapphire and Gold Version Emerald and Gold Version Mulberry & Teal Version Pink and Plum Version Violet Version Blue and Teal Version Green and Teal Version Teal Version Sable and Olive Version Pistachio Version Desert Rose Version I created my digital artwork using the Teal version of this lovely lady. "Garden Dreams" by EKDuncan 2012 The altered Teal fashion plate is the focus of my piece and the background was created by merging several photos together. I added a variety of filters and textures in Photoshop to the background images to give it that "dreamy" fairytale look. The above artpiece is the second part of a two part garden scene. Below is the first garden scene I created earlier this month - HERE. I chose to use the same background in a slightly different way so I could use together as a set of "paintings" for another digital project I'm thinking about. Garden Scene #1 from earlier this month I really have enjoyed creating these little framed gems and soon I'll be sharing another fun project of mine using them. I'll be back later with more late 18th Century French Fashions from the time of Marie Antoinette. till next time...
One of my favourite things about 18th century fashions are the fabrics, the colours and the prints. There’s a lot of lovely prints in this era, but one of the most common one is a simple stri…
The V&A's spring exhibition, Wedding Dresses 1775-2014, will trace how leading couturiers and designers have approached wedding fashions over the past two centuries
