A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

Young élégante, coiffed in a Toque à la Couronne d'Amour,* dressed in an informal morning Gown etc. "Rome was the mistress of the world through its arms and politics; Paris holds the same rank and it is owed to its fashion; and it merits this, over all at this moment.  Taste has never been more consulted, and followed more constantly. The ladies of Paris are not the prettiest women in the universe; far from it. Climate, education, daily habits deprive them of this advantage; they do not carry the scepter of beauty: but they have known how to steal from the graces their belt. The fashion workers of the Capital possess the wand of Armide.** It is not always easy to recognize, when she goes out, the woman who comes into their shop. They have found the art of repairing the disgraces of Nature; or at least they mask them with a skill that our good forefathers never believed possible ... They have furthermore as much imagination as ability: their fertile brains invents each d...

The enticing Ogler, he is coiffed with a hat à la Mexborough and dressed in a striped Coat. Oglers . - "Paris is full of these ruthless oglers who plant themselves in front of you and fix their immobile and confident eyes on your person: this custom no longer passes as indecent, by becoming common.  Women are not offended by it, provided that it happens at spectacles and on promenades; but if one tries to look at them thus in a circle of people, the ogler will be taxed with insolence, and treated as impolite." SEBASTIEN MERCIER, Tableau de Paris , 1784.

Stock-jobber of the Palais Royal , at the public school, he is dressed in a morning Coat and coiffed with a Jockey Hat. "... An élégant  whose ears and feet offer to view the most extraordinary buckles, we approached; he had one of these hats in the form of a bell, which have never coiffed anyone well; one of these gilets where the pockets almost touch the chin ... Two watches enriched with brilliants passed successively between his hands, a large ring flatters his pride ..." The Talk of the Palais Royal .

 The Adonhiramite Philosopher,* dressed in a light Coat trimmed with oval Buttons in English Steel: walking on the Boulevards. "Of indecent short gilets, shameless breeches, without pockets, and which cannot hold an écu  coin nor a watch, this is the strange dress of the day.  The fool of the bon ton , gloved in his clothes, could not bend his knee or sit.  What is he doing? he sits by leaping and gets up in the same way.  Without this carousel, the fabric creases.  Adam, with his fig leaf, was more decently dressed than these latter giddy children, walking at the Palais Roayl  in tight breeches, canary-tail colored ." SEBASTIEN MERCIER, Tableau de Paris , 1788 * A member of the Adonhiramite sect of Freemasonry.

Imposing Woman in the Jardin du Roi, dressed in a Redingote à l'Anglomane, Straw Hat trimmed with Folettes etc. etc. " Le Jardin du Roi ", at the top of the rue Saint-Victor, across from the Pitié .  This garden is divided into a top and bottom; in the upper part is a mound called a labyrinth: one enjoys a beautiful view there.  At the foot of this mound Cedar of Lebanon is seen.  The garden's borders were just extended to the quay by the care of M. de Buffon. "This garden furnishes a very agreeable promenade, useful to naturalists and lovers of botany, who, independently of all the types of trees and bushes, find there also all the exotic and indigenous plants, which are cultivated in hot and glassed greenhouses ... "In the new area is a vast, square pit whose bottom is at the level of the river, forming a basin ... Almanack des Voyages à Paris , 1787

Gallant with beautiful watch, looking for the sun at noon to check it, he is dressed in a ciselé Velvet Coat, egg-shaped Buttons, English Stockings, etc. Baron's Costume. "Scarlet frock coat, with black collar higher than the ears, to better set off his face, and six-franc coins for buttons: black gilet with three rows of buttons like lentils which touch each other; white breeches; serpent-skin stockings; waxed shoes; silver pins; for the coiffure, five blown-out curls on each side; in back, a queue three inches long and 5/12" in circumference; on the toupet , for the defects of the hair, a mastic of powder and pomade, cut with care on the forehead to imitate spikes; that which gives a very young air." Les Chiffons , by Mlle Jovette, mender, Paris, 1787

The beautiful Sophie, waiting for her lover at a rendez-vous, she is dressed in a morning Robe à l'Anglaise, etc. etc. Costume of the Countess, "Very light Robe à l'Anglaise ; belt which cuts it in two like an ant; scarf mantelet which is knotted, or, if one wishes, wrinkled on the hips; cap à la Cagliostro , with three rows of goffered papillons  and seven corners in the style of bows falling on the nose, the rest at will." Les Chiffons , by Mlle Javotte, mender, Paris, 1787.

 Full Court Dress trimmed with gauzes interlaced with oak garlands, etc. "... The trimming of a trimmed gown dressed with blue crêpe, the parement  of a garland of sequins edged with cornflowers, the petals in blue and green sequins, the leaves in green sequins, and the bases and hearts in stones, a large satin and pinked crêpe chicory positioned behind.  The manchettes  bordered with a petit pied  of fine blonde.  The petticoat of white taffeta covered with crêpe edged with blue sequins, a volant  of a large garland edged with blue and green sequins; cornflowers in stones and sequins edged on the bottom with a very high blonde lace, a tulle ground with a border, held up with a large garland of roses positioned on a pleated frill of the same blonde. ... 600 livres ." (Following the preceding memorandum.)

Court Dress in winter trimmed with furs, etc.   "... The trimming of a grand presentation dress, trimmed with six coquilles  of filet an ell long, embroidered with very rich stones, the coquilles embroidered with a fringe with tassels of gold and silver, the bottom of the skirt edged with a foot of black velvet and a filet embroidered with stones, a garland of oval stones in the middle forming a garland; the top of the drapery pulled up with very rich bows of sequins embroidered with stones; the top of the pockets trimmed with a very rich silver-spangled wool gauze, the whole very fine; - the bottom of the gown in black velvet edged with a gold fringe, and three rows of stones embroidered on the black velvet; - the grand bodice of black velvet embroidered with very rich stones, and the underpetticoats of blue satin spangled finely with silver; - a tippet of fine, blonde, pleated  petit pied  lace and a pleated frill of the same blond lace and a fine golde...

Grande Robe de Cour trimmed with two different types of borders, etc. etc. "The trimming of a full dress is of pink velvet, the petticoat edged with a large bias strip of pink satin striped with black velvet: a volant  of richly striped English gauze, edged at the bottom with embroidered gauze; a black velvet on the seam, linked by a large chicory of crêpe and pinked pink satin; - the bottom of the gown trimmed with a bias strip of pink satin striped with black velvet; the stomacher striped with black velvet and the corset trimmed with a tulle border. ... 192 livres ." (Following the preceding memorandum.)

Grand Robe de Cour in the Asiatic taste, decorated with gauze and garlands of oak. Detail of different grandes robes . - " 1785, January 2 . - The trimming of a pink and black satin gown, the parement edged with a pleated frill of black lace with a great height, fond d'Angleterre  for border, a heavy chicory of pink satin and pinked crêpe behind it.  The petticoat of pink satin, trimmed with two cordons of satin and pinked crêpe chicory leaves and a pleated frill of lace matching that of the gown.  The collars edged with velvet ... 108 livres. "A robe edging in blonde lace ... 12 livres. "A pair of sabots in three rows of blonde lace, great height, fond d'Alençon  with a border, the third row with a fine bâtarde  ... 48 livres." Memoir of Lacoste, at the Crowned Dauphin , to Mme the Countess d'Amilly.  (Published in Bull. Soc. de Paris , 1885)

Full dress of the Court Ball, with sleeves à la Gabrielle etc .* " February 27, 1785 . - The queen declared: "That in the month of November she would be thirty years old; that nobody in all likelihood could avoid it; that her project was to remove from her parure  the parts which could only be fitting for one of an extreme youth; she could no longer wear plumes, nor flowers. "One sees also that the etiquette for gowns has changed; that the Queen no longer wanted pierrots, chemises, redingotes, polonaises, lévites, turques, nor circassiennes; that it returns to the solemn pleated gowns; that the princesses have been asked to proscribe all the others for visits of ceremony and that their dame d'honneur  warned ladies who came in another dress, that they could not be admitted in that state without permission from Her Highness that she will ask for." Secret correspondence. * Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573-1599), a mistress of Henri IV

Robe de Cour pulled up on the right side with a ribbon bow, and decorated with garlands; the left side falls in the usual way: it is trimmed and decorated with pearls and laurels. * "One could venture, without fear of being contradicted, that it is hardly in practice today for Women to wear gowns of the full parure , nor for Men to wear suits à la Française  with the hat under their arm and the sword at their side.  These toilettes are no longer made except for the ceremonial  Assemblies, such as the Wedding Assemblies, the Bals parés , the Great Meals, and other similar ones, which are in very little number." Cabinet des Modes , May 15, 1786 * This cahier and all of the following ones are undated (in the 1912 reprint).  They may be from 1787 or 1788.

Young Lady in a Camlet Redingote: pink Taffeta Petticoat, Hat à la Bastienne s urmounted by Plumes and Aigrettes. (1787) "One sees ... that one doesn't wear, with redingotes, pelisses or mantelets ... They are never worn.  Pelisses and mantelets seem unknown to the English, from whom our Ladies took the fashion of redingotes. "Some Ladies have already begun to attach piping and liserés  to their redingotes.  Will they last longer than those attached to men's frock coats?  Time will tell!" Le Magasin des Modes , November 30, 1786

XII: Pamela Tells A Nursery Tale, Joseph Highmore, 1743-4; Fitzwilliam Museum M.Add.9 The whole story ends, of course, with Pamela a loving mother. Her views on child-raising are fairly sensible and modern: she insists on nursing her infants herself, she is against swaddling, and she believes that girls should be educated. This specific scene is described in letter 113 , in the fourth volume. Miss Goodwin imagine you see on my right hand, sitting on a velvet stool, because she is eldest, and a Miss: Billy on my left, in a little cane elbow chair, because he is eldest, and a good boy: My Davers, and my sparkling-eyed Pamela, with my Charley between them, on little silken cushions at my feet, hand-in-hand, their pleased eyes looking up to my more delighted ones, and my sweet-natured promising Jemmy in my lap; the nurses and the cradle just behind us, and the nursery-maids delightedly performing some useful needle-work, for the dear charmers of my heart.

Petit-Maître in Wool Coat, the Pockets, the Collar, and the Buttonholes embroidered: Gilet with pockets, also embroidered etc. (1787) Petit-Maître . - "Couldn't one add that the Petit-Maître  sometimes wants to pass for a wit because he has a little memory, and a little reading, overall from newspapers, from the wits of authors and from the little dictionaries: because he speaks in a nimble  and often ironic way of everything related to exacting and severe morals?  If he takes the burden of preaching, he prefers the study of a comedic role to that of a good chapter of Domat or the Pandects of Pothier;* he loves taking his ennui and leisure out to different spectacles more than attending a scholarly conference on law.  If, to the contrary, it is the party of the sword that he embraces, it is not the laudable desire to be useful to his country and his king, it is for the pleasures that he will find there and because he makes a vow to pass his life in the idlen...

 Redingote closed in the front to the bottom with buttons of brilliants. (1787) "The Beautiful Ladies to the Handsome Men. "Mssrs. Agreeable, who believe yourselves to be our masters, and whom we lead by the end of the nose; you who think you have such spirit and penetration: we feel very easy to see that you lack it.  How! for some years you saw us constantly dress ourselves in your hats, and you continue to wear them!  The adoption that we have made of this coiffure, has it not made you renounce it?  But no: you are so obtuse, that it is necessary to tell you everything.  Ah well, Sirs, we declare to you that we are taking the hat ... "But, you will say, what will we wear?  Ah, our dear little Friends, we leave you the large caps, the baigneuses , etc.  You see well that we don't wear them anymore ... A very clear cap, very transparent, half advanced over the face, picks up the whiteness, throws a sweet reflection on it which highlights ...

Morning redingote surmounted by a wide collar. (1787) Accessories made by Rose Bertin, modiste to the Queen, for Mme the Countess Plater: " 1786, August 20 . - A hat of white straw lined with striped English gauze, 2 bias strips of the same gauze, on the crown bows of white ribbon, cy  ... 48 Livres. "A bouquet of beautiful mixed flowers ... 54 livres. "A superb rose branch with buttons ... 27 livres. "A box ... 2 livres. " August 27.  - A pot of rouge from Mlle Martin ... 24 livres. "Total ... 155 livres" Dossiers Bertin , Doucet Library

Redingote with striped Sleeves and Revers, buttoned in front.  Cap à la Randan trimmed with aigrettes and Rooster plumes. (1787) "The caps à la Randan  were, in their origin, and as the actress (1) wore them, only types of turbans belted with a bandeau of muslin or white batiste, embroidered in gold, with calottes  also of white muslin, raised like a sugarloaf to almost a foot in height, surrounded with wide bands of batiste or muslin, decorated with gold fringe, and trimmed with veils, which went from the top of the calotte  in the back, and descended very low. "Today these caps no longer take the form of a sugarloaf; they are enlarged in puffs at the top.  They have retained the bandeaux, which are diversified, and in the middle of which a shield has been placed; they have retained the large bands, trimmed with gold lace, but they have adopted plumes, artificial flowers, and gold tassels, falling on the left side." Le Magasin des Modes , November...

Vest retroussée à l'Amazone, Revers of streaked fur.  Hat à la Jokei trimmed with garlands and follette aigrettes . (1787) Accessory made by Rose Bertin, modiste to the Queen, for the Baron Duplouy, d'Abbeville, October 11, 1784: "A Jockey hat in yellow straw lined with white taffeta, a striped ribbon around the crown, a bow in front and in back in the same ribbon, said hat pulled up at the side with a panache of four beautiful flat white plumes and an héron  of rooster plumes. ... 84 livres." Dossiers Bertin , Doucet Library

XI: Pamela Asks Sir Jacob Swinford's Blessing, Joseph Highmore, 1743-4; Tate Collection N03576 Eventually, after recounting the events of the last painting in great detail to Mr. B, the two go home and fail to confront Lady Davers due to Pamela's avoidant behavior. But they do finally converse, and Mr. B makes it clear that he is truly married to Pamela and that he doesn't feel he's done anything to shame his family. They reconcile somewhat, but Lady Davers still makes a fuss over eating with Pamela. After eating the scene shifts to the garden, where Mr. B explains his part in a duel where the other man died (but not because of his actions) and his past with a Sally Godfrey (a sexual conquest), and Lady Davers finally gives in to Pamela's goodness. Here's an interesting tidbit of everyday life for writers: when they eat dinner - the midday meal in this context - they're described as calling for "the cloth" to be laid in the parlor. And I no...

1. Petit-Maître in a spotted Coat, white revers, little painted Vest, silk Stockings. 2. Vischoura* of satin, trimmed with fur. 3 and 4. Painted and embroidered vests etc. ... (1787) " ...A few Gilets have recently been invented where one sees from the top to the bottom very pretty little people,  galant or comic scenes, grape harvests, hunts, etc.  On some others one sees pass in review a regiment of Infantry, Cavalry, Dragoons, etc.  One is assured that a man who is passionate for beautiful things  has ordered a dozen gilets that offer scenes from Richard Coeur-de-Lion ,  la Folle par Amour , la Folle Journée , etc.** so that his wardrobe becomes a curious repertoire of theatrical plays." Journal Général de France , November 19, 1786 * The Visherka River (francized to Vischoura) is in western Russia; this is probably another unfitted eastern-inspired garment like the polonaise . ** Richard Coeur-de-Lion  premiered in 1784 ; Nina, ou la Fol...

Grand Chemise of plain Linen, trimmed with the same Linen in a volant with lowered têtes, the Collar matching: the Manchettes in small Lace trimmed with Linen with turned-up têtes, the Sleeves held with a pink Ribbon and the Belt of the same. (1787) Earrings . - "The vast hats in all colors have made way for the coiffures au Coeur de Lion , à la Harpie .  But Women's enormous earrings which fall onto their shoulders, in the manner of the Kaffirs,* still have not ceded place to a more ridiculous fashion." NOUGARET, The Anecdotes of the Day , 1787 * Now a racial slur in South Africa, but originally a neutral term for various African cultures. 

1. Petit-Maître dressed in a Coat with wide revers and double collar à l'Anglaise. 2. Cane of bamboo wood. 3. Hat à l'Androsmann. 4. Sword trimmed with a gallant bow. 5. Turned-up hat with a cockade à la Jockei. 6. Hat à la Quaker. (1787) Petit-Maître . - "This name, say our lexicographers, was begun by the young lords of the court.  It is believed that it was in use at the time when the Duke de Mazarin* was received for surviving the title of the grand-master of artillery.  This name was given to the young lords who were of the same age as him.  M. de Voltaire gives it another origin.  The Prince de Condé, he said, went in league with the Prince de Conti, his brother, and the Duke de Longueville, who abandoned the Fronde party.**  The cabal of the Duke de Beaufort, at the beginning of the Regency, was called the Important Ones : that of the princes was called the party of the Petit-Maîtres , because they wanted to be the masters of the State. "Thi...

1. Lady coiffed with a négligé Cap, dressed in a morning Gown. 2. Mantelet of black taffeta. 3. Hat trimmed with plumes and ribbons. 4. Satin Cap trimmed with a streaked ribbon. (1787) " Baigneuses are worn in the demi-toilette.  Formerly, they only served for the morning, to go out without being fully dressed; but, today, our ladies hardly go out in night caps, trimmed with blonde lace or bobbin lace, and in hair rolled above, from which escapes from each side two or three unrolled curls." Le Magasin des Modes , November 30, 1786