A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

Young Lady watching the favorable child of the galant mystery. She is dressed in a morning Gown, and covered with a Hat à la D'Orvilliers* with a Chignon curled à la Conseilliere. "It is necessary ... to render justice to the French ladies, and especially to the Parisiennes: sometimes they justify their love for the parure , and the variations that they make them undergo from the motive which makes them adopt this or that fashion. Patriotism rather frequently determines their manner of dressing, and their costume becomes at the same time an homage rendered to (1) the heroes of the day, and a picturesque memorial to the events which give (2) honor to the Nation." (1) "In 1776 were not hats   à la Henri IV , and caps à la d'Estaing , à la Voltaire , etc. worn." (2) "In 1778 caps à la Victoire  were worn: women coiffed themselves in English casques. Others hoisted onto their heads the Vessel of the Belle-Poule , etc." SYLVAIN MARECHAL, N...

Pretty Woman running to the rendez-vous of Love. She is dressed in a light Gown and coiffed with a morning Baigneuse, etc. etc. "In the shop of M. Granche are found the following objects: "Watch-chains, in gold, with beads, faceted, in the steel type, and several jewels of the same work. " ... Watch cord, necklaces and bracelets in coral and steel. " ... Cord in American grains and pearls, and others in enamel beads of diverse colors. "Large childbirth rings, in talisman-engraved stones, and others imitating onyx." Le Cabinet des Modes , 1786

The pretty Mama in the Jardin du Roi , in an Informal morning Gown, with her little child dressed à l'Americaine . "Women's hanging hair spoils coaches and armchairs, but one loves to see this ornament of their heads floating and caressing their belts; there are no beautiful women without long hair." SEBASTIEN MERCIER, Tableau de Paris , 1788

Robe de Cour à la Turque, Oriental coiffure with aigrettes and plumes, etc.   Furnishings made by Rose Bertin, modiste to the Queen, for the Countess d'Ogeras. " 1786, 1st February . - The trimming of a robe à la Turque  of pink and black striped velvet, the parements  trimmed with a band of white satin, striped with pearls, edged on each side with a pink comet; a pleated ruffle of white blonde; the petticoat of pink satin trimmed with a volant  of blonde striped with pearls, edged with a pink comet and black velvet, with the same blonde as on the gown pleated on each side with a barrière  of pearls at the top. ... 244 livres . "A gown edging in bastard blonde. ... 16 livres . "A pair of little manchettes  in 2 rows of pretty tournante  blonde with a tulle ground supporting said gown. ... 54 livres ." Dossiers Bertin  (Doucet Library)

This week, I was lucky enough to go down to the city (more on that another time) and see a current exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:  Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade ,  1500 – 1800 . It's a very grand show, and I highly recommend visiting it if you're in the area. While the mounted carpets, bedspreads, and tapestries are magnificent, you (if you're reading this) will most appreciate the opportunity to view some very well-known 18th century gowns - most especially  1995.235a, b , a painted taffeta sacque with knotted silk net  parements  and  volant  (the  manchettes  are also worth a closer look, as they're intricately embroidered);  1993.17a, b , the wildly embroidered Italian casaquin and petticoat;  1992.119.1a–c , a Neoclassical gown, petticoat, and fichu; and  1970.87a, b , that vivid yellow retroussée  gown. Many of the garments are displayed in free-standing plexi cases, which mea...

 Robe de Cour with its hoop, trimmed as Jacob's Ladder . "Court dress requires that women, on the presentation days, have uncovered shoulders. This was formerly a handsome spectacle; it has since changed. Ambition nourished women's embonpoint  and seemed to augment their youthfulness. Today one would say that this same ambition desiccates them and makes them thinner: the attractions of the court seem to have removed from them the rounded attractions which distinguished their predecessors as is attested in their portraits; but it has been decided, for the last thirty years, that the evidence of full health will be left to the bourgeoise , and that an exhausted or half-dead woman will be offered instead." SEBASTIEN MERCIER, Tableau de Paris , 1788

 Robe de Cour à la Française, with its petticoat trimmed in varied garlands. Memoir of Lacoste, at the Crowned Dauphin , to Mme the Countess d'Arvilly, January 2, 1785. "The trimming and the bodice of a gown of white crêpe, spangled with silver in faux vermicelli patterns, the parement  trimmed with a beautiful garland of two fringes in silver lamé, and a third row of gold in the middle, pinched  bouillon -style at the ends, each bouillon  held with a flower of blue spangles and green leaves. The manchettes  edged with a fine silver fringe and frivolité , and a fine petit pied  of blonde. The petticoat of white taffeta covered with white crêpe, striped at the edges with white sequins, edged with oval stones or scattered very thickly in a pattern of faux sequins. The bottom of the petticoat edged with a pleated ruffle of crêpe striped in two rows of fine silver fringe and a third row of fine gold. "A pleated, pulled-up  volant  of white...

Robe de Cour with its hoop, trimmed with oak leaves in garlands. To Madame the Countess d'Oyras: " 1786, 1st February . - The trimming of a gown of satined stuff with a ground of King's Eye, satiny white stripes, the drapery trimmed with an embroidered crêpe and bouillons of bare satin in all colors, edged with a pleated ruffle of bastard blonde, on each side a tulle with a chickory border, the top of the bottom of the parement  trimmed the same, the manchettes  tulle chickories in silhouette, the matching petticoat trimmed with a volant  of the same crêpe, embroidered like that of the gown with a blue canète * and a little blonde, the coquille  of the same crêpe in  bouillons  with blue ribbon bows like the draperies on each side of the coquille , a gown edging in bastard blonde ... 388 livres . "A set of 3 bows of green and violet ribbon edged with a petit pied  of blonde ... 18 - "A gown edging of bastard blonde ... 14 - "The matchin...

Great Oriental Robe de Cour. Coiffure in the African style. To Madame the Countesse d'Oyeras: " 1786, 1st February . - The trimming of a grand robe française  of satin with a white ground striped with blue and white velvet, the drapery edged with a pleated ruffle of tournante  blonde, tulle ground with a pattern, bouillons  of gauze above the fastenings of blue and white velvet striped ribbons, edged with poppy-colored velvet; between the bouillons , big puffs of the same poppy velvet ribbon in which is a pearl buckle, the bottom of the parement  trimmed the same way with a volant  of beautiful striped English gauze, edged with a tournante  blonde of fond d'Angleterre, the coquille  edged with a pleated ruffle of the same bouillons  of the same blonde, on the head of said coquille  pulled up to the left by a large puff like the draperies, with a pearl buckle ... 388 livres "A gown edging in tournante  blonde ... 15 - "A set...

 Robe de Cour with hoop, trimmed with dotted ermine . To the Marquise de Torre Monsamal: " 1785, 8 March . - 10 ells of spring fabric is gros de Naples  with a white ground, spangled with silver and lilac for a wide-hooped gown at 120 livres  ... 1,200 livres . "Two pieces of spangled crêpe embroidered with lilac sequins in medallions for the petticoat at 200 livres  ... 400 - "The trimming of said gown, the drapery bordered with a fringe of silver tassels with a garland of silver and lilac sequins or a pleated ruffle of silver blonde edged with a fringe, a butterfly bow fringed at each corner, the bottom of the parement  matching, the manchettes  trimmed with fringe, the petticoat in spangled and striped crêpe trimmed with a volant  of spangled and satin-striped crêpe edged with a fringe and tatting, a garland in lilac sequins and silver-spangled bows ... 1,080 - "A gown edging in blonde ... 15 - "A parure  of three bows in spang...

Grand Robe à la Reine, Hat à la Milady . To Madame the Countess d'Ogeras: " 1786, 1st February . - The trimming of a robe française  of satin with a white ground, striped golden yellow and brown, the parement  in drapery, trimmed with a large bouillon  of ribbon matching the gown, mixed with white satin, bows of blue satin ribbon edged with black velvet and crêpe, between the bouillons , the bottom of the parement  trimmed in the same way, the petticoat the same, trimmed with a volant  of beautiful striped gauze, edged with a beautiful blonde in fond d'Angleterre with a great height, the coquille * of the same bouillons  as the gown, with matching scarves, manchettes  with chickory leaves of tulle à la silouette.  ... 380 livres "A gown edging in bastard-blonde. ... 14 - "A set of three bows in blue and black striped ribbon. ... 14 - "The matching stomacher en barrière . ... 3 -" Dossiers Bertin  (Doucet Library) ...

Grand Court parure à la Française.   To the duchess of Wurtemburg: " 1789, 21 February . - Furnished for a robe française  ten and a half ells of striped and cannelé  white velvet ... 283 l  10 s "Six ells of white Italian taffeta for the petticoat ... 51 - "The petticoat of crêpe striped with white ribbon, embroidered with chenille and green branch-work, reed bouquet, and a drapery ... 290 - "The trimming of said gown, the parements  with drapery trimmed with chenille embroidery in reed designs, and pleated blonde lace, a ribbon bow striped with poppy-colored chenille, blonde lace with a bow of pearls holding the drapery, the bottom of the parement  trimmed the same with a barrière  of pearls, the petticoat trimmed at the bottom with another pearl  barrière , edged with a pleated ruffle of blonde lace on each side. ... 350 - "A robe edging of pleated fine blonde lace. ... 18 - "A stomacher of white satin embroidered with poppy...

  Ordinary Robe de Cour with a négligé Hat . To the Marquise de Torre Monsanal: " 1785, 8 March . - Summer gown. - 10 ells of dark blue taffeta spangled with silver and precious stones at 120 l . ... 12 sous "2 ells of crêpe spotted with gold spangles and sequins at ... 130 livres "Said gown trimmed with drapery, edged with  silver fringe, a silver garland and poppy sequins, embroidered with precious stones, a gerbe * of golden wheat and sequined flowers, a scarf of silver-spangled crêpe edged with fringe, the manchettes  edged with fringe, the petticoat trimmed with a volant  of spangled crêpe, a ribbon of silver lamé edged with tasseled fringe, a garland of green spangles embroidered with precious stones and a bow in reed leaves embroidered with green sequins edged with flat silver fringe. ... 1,200 - "A gown edging in pretty blonde lace ... ( ) "A parure  of 3 bows in green-spangled and jeweled ribbon edged with blonde lace ... ( ) "T...

Grand Robe de Cour à l'étiquette.  To Madame the Countess de Sabran: "For Mme the Marquise de Custine. Presentation Dress; 20 January 1788. - The furnishing of a full gown, the petticoat of white taffeta, covered with a crêpe spotted with silver sequins, forming a fabric with contrary pleats, the foot of the petticoat trimmed with a large band of green sequins striped with white sequins, bordered at the bottom with a high gold fringe and tatting; three festoons forming shells bordered with a very high fringe of gold and silver tassels, a very beautiful garland in branch-work of green and pearl spangles mixed with gold spangles, with large flowers of blue spangles, the top of the petticoat striped in columns of garlands of green spangles, all a branch-work mixed with pearl: the bottom of the gown of blue satin trimmed with a fringe of gold and silver tassels; a band spotted with spangles, a flat gold fringe with tatting at the top; the grand corps  of blue satin tri...

Grand Robe de Cour or of the new etiquette . Description of gowns furnished by Rose Bertin, modiste to the Queen, for the Countess Gustave de Sparre: " 1787, 12 September. - The furnishing and trimming of a grand presentation dress of black fleuret ,* the petticoat covered with an embroidered, spangled, bronzed crêpe with very rich sequins, the petticoat bordered with a fringe of tassels in branched-work and sequins, the head of black sequins in festoons, a drapery on the right and on the left of sequined crêpe, edged with the same fringe as on the bottom of the petticoat, ended with beautiful, shining black tassels and attached with sequins, the bottom of the gown of black-spangled crêpe, trimmed with a stomacher  en barrière  of black sequins and black stone buttons, the veins and epaulettes matching ... 3,000 livres "4 bows for the bottom of the gown in black-spangled crêpe at 9 l  ... 36 - "A pair of bouillonné  bracelets in the same black-spangled...

Grand Robe de cérémonie for the Gala.   Reverences . - "... But there is the Master of the presentation reverences. It is necessary to make the reverences while going backwards, and to adroitly throw aside the train with the heel. It is an exercise that is made going forward several times, before a large mirror, and with the greatest seriousness. Oh my dear Rabelais! see that the master of reverences acts as the king. One takes his hand, and bends in front of him, but one does not drop it. One drops that of the king, when he does not deign to embrace the one presented; which he does most often, for the kings of France are very gallant. They ceremoniously embrace ugliness as well as beauty. Oh truly great complaisance!" SEBASTIEN MERCIER, Tableau de Paris , 1788

 Elegante of the Palais Royal, dressed in a voluptuous négligé, and coiffed with a morning Cap, &c. &c. "... Women's dress must have a sex. This dress must contrast with ours. A woman must be a woman from head to toe. The more that a woman resembles a man, the more she loses. The significant change in women's dress dates from the fashion of the jockeys and the fury of the little spectacles. "Is there no remedy, and will it go from bad to worse, until there is a full revolution? What correspondence is there between women's mores and the government? Jockeys, hats, redingotes, and the little theaters have changed the national spirit and taste ... "I would need to have the sharp brushes of Solomon to describe the ravages which have occasioned from the jockeys and modern dress, and the stock-buying, and the little spectacles. The artist who bastes the little chiffons  for their libertinage is a divine man . Finally, it is since the epoch of the...

Young Lady, dressed in a retroussée Circassienne, with Sleeves à l'Espagnole, and coiffed with a Turban of Love. "No-one can deny that our French Ladies adopt their fashions from Ladies of almost every other kingdom; however, we must admit that there are restitutions that they make to almost all. Didn't they borrow, in the last two years, from Polish women, Englishwomen, the Turks, the Chinese? They borrow today from the Spanish. It is true that what they give back is better than what they take; and even to be exact, they only borrow the names and they give things. When they copy, they revise, they embellish. When they imitate, they create. With a very inventive, very fecund imagination for slavishly focusing on their designs, they seize it, they form it. They become, in a word, the masters of their authors." Le Magasin des Modes , 10 January 1787

  Pretty Agnes, coiffed à l'Anglomane, dressed in a Caraco en Veste with revers, &c. "Our Ladies, after having consumed all their science in infinitely varying their gowns, redingotes, demi-redingotes, etc. etc., have employed the little which remains to them to vary caracos which are nearly the only garments worn today. For that they have begun to compose them of a corset  which is worn underneath, and from which the sleeves come out, and a caraco bodice to which they have only given quarter-sleeves, that they trim with manchettes ." Le Magasin des Modes , 10 October 1791

Young Lady in a Caraco à la Flamande,*  coiffed with a Turban à la Turque, &c. "A new fashion that many women have adopted and which doesn't truly suit them is that of curling the hair of young people, in five curls, of which two are above and three below, placed in "pigeon wings": excluding, however, of only curling to the bottom of the ear, they are curled to the bottom of the face, to the bottom of the chin. Their curls are stiffly crinkled, and as applied on their face. They never wear curls that hang down to the kidneys, their hair in the back is braided and pulled up very high like the braids of the Swiss. On this hairstyle they wear a little toquet  or a very little cap of plain gauze. This whole ensemble gives them an air of stiffness, a hard air which is not charming ..." Le Magasin des Modes , 30 August 1787 * Flemish.

Petite Maîtresse of the Palais Royal, dressed in a Robe à la Musulmane,*  etc. etc.   "The public promenades furnish the occasion of displaying on oneself all the luxury and taste to which one is susceptible. There is an assault of parures : the comers and goers pass in review and are judged with all rigor. The beauties of the day, who are sometimes no longer that the next day, go there to enjoy their triumphs. Mounted on their raised chariots, to be seen from far away, they hardly pierce the waves of the piled spectators on their passage. It is there that the Merveilleux  of all ages parade their choice and satisfy their pride. But it is not there that the sage of Geneva (Jean-Jacques Rousseau), while on his trip to Paris, bore his steps: such objects had hurt his eyes, friend of Nature, beautiful without rouge; he preferred the boulevards to the north of the Capital ..." SYLVAIN MARECHAL, Notice on the mores of Paris ( Costumes civils actuels ... ), 1787 * ...