A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

January 20, 1787 PLATE II Dark green satin is no less used for men's full dress than for women's. This color, which suits the figure so well, cannot fail to be seized by both sexes. The dress suit worn by the man represented in this Plate is of dark green satin. It is all plain. The buttons are of the same stuff. The breeches and waistcoat are also of the same stuff. White stockings. Jabot and ruffles of needle lace. Very wide collar. Hair is in a squared grecque , with three curls in front of each side. The hair behind is confined in a bag. Very large hat with white plume under his arm, placed in such a manner that the front corner hangs lowest. A sword with a black scabbard, trimmed with a gold dragoon. Very large squared silver buckles on his shoes.

January 20, 1787 So great is the quantity of redingotes, also called Franco-Anglomane  gowns, that we've given, but it's necessary to do so again. Our Ladies have hardly any other dress. One will agree that at least we have varied the forms and the taste of all those that have been shown. That which the Woman shown in PLATE I wears, very different from the others, is made and cut like chemise gowns. Like them, it is passed over the head or stepped into. This redingote is of scarlet wool; it is fastened in front with large white buttons. Its sleeves are slit on top à la Marinière , and along on the sides, where four little white buttons are sewn. We could say that this form of redingote is particularly designed for going about in a cabriolet, for we have seen Ladies getting into or out of cabriolets in it. The Woman has a simple, puffed kerchief on her neck, with the ends falling like a man's jabot. She holds a rose in her right hand, and a cane in her left. On ...

January 10, 1787 Two Busts of women. The Woman dressed in a pink gown wears a demi-négligé cap. This cap has a double ruffle of white blonde lace, in large pleats. Its crown or base, very puffed, is of blue crêpe, with its two ends hanging behind, on the shoulders, in the form of a veil. This crêpe is dotted with violet bouquets. Between the base and the ruffles, there is a wide, figured ribbon with a white satin ground and violet selvages. This Woman's hair is frizzed on the top. A single large curl falls from it on each side on the chest. Behind, the hair hangs à la Conseillère . She has a fichu-chemise  with two collars on her neck, and gold earrings à la Plaquette  in her ears. The other Woman wears a hat à l'Espagnol , in which satin. (1) The crown of this hat is of pink crêpe. This crown is tied with a purple and pink ribbon, forming a large bow in the back whose ends hand very low, and it is surmounted by three white plumes and a rooster aigrette, dyed flame-...

January 10, 1787 PLATE II. An Englishman in hunting dress à l'abattue .* The English felt that coats trimmed with buttons told the gun dog to relax, to drop the trail, and even to go off alone, because it was confused by the buttons; they wear them for the hunt only fastened with pins. Is it to avoid that danger, or to have the limbs more free, or only not to be caught by tree branches in the wood, that nearly all our hunters go out in shooting  or drawing  vests? We don't know. Whatever the motive, the English coat for going hunting seems to us to be preferred. It covers better, and deprives the eye of the tall and thin figure a man in a vest presents. The dress of the Englishman shown in this Plate is a great redingote of bottle-green wool, with very long skirts, very short waist, and three collars. This redingote is without buttons, and is only fastened with pins. Under this redingote, natural-colored leather vest and breeches. On the legs, long soft boot...