A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

(Lately, I haven't had much appetite for sewing, or for writing substantive blog posts, so I'm going to bring back my translations in order to provide content and give me an outlet!) December 10, 1786 For showing winter dress, it would not suffice to give a Lady fully dressed in a satin gown (1); it would be even worse to show her covered with a pelisse and carrying a muff, to have the full dress. The former would show the effect of the gown, uncovered by the pelisse, and in the way that she would appear at an Assembly; but the latter would show the full outfit, and in the way she would appear in a Promenade or at the Spectacle. The former was necessary for the purpose; the latter is no less so. The practice of wearing pelisses does not survive with as much strength as in previous years (the fashion of mantelets, and, even more, wool redingotes, have given it a rude push!), but it is not past: one could say that at present one is still not fully dressed without a peliss...

(My version of "stashbusting" - the Historical Sew Monthly challenge for March - means finishing a post that had been languishing in my drafts for some time.) The term "nightgown"/"night gown", as used in the 18th century, is somewhat confusing. J. P. Ryan defines an English nightgown as synonymous to robe à l'anglaise , a fitted gown. The Dictionary of Fashion History defines it as "an unboned, loose dress worn for comfort and usually informally." These definitions are polar opposites! The latter appears to be drawn from period dictionaries, which refer to a man's garment and/or an older usage, based on the examples they use. In reference to women's daily dress rather than nightclothes, the term appears as early as the 17th century: From the  Trial of Ford Lord Grey of Werk, et al. 1682 , published 1712. "Woman of quality, in summer dress", Nicolas Arnoult, 1687; LACMA M.2002.57.67 At this point, women...

 WOMAN in Robe à l'Anglaise . The merit of this Outfit is in shrinking the body as much as possible. The Gown must take in an define the waist well. The best thing is to wear under it a tight Corset . The top of the Corset  and that of the Gown must be fastened very loosely to give the most grace to the body. The Gown is a lightweight pink satin, and the Petticoat is a lightweight white satin. One cannot deny that this manner of cutting  the Gown, the Petticoat, is an elegant refinement; the two colors lend themselves a mutual splendor which gladdens the view; but  both colors must be fresh. The Woman wears, instead of a cloak, a very-ample scarf of white taffeta, trimmed with a wide flounce of black gauze, crossed over the chest, knotted in the back over the Gown, in the form of a belt; it allows the two ends, trimmed with the same flounce or a fringe matching it, to be lost. The hair hanging à la Conseillère , and is accompanied by two large curls fall...

Lady of Quality taking the fresh air at the Jardin du Roi. She is in a Hat à l'Anglomane and dressed in a Robe Anglaise. Furnishings made by Rose Bertin, modiste to the Queen, for the Baronne de Varielle. " September 14, 1787 . - A straw hat lined and covered  with gauze, trimmed with the same, a panache  of ostrich plumes, a kerchief of gauze behind, white ribbon ... 84 livres . "A gauze kerchief en cravatte , and the frill trimmed with blonde of a great height with a spotted tulle ground ... 96 livres . "A pair of sabot  cuffs of the same blonde in two rows, the bodies in crêpe, their bastard blonde on the reverse ... 90 livres . "Total ... 270 livres ." Dossiers Bertin  (Doucet Library)

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.

Young Lady seated in a promenade; she is dressed in a robe à l'Anglaise edged à la Harpie, and coiffed with a straw hat edged the same way.  1. Baigneuse with a ribbon à la Harpie. 2. Straw hat, streaked ribbon and plain ribbon, laurel garland. (1786) "Many hats are made today, with gauze and fine muslins, or fine batistes, or fine crêpes, on which are embroidered different little wildflowers, like the cornflower, the daisy, the poppy, etc.: in observing, however, these brocaded gauzes are only for the crown or cap, the brims are of gaze reine .*" Le Magasin des Modes , 1787 * See Caroline Weber again.

The young Elvire conversing in the evening of the pleasures that she must taste with Lindor in a tête-à-tête: she has a hat à la prétention;  her gown is à l'Anglaise, kerchief with two gathered collars and mantelet of black taffeta. (1786) Public gardens . - "The Parisians never walk, they run, they rush. "The most beautiful garden is deserted at such a time, at such a day, because it is the practice of today to crowd elsewhere.  The reason for this exclusive preference is not seen; but this tacit convention is observed exactly. "In the chosen walkway where the multitude ebbs, you are bothered, bumped, elbowed, and the waves are not less agitated than these performances ... "No feminine face which is studied decreases its age.  That of secret cares to conceal emerging wrinkles!  But the lisp of weak pronunciation doesn't serve to disguise one's years. "The kept girls are very decently set up, and if they continue, it would be nece...

The blonde Mélite walking at noon at the Palais Royal in the grand path of the fair, hoping to see the one who has fixed her heart: she is dressed in an English gown, with a Devonshire hat. (1786) Accessories made for Mme Fléminard by Rose Bertin: 1786, December 9 - a rose bouquet with two sprigs. ... 30 livres . December 10 - A pelisse  of white satin lined and padded, bordered with white fox fur all around. ... 144 livres . December 16 - A straw hat lined and covered with white satin, a pink satin ribbon around the crown and a black ribbon. ... 36 livres . December 17  - Furnished a petticoat of good crêpe, trimmed with a volant  with a turned-down head of the same crêpe edged with cones of white satin. ... 96 livres . A white straw hat lined and covered with white satin, trimmed around the crown with a white ribbon, a panache  of 3 plumes on the side. ... 96 livres . A very large kerchief of brocaded gauze, edged with white quilting. ... 21 ...

The young adolescent whose heart is occupied by love under the traits of the charming Lindor, searches to dissipate the ennui that must be caused to her by the absence of her love, in returning to captivity the object of her caprice: she is coiffed à l'enfant, trimmed robe anglaise. (1785) " General character of the Girls and Women of Paris. - There are light, frivolous, flirtatious; never has a solid idea entered their heads; they give an equal importance to everything which is a production of the arts: everything that makes money or costs it.  To the eyes of a Parisian woman, a florist, a feather-merchant are men as useful as the agriculturist; the prejudice of rank is almost nothing to her eyes ... "The women of Paris are rarely insolent; she is familiar with her servants and speaks well to them ... They are flirtatious, but this is not a defect of their hearts, it is the inconvenience of their position, in an immense population, surrounded by men without wo...

The brilliant Lise, piqued by an infidelity which her lover has made, hastens to execute a project of vengeance to make him come back to her; she is coiffed with a Caravan hat, robe à l'Anglaise trimmed à la Figaro. (1785)   Ribbons. - "Today Ribbons are subject to such variation that it is good for Ladies to have a furnisher who procures the newest for them.  Mr. Morlière , ribbon merchant, residing in the rue Saint-Honoré , near that of the Echelle , has in his store all the most modern and the most brilliant ones.  One will find in his shop Ribbons à la Cagliostro * (pink ground and green border, with pyramids on the ground which cross from the bottom to the top): au Diademe arc-en-ciel ** (pink, green, white, and violet: the violet silk in the middle is larg and cut by three white zigzags), au Laurier † with a pink ground and au Laurier arc-en-ciel (white ground, blue silk, violet clouded‡ and striped, with laurel leaves), all made in Paris." Cabinet des ...

The constant Solitaire in a robe à l'Anglaise with a triple collar, hat à la Basile* and trimmed muslin apron: carrying her pretty lion dog without thinking about it, and looking to see from afar an object that is more interesting to her heart. (1784) - "Women no longer exhaust superlatives, no longer employ the words delicious , stunning , incomprehensible ; they speak with an affected simplicity, and express nothing anymore, neither their admiration nor their transports; the most tragic events only tear from them a light exclamation; the day's news, narrated without reflection, and artificial experiences make up their dialogue ... "Women, even the bourgeoises , no longer say that they are frightfully ugly, that there is nothing more pitiable than the manner in which they are dressed: all these phrases are now unfashionable, and we charitably warn the provincial ladies who still use them. "The lady who only wants to play with the perfumed cards whic...

The sensitive Virtuous woman in a robe à l'Anglaise bordered à la Marlborough and in a demi-Balloon hat, only busying herself alone she executes in waiting for a charming duo. (1784) "Someone wrote to us to ask us if fashion is general, and if it is the same for women of thirty and forty years as for the women of eighteen and twenty, and as in the case where there was a difference for middle age, we do know that one could settle in the Provinces.  We respond that fashion is one and that it is the same for all ages; that the greater part of our ladies, well older than forty, do not have difficulty here in following it and that they never appear condemnable." Cabinet des Modes , 1 July 1786.

The false pouter, in a spotted robe à l'Anglaise with a triple collar and a hat à la Caravanne, making signs of returning to the lover that her apparent rigor had forced to leave. (1784) Gloves . - "Ladies wear, with their full parure , glazed gloves from Grenoble, laced and flounced. "One finds them in the first quality at the shop of Mr. Buisson (of Grenoble), merchant of gloves and perfumes in the rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré , near the rue Royale .  All sorts of gloves for men and women are also found there, as well as all sorts of perfumes, essences, soaps, powders, Sultan , rouge, almond paste, and generally everything which is used in the toilette: all of the first quality and at a fair price." Cabinet des Modes , 15 March 1786

The voluptuous Beauty, taking alternately perfect love* a nd ices, waiting for pleasures more worthy of her: her coiffure is à la Contat,** and her gown à l'Anglaise. (1784) Ices . - "This artificial frozen treat is a tonic, a delicious refreshment: a ice-maker is a veritable artist, who only still exists in the great cities.  Outside of Paris, you must travel a hundred leagues to meet with summer- and autumn-fruit ices, butter ices, kirh-waser ices, bologna ices, almond-milk ices: the true progress in this is made in the capital. "Sieur Duboisson, successor to Procope, is the best who is advised to make ices and sell them all year round.  In the ardent heat of the dog days, at the Palais-Royal, he sells ices for thirteen hundred louis d'or per dozen in cups. "It was Procope who corrected the great lords and poets, the elegants of the court and the writers of the age of Louis XIV, who loyally became drunk at the cabaret: filling them with coffee, ...

The innocent Curious woman, pricking herself on the thorns of a rose whose brilliance and scent please her, and desiring to be able to compare the pains and sweetness of tenderness: she is in a robe à l'Anglaise edged with a streaked ribbon and coiffed with a Globe hat over a demi-cap. (1784) Shoes . - "Our ladies now no longer care to compete in size with men, as we believe that they tended to before.  They leave them today this advantage, that one could say is very indifferent up to a certain point.  They have quitted the shoes with raised heels, which lowers them by nearly two inches.  Who didn't think that they acquired it as a strength which they otherwise lacked?  We do not want to make epigrams here, we only want to say that that are no longer exposed by spinning as they were, wearing heels which are weak if narrowed at the bottom, that they appear balanced.  The heels of their shoes are hardly more raised, nor narrowed, than those of men, proport...

Robe à l'Anglaise, the bodice laced in the back, the skirt is tucked up,* the sleeves of a color different from that of the Gown, the whole edged with a very narrow ribbon of any desired color. (1784) "A woman said: I would go to Rome to seek fashion, if it were required .  What is this fantastic goddess who commands so imperiously?  It is at her very express desire that everything is done, that plumes fall and rise, that hats take all sorts of forms, that the robes à l'anglaise , the chemise gown, the robe à la turque , the pierrot, the caraco have appeared alternately on the scene: that the kerchief that is very full on the neck, called the deceitful kerchief , gave the idea of a protruding throat.  Rebels submitted, or rather there were none in fashion's empire, for the toque and the chignon comb, together with the horsehair cul , could not be escaped in fashion; she gracefully established what was, three months ago, ridiculous." Sébastien MERCIER, ...

Robe à l'Anglaise, Fichu-en-Mantelet, Gauze Hat . (1784) "The merit of this outfit is to narrow the body as much as possible.  It is necessary that the gown takes in and emphasizes the waist.  It is best to wear tightened stays underneath.  The bodice of the stays and the gown must be fastened very loosely to give the most grace to the body. "The gown is of a lightweight pink satin, and the petticoat of a lightweight white satin.  One can only disagree that this manner of cutting the gown and the petticoat* is not a refinement of elegance: the two colors lend a mutual brilliance which delights the view: but it is necessary that both are fresh ..." Le Cabinet des Modes , March 1, 1786 * see coupé in the Glossary

Robe truly à l'Anglaise, without trimming, sleeves en Pagodes with Amadis sleeves, the front of the Gown simply turned back, forming a robing . (1784) "It is to avoid being confused with courtesans of all types and overall with their company that women have created the new terms for society such as grand genre , meilleur ton , and the très excellente compagnie .  These words, pronounced very seriously by the comme il faut people , by the roués , by the agreeable people , were invented to establish a total separation, an immeasurable space between the societies where the greatest crime that can be committed in the world would be to dare to say that they could take to everyone, to be equal in agreement , an appalling proposition that one could not imaginably offer to an adorable woman.  It would be best to deny everything that was more evident to the world: the charm of irony , the beauty of caricatures and the sublimeness of banter .  What, suspect that the hous...

Robe à l'Anglaise trimmed with knife pleats edged with a Muslin frill, with cords and buttons matching the Gown, Hat trimmed with a gauze toque negligently fitted with a ribbon. (1784) Watches . - "The fashion was, some time ago, to have two, but I can only assume it remains.  Most of the watches are little, fewer are good, but the singular thing is that every "agreeable person" wants to have one of that sort." CARACCIOLI, Critical dictionary , 1768

Morning robe à l'Anglaise with amadis sleeves , coupé petticoat with a large volant of muslin, kerchief with double row of trimming.  This woman is coiffed with a hat of long-haired Vicuna with a ribbon around it. (1782) This plate is from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 44.1547 .