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- Women's Costume during the Directory - 1795 - 1800
Women's Costume during the Directory - 1795 - 1800 - Tie-back skirt
Tie-back skirt Late '7o's and Early '8o's The bustle remained an important feature after the panier effect had been discarded. The skirts were made severely plain and were pulled back by strings, so as to fit with extreme snugness in the front. At the back, however, they were drawn out over a bustle of such extent that the fashion plates of the late '70's now have the appearance of caricatures. - The more practical gown of the Empire Period
The more practical gown of the Empire Period - The Incroyable of the Revolution Period - 1795
The Incroyable of the Revolution Period - 1795 "Incroyable" (incredible) was the sobriquet given to the fops or dandies of the later Revolutionary period. Here is the description of one of these remarkably dressed personages as given by the French writer, Honore de Balzac: The costume of his unknown presented an exact picture of the fashion which at that time called forth the caricatures of the Incroyables. Imagine a person muffled in a coat so short in front that there showed beneath five or six inches of the waistcoat and with skirts so long behind that they resembled a codfish tail, a term then commonly employed to designate them. An immense cravat formed round his neck such innumerable folds that the little head emerging from a labyrinth of muslin almost justified Captain Merle's kitchen simile. [Merle had described the Incroyable as looking "like a duck with its head protruding from a game pie."] The stranger wore tight breeches and boots a la Suwarrow; a huge white and blue cameo was stuck, as a pin, in his shirt. Two watch chains hung in parallel festoons at his waist, and his hair, hanging in corkscrew curls on each side of the face, almost hid his forehead. Finally, as a last touch of decoration, the collars of his shirt and his coat rose so high that his head presented the appearance of a bouquet in its paper wrappings. If there be added to these insignificant details, which formed a mass of disparities with no ensemble, the absurd contrast of his yellow breeches, his red waistcoat, his cinnamon brown coat, a faithful portrait will be given of the height of fashion at which dandies aimed at the beginning of the Consulate Preposterous as the costume was, it seemed to have been invented as a sort of touchstone of elegance to show that nothing can be too absurd for fashion to hallow it. - The Grecian Bend
The Grecian Bend , a feature of the late 70's - The Extreme of the Crinoline - 1862
NO radical change in womens' costumes occurrred until the early fifties when what are known as the "Second Empire" styles were introduced. A remarkable feature of the fashions set by Eugenie, the consort of Napoleon III, was the enormous crinoline, of which we have more than once in recent years been threatened with a revival. The monstrous dimensions of women's skirts during the period from 1853 to the early seventies afforded an excellent theme for the pencil of the comic artist, and those who care to search the volumes of "Punch" and other illustrated publications of English and French origin, as well as those produced at the time in this country, will find both exact reproductions and caricatures of this style of costume. - The 1840 style
The 1840 style - The 1830 Effect
The 1830 Effect - Street costume Late Louis XVI period - 1790
Street costume Late Louis XVI period - 1790 - Reversion to the classic (Grecian) type
Reversion to the classic (Grecian) type - Mousquetaire or Cavalier Costume 1620 - 1640
Mousquetaire or Cavalier Costume 1620- 1640 - Morning costume of Dandy of the early Revolutionary period - 1791
Morning costume of Dandy of the early Revolutionary period - 1791 - Middle class costume during French Revolution - showing Charlotte Corday cap
Middle class costume during French Revolution - showing Charlotte Corday cap - Marie Antoinette style - Late Louis XVI period - 1790
Marie Antoinette style - Late Louis XVI period - 1790 - Men's street costume Late Revolution and early Empire
Men's street costume Late Revolution and early Empire - Louis XV
Dress in the time of Louis XV - Louis XIV Period - about 1700
Louis XIV Period - about 1700 - Louis XIV Period - about 1670
Louis XIV Period - about 1670 - Louis XIII - about 1640
Louis XIII - about 1640 - Later Louis XIV Period 1700 - 1715
Later Louis XIV Period 1700 - 1715 - Late Empire - Ball dress and street costume
Late Empire - Ball dress and street costume - Henry IV or early Stuart Period
Henry IV or early Stuart Period - Henry IV or early Stuart - 1600 - 1615
Henry IV or early Stuart - 1600 - 1615 - Gentleman of the early Louis XV Period
Gentleman of the early Louis XV Period - French Restoration period - 1823
French Restoration period - 1823 - Evening dress of Directoire and early first Empire 1798 - 1804
Evening dress of Directoire and early first Empire 1798 - 1804 - Elizabethan or Marie Stuart Period - 1558 - 1600
Elizabethan or Marie Stuart Period - 1558 - 1600 - Elizabethan or Henry III Period - showing Medicis Collar
Elizabethan or Henry III Period - showing Medicis Collar - Elizabethan or Henry III - 1570
Elizabethan or Henry III - 1570 - Early days of the crinoline - 1855
Early days of the crinoline - 1855 - Days of the pannier
Days of the pannier - Court Dress 1550 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1550 - Tudor or Francis I - Court Dress 1540 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1540 - Tudor or Francis I - Court costume Louis XVI - about 1780
Court costume Louis XVI - about 1780 - Costume of Manservant - reign of Louis XIII
Costume of Manservant - reign of Louis XIII - Citizens Dress of 1545
Citizens Dress of 1545 - Ball Costume 1825
Ball Costume 1825 - Noble of the Tudor or Louis XI Period
Noble of the Tudor or Louis XI Period - Court Dress of tudor or Louis XI Period
Court Dress of tudor or Louis XI Period - Court Dress of 1390
Court Dress of 1390 - Court Dress - Early 15th Century
Court Dress - Early 15th Century - Citizen of Early tudor or Louis XI Period
Citizen of Early tudor or Louis XI Period - Young Gentleman of the 14th Century
Young Gentleman of the 14th Century - Young Woman's dress - 14th Century
Young Woman's dress - 14th Century - Nobleman of the 13th Century
Nobleman of the 13th Century - Court Dress - Latter part of 13th Century
Court Dress - Latter part of 13th Century - Parisian Fashions
MARQUISE and NAVAILLES SHAWL-MANTELET. MARQUISE.—Silk Pelisse. The body is close; it is trimmed with three rows of goffered ribbons disposed in arcades, and terminated at each point by loops of ribbons one over the other. A row of ribbons runs round the bottom of the body, which has also a lace trimming that falls over the opening of the sleeve. The skirt falls in flutes; it has three rows of ribbons and a lace flounce. NAVAILLES.—Shawl-Mantelet, of taffetas trimmed with lace, fringe, and silk ribbons having velvet stripes. It opens like a shawl in front, and comes high behind. A lace of two inches in width turns down on the neck as far as the bow on the breast; a point falls behind like a little shawl, and is bordered with a ribbon sewed on flat, and a lace of about five inches, besides a fringe; in front this lace forms a bertha. The lower part of the garment, sewed on under the point, is rounded, and hangs in flutes behind. It is bordered with the same ribbon, accompanied by the same, and fringe. The ends in front are pointed. - The latest French fashions
Evangeline and Annoinette EVANGELINE.—Silk embroidered, and trimmed with two rows of guipure lace—one row of lace round the yoke, and one about ten inches from the bottom, each row headed with a narrow quilling of ribbon, which also goes down the front and round the neck. On the yoke and between the rows of lace there is handsome embroidery. ANTOINETTE. An entirely new pattern.—The mantilla is entirely formed of rows of lace or pinked silk on a silk or thin foundation. - Lady in house-robe. Period, 1816
Lady in house-robe. Period, 1816 - Costume for young girl. Period, 1821
Costume for young girl. Period, 1821 - Steel Corset worn in Catherine's time.
The most extensive and extreme use of the corset occurred in the 16th century, during the reign of Catherine de Medici of France and Queen Elizabeth of England. With Catherine de Medici a thirteen-inch waist measurement was considered the standard of fashion, while a thick waist was an abomination. No lady could consider her figure of proper shape unless she could span her waist with her two hands. To produce this result a strong rigid corset was worn night and day until the waist was laced down to the required size. Then over this corset was placed the steel apparatus shown in the illustration on next page. This corset-cover reached from the hip to the throat, and produced a rigid figure over which the dress would fit with perfect smoothness.