Court Dress - Latter part of 13th Century
Court Dress - Latter part of 13th Century
Nobleman of the 13th Century
Nobleman of the 13th Century
Young Woman's dress - 14th Century
Young Woman's dress - 14th Century
Young Gentleman of the 14th Century
Young Gentleman of the 14th Century
Citizen of Early tudor or Louis XI Period
Citizen of Early tudor or Louis XI Period
Court Dress - Early 15th Century
Court Dress - Early 15th Century
Court Dress of 1390
Court Dress of 1390
Court Dress of tudor or Louis XI Period
Court Dress of tudor or Louis XI Period
Noble of the Tudor or Louis XI Period
Noble of the Tudor or Louis XI Period
Ball Costume 1825
Ball Costume 1825
Citizens Dress of 1545
Citizens Dress of 1545
Costume of Manservant - reign of Louis XIII
Costume of Manservant - reign of Louis XIII
Court costume Louis XVI - about 1780
Court costume Louis XVI - about 1780
Court Dress 1540 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1540 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1550 - Tudor or Francis I
Court Dress 1550 - Tudor or Francis I
Days of the pannier
Days of the pannier
Early days of the crinoline - 1855
Early days of the crinoline - 1855
Elizabethan or Henry III - 1570
Elizabethan or Henry III - 1570
Elizabethan or Henry III Period - showing Medicis Collar
Elizabethan or Henry III Period - showing Medicis Collar
Elizabethan or Marie Stuart Period - 1558 - 1600
Elizabethan or Marie Stuart Period - 1558 - 1600
Evening dress of Directoire and early first Empire 1798 - 1804
Evening dress of Directoire and early first Empire 1798 - 1804
French Restoration period - 1823
French Restoration period - 1823
Gentleman of the early Louis XV Period
Gentleman of the early Louis XV Period
Henry IV or early Stuart - 1600 - 1615
Henry IV or early Stuart - 1600 - 1615
Henry IV or early Stuart Period
Henry IV or early Stuart Period
Late Empire - Ball dress and street costume
Late Empire - Ball dress and street costume
Later Louis XIV Period 1700 - 1715
Later Louis XIV Period 1700 - 1715
Louis XIII - about 1640
Louis XIII - about 1640
Louis XIV Period - about 1670
Louis XIV Period - about 1670
Louis XIV Period - about 1700
Louis XIV Period - about 1700
Louis XV
Dress in the time of Louis XV
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
Middle class costume during French Revolution - showing Charlotte Corday cap
Middle class costume during French Revolution - showing Charlotte Corday cap
Morning costume of Dandy of the early Revolutionary period - 1791
Morning costume of Dandy of the early Revolutionary period - 1791
Mousquetaire or Cavalier Costume 1620 - 1640
Mousquetaire or Cavalier Costume 1620- 1640
Reversion to the classic (Grecian) type
Reversion to the classic (Grecian) type
Street costume Late Louis XVI period - 1790
Street costume Late Louis XVI period - 1790
The 1830 Effect
The 1830 Effect
The 1840 style
The 1840 style
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 Grecian Bend
The Grecian Bend , a feature of the late 70's
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 more practical gown of the Empire Period
The more practical gown of the Empire Period
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.
Women's Costume during the Directory - 1795 - 1800
Women's Costume during the Directory - 1795 - 1800
Young Gentleman Louis XIII period - 1625 - 1640
Young Gentleman Louis XIII period - 1625 - 1640
Ecclesiastical Costume in the Twelfth Century
Costume of Shepherds in the Twelfth Century
Lay Costumes in the Twelfth Century
Ordinary Attire of Women of the Lower Classes
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.')
Dress of Ladies of Quality
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.')
Ordinary Dress of Gentlemen in 1675
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.')
A Gentleman and gentlewoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
A Citizen and his wife
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
A Countryman and Countrywoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.)
Costume of a Lawyer
(From a broadside, dated 1623.)
Civil Costume about 1620
(From a contemporary broadside.)