see captionFigure 23.—Gentlemanin winter attire supposedly just returned from the army. He ordered his gray cloth suit from Sieur Gaultier, whose shop, “A la Couronne,” was located in the Rue des Bourdonnais. From theMercure Galant, October 1678. (Author’s collection.)see captionFigure 24.—Ladyin winter dress of brown Florentine satin. Her petticoat is of off-white (d’un blanc un peu sale) satin brocaded with blue, violet, red, and brown designs. From theMercure Galant, October 1678. (Author’s collection.)
see caption
Figure 23.—Gentlemanin winter attire supposedly just returned from the army. He ordered his gray cloth suit from Sieur Gaultier, whose shop, “A la Couronne,” was located in the Rue des Bourdonnais. From theMercure Galant, October 1678. (Author’s collection.)
see caption
Figure 24.—Ladyin winter dress of brown Florentine satin. Her petticoat is of off-white (d’un blanc un peu sale) satin brocaded with blue, violet, red, and brown designs. From theMercure Galant, October 1678. (Author’s collection.)
From this point theMercure Galantceased to publish a regular series of fashion plates. Occasional articles on fashion appeared through the rest of the 1680s and into the next decade, but they are shorter and less informative. Donneau de Vizé’s adventure into fashion journalism evidently had failed, probably because of a lack of demand for it. Fashions both in clothes and in fabrics did not change very rapidly, and general fashion information was supplied by twoother sources: first, by the annual almanacs, which were often embellished by a large engraving of some important political event, and secondly, by the print shops in the Rue St. Jacques and elsewhere, which commissioned not only Lepautre, who had worked for theMercure Galant, but the Bonnarts, Jean de St. Jean, Arnoult, and other competent artists to produce large engravings of contemporary personalities. These for the most part depicted members of the French royal family and court circle, actors and actresses, and other well-known characters, not always named on the print. A “Man of Quality” (fig. 25) is almost certainly a portrait, which, when suitably colored as many of the prints were, couldbe pinned up or framed for decorative effect. It is wrong to take such a print, as some writers on costume have done, for a fashion plate recording what was worn or likely to be worn in the year in which it was engraved.
see captionFigure 25.—Man of qualityat the court of Louis XIV. Engraving by Jean de St. Jean, 1693. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
see caption
Figure 25.—Man of qualityat the court of Louis XIV. Engraving by Jean de St. Jean, 1693. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
The decorative character of these distinguished prints was often enhanced by “dressing” or overlaying them with small pieces of fabric, lace, or paper.35The finest series of such prints is that in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City. In figure 26, the outlines of the engraving were carefully cut with aknife, and selected pieces of small-pattern fabrics were mounted on stiff paper forming an underlay to the print.
see captionFigure 26.—Dressed print, ca. 1695. The engraving of Madame la Duchesse d’Aumont is embellished with small pieces of velvet, figured silk, and lace. (Courtesy of The Pierpont Morgan Library.)
see caption
Figure 26.—Dressed print, ca. 1695. The engraving of Madame la Duchesse d’Aumont is embellished with small pieces of velvet, figured silk, and lace. (Courtesy of The Pierpont Morgan Library.)
In England, there was no fashion journalism or series of prints that can be regarded as illustrations of late 17th-century fashion. Some use can be made of the engravings after Marcellus Laroon, which were first sold separately and later published in 1711 as theCryes of London,36to illustrate costume in England, but neither these nor the illustrations of English men and women which appear in general works on the costume of Europe can be accepted as fashion plates. Other series, such as the plates on the dress of Augsburg engraved by Jeremias Wolff, belong more tothe history of costume than to the history of fashion.
In the early years of the 18th century, Bernard Picard, best known for his great illustrated work on the religions of the world, made a few small and very neat engravings of fashionable ladies, which were published in Amsterdam in the 1720s. These engravings, some dated 1703, should not be classed as fashion plates; like the Le Clerc engraving of the man in rhinegrave breeches (fig. 15), they are from drawing books. Some of them, part reengraved by G. Bickham, Jr., were reissued in London after 1732.37
In Paris there was a revival of the fashion plate in the late 1720s. The still-existingMercure de France, direct successor of theMercure Galant, carried an occasional fashion article with engravings of dress accessories. In March 1729 (fig. 27), there is a not-very-well-defined sketch of a lady with her page, meeting a gentleman. The accompanying paragraphs are not valuable but contain a recommendation for “garnitures” to be had from La Demoiselle Perronet, in the Cour Abbatial of St. Germain des Pres. As for “coeffures et têtes . . . on les coeffe sur une poupée.”
see captionFigure 27.—Fashion platedepicting a lady with her page being saluted by a gentleman. From theMercure de France, March 1729. (Courtesy of British Museum, London.)
see caption
Figure 27.—Fashion platedepicting a lady with her page being saluted by a gentleman. From theMercure de France, March 1729. (Courtesy of British Museum, London.)
In the same year, 1729, a set of eight fashion plates entitledRecueil des Differentes Modes du Tempswas issued by Herisset apparently to advertise a modiste called Chéreau at the “Grand St. Remy” in the Rue St. Jacques. They are carefully drawn and show back and front views as well as indicating materials (fig. 28). No accompanying text has been found, but as they are known in two versions, one said to have been printed in Germany, it is likely that some descriptions were prepared for the export market.38
see captionFigure 28.—Fashion plate, the first of the seriesRecueil des differentes Modes du Temps. The fabric of the dress on the right is a moiré or watered silk, on the left a “lace-pattern” brocade, often wrongly ascribed to the period of Louis XIII (1610-43). Issued by Herisset, ca. 1730. (Author’s collection.)
see caption
Figure 28.—Fashion plate, the first of the seriesRecueil des differentes Modes du Temps. The fabric of the dress on the right is a moiré or watered silk, on the left a “lace-pattern” brocade, often wrongly ascribed to the period of Louis XIII (1610-43). Issued by Herisset, ca. 1730. (Author’s collection.)
The French engravers working in England—Gravelot, Grignon, and Boitard—produced some dated portraits of English ladies which can be used as fashion illustrations. The caricature scenes, “Taste à la Mode, 1735” and “Taste à la Mode, 1745,” published by Robert Sayer in 1749,39also may serve as records of fashion. There was, however, no journal of fashion in England before the reign of George III. Indeed, there seems to have been no publication or series of prints to give guidance to the fashion trade in Europe in the mid-18th century.
Technical information together with some fashion plates was available in the 1760s in various volumes of the FrenchEncyclopédie. M. de Garsault wrote the section on the art of the tailor (1769) as well as sections on wigs and wigmaking. The engravings by Jean Le Gros (fig. 29) were of practical use to hairdressers; a similar book of hairstyle by James Stewart was published in England.40
see captionFigure 29.—Engraving by Jean le Grosdepicting French hair style, ca. 1760. FromL’Art de la Coiffure. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
see caption
Figure 29.—Engraving by Jean le Grosdepicting French hair style, ca. 1760. FromL’Art de la Coiffure. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
The single-sheet almanac decorated with engravings of contemporary events continued to be published in France in the 18th century,41but pictures in the English university almanacs were mainly topographical or historical. The next development was the issue of annual memorandum books or pocket diaries, which sometimes had a fashion plate as a frontispiece. For example, theLadies Museum or Pocket Memorandum Book, 1774, contained an engraving of a “Lady in the most fashionable dress of the year 1773.” This appeared not very long after the first production of Oliver Goldsmith’s comedyShe Stoops to Conquer, which contains the following dialogue (Act 2):
Mrs. Hardcastle: Pray, how do you like this head, Mr. Hastings?Mr. Hastings: Extremely elegant and degagée, upon my word, Madam. Your friseur is a Frenchman, I suppose?Mrs. Hardcastle: I protest, I dressed it from a print in the ladies memorandum-book for the last year.
Mrs. Hardcastle: Pray, how do you like this head, Mr. Hastings?
Mr. Hastings: Extremely elegant and degagée, upon my word, Madam. Your friseur is a Frenchman, I suppose?
Mrs. Hardcastle: I protest, I dressed it from a print in the ladies memorandum-book for the last year.
She Stoops to Conquerwas written in 1772-73, and, although a memorandum book published at this date and containing fashion plates of headdresses has not been traced, it is very likely that one existed.
But before this, in 1770,The Lady’s Magazine or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sexhad begun its long career which lasted until 1837. Figure 30 shows a typical fashion plate for 1774. A lady in full court dress is talking to another in visiting dress; behind, a third in full dress but without side hoops talks to a friend in traveling dress with a calash hood; in the background a lady in riding dress looks out of the window. Artistically such a fashion plate is of no great distinction, but it served a purpose—to give information about current fashions—very much better than the more spectacularly illustrated productions such as Heideloff’sGallery of Fashion.
see captionFigure 30.—Plate showingfashionable dress at Weymouth. FromThe Lady’s Magazine, 1774. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
see caption
Figure 30.—Plate showingfashionable dress at Weymouth. FromThe Lady’s Magazine, 1774. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
The 18th-century reading public became increasinglyfashion conscious, and there are several series of French colored prints, the finest of them by Moreau le Jeune from 1775 onward, which have high artistic merit and have been sought continuously by collectors. Their purpose, however, was explicitly “pour servir à l’histoire des Modes et du Costume des Français dans le XVIIIsiècle.” The prints are strongly romanticized and must be regarded as a record of something between historical and fancy dress. The accompanying text names but only briefly describes the dresses and then passes on to facetious moralizing.
In the same way in London in 1794, Nicolaus Heideloff, whoseGallery of Fashionwas an imitation of one of the French series by Esnaut and Rapilly entitledLa Gallerie des Modes, though claiming that the dresses he described were real ones, seems to havehad as an objective the formation of a sort of picture gallery of costume portraits of English ladies. Heideloff called it a Repository, which is what we would call an archive today, but the term came to be used by Rudolph Ackermann for his general magazine,The Repository of the Arts. . . , published between 1809 and 1828 (see p. 89). The ladies in Heideloff’s aquatints are all different in the sense that they are dressed differently and doing different things, but the variations are mostly fanciful (fig. 31). In fact, the Heideloff prints served to fill picture books or to be pinned up or framed on walls; they do not differ greatly in their approach from the series of the Bonnarts and their contemporaries during the reign of Louis XIV.
see captionFigure 31.—Print of a ladyin a court dress ballooned out by side hoops, by N. Heideloff. The print does not attribute this fashion to any specific year. From theGallery of Fashion, 1798. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
see caption
Figure 31.—Print of a ladyin a court dress ballooned out by side hoops, by N. Heideloff. The print does not attribute this fashion to any specific year. From theGallery of Fashion, 1798. (Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London.)
It is not proposed to give an account here of thevarious magazines in the different countries which contained illustrated articles on fashion from 1770 onward, since this would merely repeat material in Mr. Vyvyan Holland’s book. Mention should be made, however, of the movements for dress reform motivated either by economic considerations or national feeling. Pamphlets and articles on these subjects were usually without illustrations, except when concerned with the revival or creation of a national costume.42Sweden was the only country where, thanks to the enthusiasm of King Gustavus III, the wearing of national dress was more than an archaizing affectation. Dr. Eva Bergman43has described the origins of this Swedish national dress in a book thatis fully documented with tailors’ patterns and illustrations. As all details were prescribed by court regulations and very little scope was left for the impulses and personal choice of the wearers, the dress may be regarded to a great extent as a uniform rather than a fashion. Modifications did take place, however, and the style continued into the 19th century. As late as 1827, a pamphlet was published in Copenhagen on the same subject.44
With these dress-reform books must also be includedthe books on French Revolution fashions, of which that by Grasset de Saint-Sauveur is the best known.45When reading the descriptions of dress of the various officials, grades, and classes, one wonders whether such clothes were actually worn except on state occasions, or whether they were fanciful novelties which the French officials in their reaction against Louis XVI and his court thought would be appropriate for the new regime. The intention of this book, however, undoubtedly was serious and quite unlike the caricaturefashion plates often titled “Merveilleuse” or “Incroyable,” which amused everyone in the early years of the 19th century.
After 1800 many types of magazines flourished, and the increase in the number of lending and subscription libraries and also of public libraries fostered a new reading public. The magazines had illustrated fashion articles. Often the engravings, and later the lithographs, colored by hand, were their most attractive feature. Not that any great originality was shown; the latest Paris fashions were often adapted, with or without acknowledgment from French fashion plates of the previous season. Men’s and children’s fashions were not adapted on nearly the same scale. Possibly, men’s fashions were more static, or confined to details such as variations in tying the cravat.46
see captionFigure 32.—Front and back viewof a walking dress showing that embroidered muslin was worn even in winter. Here, the muslin is accompanied by a red sarcenet Highland spencer and a matching scarf lined with ermine. FromLa Belle Assemblée, December 1808. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union Museum.)
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Figure 32.—Front and back viewof a walking dress showing that embroidered muslin was worn even in winter. Here, the muslin is accompanied by a red sarcenet Highland spencer and a matching scarf lined with ermine. FromLa Belle Assemblée, December 1808. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union Museum.)
Three magazines are worth special mention.La Belle Assemblée, or Bell’s Court and Fashionable Magazine“addressed particularly to the ladies” was published in London from 1806 to 1868 (fig. 32). During the 1820s the plates were of less merit, but there was a later improvement. In 1809, the London print firm of Ackermann began to publishThe Repository of Arts, Letters, CommerceandManufactures Fashion and Politics. This magazine had a much wider scope, and its illustrations are of good quality (fig. 33). A special feature was the inclusion of small sample squares of new materials pasted into the text which named and described them. This feature usefully supplements industrial records of the period, which are hard to come by and difficult to handle in that those preserved are usually bulky, not too well dated, and show no distinction between fabrics made for export and those for the home market. Thirdly, from 1830 to 1898,Godey’s Lady’s Bookwas published in Philadelphia,under titles which varied from time to time (fig. 34). This magazine is much more famous for its other contents than for its fashion articles; its plates, often copied from French engravings, are of low quality and rather crudely colored.
see captionFigure 33.—Walking dress of gray merino.Plate 38, Ackermann’sRepository of the Arts, 1819. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union Museum.)
see caption
Figure 33.—Walking dress of gray merino.Plate 38, Ackermann’sRepository of the Arts, 1819. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union Museum.)
The number, variation, and wide distribution of 19th-century fashion plates has proved something of a handicap to the historian in search of reliable information about dress. Mr. Holland has studied them from the artistic angle, tracing many of the French artists, who did not scorn fashion work. The relation of fashion plates to Victorian dresses as worn has been touched on by many costume writers,47but the relation of the fashion plate to the fashion house has yet to be studied; in particular, the large sheets put out by wholesale drapers and textile manufacturers and the advertisements of ready-made clothing that appear in magazines all through the 19th century have not yet been studied to full advantage.
see captionFigure 34.—Philadelphia fashions.At this date caps or hats were worn indoors with full evening dress. The details of this print were probably copied from a French or English fashion magazine. FromGodey’s Lady’s Book, October 1833. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union Museum.)
see caption
Figure 34.—Philadelphia fashions.At this date caps or hats were worn indoors with full evening dress. The details of this print were probably copied from a French or English fashion magazine. FromGodey’s Lady’s Book, October 1833. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union Museum.)
This account of the fashion plate is necessarily incomplete, because its history and development has not been continuous, and new links may yet be found. The earlier period has been treated in greater detail because it is generally less well-known, and the boundaries between the fashion plate and the costume picture are not all easy to define. The fashion plate has died slowly, the victim of the photograph showing the model wearing actual clothes and the sketch giving the impression of a fashion artist at a dress show. Through the centuries, the fashion plate has provided the link between the wearer and the maker of clothes. It has also attracted as collectors those studying both the social background of a period and the history of costume.
U.S. Government Printing Office: 1967
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402
Price 35 cents
Footnotes1Vyvyan Holland,Hand Coloured Fashion Plates, 1770-1899 (Boston: Boston Book and Art Shop, Inc., 1955).2Alessandro Piccolomini,Dialogo de la bella creanza de le donne(Venice, 1540). The dialogue is reprinted inG. Zonta,Trattati del Cinquecento sulla donna(1913), but it deserves a modern translation and editing.3Sir Henry Hake, “The English Historic Portrait.” Lecture for the British Academy, 1943.4Malcolm Letts,The Diary of Jörg von Ehingen(1929).5Sigrid F. Christensen,Die männliche Kleidung in der süddeutschen Renaissance(1934), pl. 21.6SirKarl T. Parker,The drawings of H. Holbein at Windsor Castle(1945), pls. 16, 19, 24.7This book,Klaidungsbüchlein, in the Herzog Anton-Ulrich Museum, Brunswick, Germany, was edited by August Fink and published in full in 1963 by the Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin.8For a general account, seeJ. L. Nevinson, “Sigmund von Herberstein: Notes on 16th century dress,”Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für historische Waffen- und Kostum-Kunde(1959), new ser. 1, p. 86.9Sigmund von Herberstein,Gratae Posteritati. . . (Vienna, 1560).10Sigmund von Herberstein,Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii, expanded ed. (Basel: Oporinus, 1556).11Juan de Alcega,Libro di geometria y traca(1589). See also,Tailor and cutter(London, 1933), no. 68. A copy of the 1588 edition was acquired by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., in 1964.12“Supplication to the King.” Printed by the Early English Text Society, extra ser. (1871), p. 52.13Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (2), on. 3326.14Andrew Boorde,Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge(1542). Reprinted by the Early English Text Society, extra ser., vol. 10 (1870), p. 116.15Recueil de la diversité des habits. . . (1562). The book was reissued in 1564 and 1567.16Translated, this reads: “. . . our predecessors of old . . . were more careful about sumptuous dress than rare virtue . . . for as the monk was recognized by his frock, the jester by his cap, and the soldier by his arms, so the wise man was known by his moderate habit.”17A. M. Hind,Engraving in England in the 16th and 17th centuries(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952), vol. 1, pl. 34.18F.Bertelli,Omnium fere gentium nostrae aetatis habitus. . . (Venice, 1563).19For the origin of this Spanish fashion in 1470, seeCarmen Bernis Madrazo,Indumentaria medieval espanola(1956), p. 50, pl. 158.20There are two editions of the book byCesare Vecellio:De gli habiti antichi e moderni. . . (Venice: Zenaro, 1590 [Italian text]);Habiti Antichi e Moderni(Venice: Sessa, 1598 [Italian and Latin text]). The quality of the woodblocks and impressions varies considerably.21Translated, this reads: “Underneath, the habit of the ladies [who imitate the Duchess] is to wear the farthingale or pleated frock, which skillfully holds the petticoat out wide like a bell. This fashion is extremely convenient for walking or dancing, and nowadays, ladies throughout all Italy wear this pleated frock mentioned above.” (1590 ed., folio 187.a.)22Translated, this reads: “The originator of these beautiful fabrics in Venice is Master Bartholomew Bontempele at the sign of the ‘Chalice.’ From time to time at exhibitions he makes of these materials he has created, he shows the greatness of his intellect, which is accompanied by an incomparable generosity and kindness for which he is greatly loved by the Venetian nobility, by many princes of Italy, and in particular by his Serene Highness the Duke of Mantua. In his store, to which many gentlemen and princes send orders, even the Seraglio of the Grand Turk, are to be seen brocades worked in all manners of gold and silver.” (1590 ed., folio 139.)23There is an excellent reprint of Buytewech’s book with an introduction byW. Bruhn(1926).24C. le Blanc,Manuel de l’amateur des estampes(1854), no. 549-560.25For examples, seeA. Blum,L’oeuvre gravé de Abraham Bosse(1924), nos. 957-961; the plate “Pompe funèbre de la Mode,” byA. Blum(inLes Modes au XVIIsiècle, 1927), p. 21; andF. P. Wilson, “Funeral obsequies of Sir All-in-new-fashions” (inShakespeare Survey, 1958), p. 98.26J. L. Nevinson, “Fashion Plates and Fashion, 1625-35,”Apollo(1950) vol. 51, pp. 138-140.27Gustave Parthey,Kurzes Verzeichniss der Hollarschen Kupferstichen(1853), nos. 606-609.28Gustave Parthey,Kurzes Verzeichniss der Hollarschen Kupferstichen(1853), nos. 1908-12, 1930-33.29Parthey, ibid., nos. 1946-51.30John Evelyn,Tyrannus or the Mode(1661). Facsimile reprint with introduction byJ. L. Nevinson(Oxford: Luttrell Society, 1951), no. 11.31E. S. de Beer,“KingCharles II’s own fashion,”Warburg Institute Journal(1935), vol. 2, no. 2, p. 105.32Translated, this reads: “. . . nothing is more pleasing than the styles born in France . . . . This is why much relating to dress is imported from France into all the provinces of the world, though the final dress is not exactly French.”33Emile Magne,Images de Paris sous Louis XIV(1939). In this book, the social historian Dr. Magne devotes the best part of a chapter to theMercure Galantand gives a listing of all fashion articles up to 1700.34SeeJ. L. Nevinson, “The ‘Mercury Gallant’ or European Fashions in the 1670’s,”Connoisseur(1955) vol. 136, p. 87.35See F. G.Roe, “Prints and Tinsel,”Connoisseur(1932), vol. 89, p. 302.36The Cryes of the City of London, Drawne after the Life, delineated by M. Lauron, engraved by P. Tempest (London: H. Overton, 1711).37A new Drawing book of Modes, by Mons B.Picart(printed for Richard Ware at the Bible & Sun in Amen Corner, Warwick Lane, London; no date).38R. Colas,Bibliographie du costume(1933), nos. 2502, 2503.39G. Paston,Social Caricature in the 18th Century(1905), pl. facing p. 10.40J. Le Gros, L’Art de la coiffure (1768).James Stewart,Plocacosmos or the whole Art of Hairdressing(1782).41C. L. Regnault de Savigny,Les almanachs illustrées du XVIIIsiècle(1909).42Justus Möser of Osnabruck, a prolific writer in the 1770s, discussed, in hisPatriotische Fantasien, not only national dress but whether magazines should deal with ladies’ fashions.43Eva Bergman,Nationella Dräkten(Stockholm, 1938).44J. C. Ryge,Ideer til en national Smag i dansk Klaederdragt(Copenhagen, 1827).45Grasset de Saint-Sauveur,Costume des Représentans du peuple(Paris, 1795).46H. Le Blanc,The Art of Tying the Cravat, 3rd ed. (1828).The whole Art of Dress, by a Cavalry officer (1830). Both of these small books contain fashion plates.47Vyvyan Holland, op. cit. (footnote 1), chap. 5 ff.C. Willett Cunnington,English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century(1937).James Laver,Nineteenth Century Costume(1947).C. H. Gibbs-Smith,The Fashionable Lady in the 19th Century(1960).
1Vyvyan Holland,Hand Coloured Fashion Plates, 1770-1899 (Boston: Boston Book and Art Shop, Inc., 1955).
2Alessandro Piccolomini,Dialogo de la bella creanza de le donne(Venice, 1540). The dialogue is reprinted inG. Zonta,Trattati del Cinquecento sulla donna(1913), but it deserves a modern translation and editing.
3Sir Henry Hake, “The English Historic Portrait.” Lecture for the British Academy, 1943.
4Malcolm Letts,The Diary of Jörg von Ehingen(1929).
5Sigrid F. Christensen,Die männliche Kleidung in der süddeutschen Renaissance(1934), pl. 21.
6SirKarl T. Parker,The drawings of H. Holbein at Windsor Castle(1945), pls. 16, 19, 24.
7This book,Klaidungsbüchlein, in the Herzog Anton-Ulrich Museum, Brunswick, Germany, was edited by August Fink and published in full in 1963 by the Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin.
8For a general account, seeJ. L. Nevinson, “Sigmund von Herberstein: Notes on 16th century dress,”Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für historische Waffen- und Kostum-Kunde(1959), new ser. 1, p. 86.
9Sigmund von Herberstein,Gratae Posteritati. . . (Vienna, 1560).
10Sigmund von Herberstein,Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii, expanded ed. (Basel: Oporinus, 1556).
11Juan de Alcega,Libro di geometria y traca(1589). See also,Tailor and cutter(London, 1933), no. 68. A copy of the 1588 edition was acquired by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., in 1964.
12“Supplication to the King.” Printed by the Early English Text Society, extra ser. (1871), p. 52.
13Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (2), on. 3326.
14Andrew Boorde,Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge(1542). Reprinted by the Early English Text Society, extra ser., vol. 10 (1870), p. 116.
15Recueil de la diversité des habits. . . (1562). The book was reissued in 1564 and 1567.
16Translated, this reads: “. . . our predecessors of old . . . were more careful about sumptuous dress than rare virtue . . . for as the monk was recognized by his frock, the jester by his cap, and the soldier by his arms, so the wise man was known by his moderate habit.”
17A. M. Hind,Engraving in England in the 16th and 17th centuries(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952), vol. 1, pl. 34.
18F.Bertelli,Omnium fere gentium nostrae aetatis habitus. . . (Venice, 1563).
19For the origin of this Spanish fashion in 1470, seeCarmen Bernis Madrazo,Indumentaria medieval espanola(1956), p. 50, pl. 158.
20There are two editions of the book byCesare Vecellio:De gli habiti antichi e moderni. . . (Venice: Zenaro, 1590 [Italian text]);Habiti Antichi e Moderni(Venice: Sessa, 1598 [Italian and Latin text]). The quality of the woodblocks and impressions varies considerably.
21Translated, this reads: “Underneath, the habit of the ladies [who imitate the Duchess] is to wear the farthingale or pleated frock, which skillfully holds the petticoat out wide like a bell. This fashion is extremely convenient for walking or dancing, and nowadays, ladies throughout all Italy wear this pleated frock mentioned above.” (1590 ed., folio 187.a.)
22Translated, this reads: “The originator of these beautiful fabrics in Venice is Master Bartholomew Bontempele at the sign of the ‘Chalice.’ From time to time at exhibitions he makes of these materials he has created, he shows the greatness of his intellect, which is accompanied by an incomparable generosity and kindness for which he is greatly loved by the Venetian nobility, by many princes of Italy, and in particular by his Serene Highness the Duke of Mantua. In his store, to which many gentlemen and princes send orders, even the Seraglio of the Grand Turk, are to be seen brocades worked in all manners of gold and silver.” (1590 ed., folio 139.)
23There is an excellent reprint of Buytewech’s book with an introduction byW. Bruhn(1926).
24C. le Blanc,Manuel de l’amateur des estampes(1854), no. 549-560.
25For examples, seeA. Blum,L’oeuvre gravé de Abraham Bosse(1924), nos. 957-961; the plate “Pompe funèbre de la Mode,” byA. Blum(inLes Modes au XVIIsiècle, 1927), p. 21; andF. P. Wilson, “Funeral obsequies of Sir All-in-new-fashions” (inShakespeare Survey, 1958), p. 98.
26J. L. Nevinson, “Fashion Plates and Fashion, 1625-35,”Apollo(1950) vol. 51, pp. 138-140.
27Gustave Parthey,Kurzes Verzeichniss der Hollarschen Kupferstichen(1853), nos. 606-609.
28Gustave Parthey,Kurzes Verzeichniss der Hollarschen Kupferstichen(1853), nos. 1908-12, 1930-33.
29Parthey, ibid., nos. 1946-51.
30John Evelyn,Tyrannus or the Mode(1661). Facsimile reprint with introduction byJ. L. Nevinson(Oxford: Luttrell Society, 1951), no. 11.
31E. S. de Beer,“KingCharles II’s own fashion,”Warburg Institute Journal(1935), vol. 2, no. 2, p. 105.
32Translated, this reads: “. . . nothing is more pleasing than the styles born in France . . . . This is why much relating to dress is imported from France into all the provinces of the world, though the final dress is not exactly French.”
33Emile Magne,Images de Paris sous Louis XIV(1939). In this book, the social historian Dr. Magne devotes the best part of a chapter to theMercure Galantand gives a listing of all fashion articles up to 1700.
34SeeJ. L. Nevinson, “The ‘Mercury Gallant’ or European Fashions in the 1670’s,”Connoisseur(1955) vol. 136, p. 87.
35See F. G.Roe, “Prints and Tinsel,”Connoisseur(1932), vol. 89, p. 302.
36The Cryes of the City of London, Drawne after the Life, delineated by M. Lauron, engraved by P. Tempest (London: H. Overton, 1711).
37A new Drawing book of Modes, by Mons B.Picart(printed for Richard Ware at the Bible & Sun in Amen Corner, Warwick Lane, London; no date).
38R. Colas,Bibliographie du costume(1933), nos. 2502, 2503.
39G. Paston,Social Caricature in the 18th Century(1905), pl. facing p. 10.
40J. Le Gros, L’Art de la coiffure (1768).James Stewart,Plocacosmos or the whole Art of Hairdressing(1782).
41C. L. Regnault de Savigny,Les almanachs illustrées du XVIIIsiècle(1909).
42Justus Möser of Osnabruck, a prolific writer in the 1770s, discussed, in hisPatriotische Fantasien, not only national dress but whether magazines should deal with ladies’ fashions.
43Eva Bergman,Nationella Dräkten(Stockholm, 1938).
44J. C. Ryge,Ideer til en national Smag i dansk Klaederdragt(Copenhagen, 1827).
45Grasset de Saint-Sauveur,Costume des Représentans du peuple(Paris, 1795).
46H. Le Blanc,The Art of Tying the Cravat, 3rd ed. (1828).The whole Art of Dress, by a Cavalry officer (1830). Both of these small books contain fashion plates.
47Vyvyan Holland, op. cit. (footnote 1), chap. 5 ff.C. Willett Cunnington,English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century(1937).James Laver,Nineteenth Century Costume(1947).C. H. Gibbs-Smith,The Fashionable Lady in the 19th Century(1960).
Text of Original CaptionsThe text for figures 6 and 11-14 was printed as blocks of verse below the illustration. The remaining text (figures 16-22, skipping 20) was printed within the body of the illustration. As with all original (pre-1967) text, the spelling, capitalization and punctuation are unchanged.Figure 6.L’angloyse.Ainsi vestue est une femme AngloisePar le dessus son bonnet est fourré,On la cognoist (biẽ qu’ aux lieux on ne voise)Facilement à son bonnet carré.Figure 11.Que ce m’est vne chose estrangeDe remarquer combien me changeCet habillement reformé:Que i’ay de mal à m’en defendre,Et q’uil me fache de le preendre,Pour ne l’avoir accoustumé:Je violente ma nature;Me voyant en cette posture,Et demeure tout interdit,Mais dequoy me sert cette pleinte,Si par raison ou par contreinteIl faut obeir à l’Edit!Il est iuste qu’on s’accommodeAu temps, au pais, à la mode,Suivant le sainct decret des loixSans chercher de preuue plus ampleQue celle qui luit dans léxampleDe Lovys le plus grand des RoisFigure 12.Tout ce que l’Art humain a jamais inuentéPour mieux charmer les sens par la galanterie,Et tout ce qu’ont d’appas la Grace et la beauté,Se descouure à nos yeux dans cette Gallerie.Icy les Caualiers les plus aduantureuxEn lisant les Romans, s’ániment à combatre;Et de leur passion les Amans langoureux,Flattent les mouuements par des vers de Theatre.Icy faisant semblant d’acheter deuant tousDes gands, des Euantails, du ruban, des danteles;Les adroits Courtisans se donnent rendez-vous,Et pour se faire aimer, galantisent les Belles.Icy quelque Lingere a faute de succezA vendre abondamment de colere se picqueContre des Ciccaneurs qui parlant de procezEmpeschent les Chalands d’aborder sa Boutique.Figure 13.The bottom edge of the caption is cut off in the (1967) original.Not soe quick sighted, is the EAGLE for her prayAs I new fashions spie to make mee gay.Figure 14.WinterThe cold, not cruelty makes her weareIn Winter, furrs and Wild beasts haireFor a smoother skinn at nightEmbraceth her with more delightFigure 16.Habit d’HyuerTour de plumes a deux pointesCastor gris blancPerruque noüéeColet rond BrodéManteau de drap de Hollande couleur de feu double de vetours noir ou plúche de couleurManchon de pluche de couleurIuste-au-corps gris brodé de soye de couleur doublé de satin et la veste de mesmeBroderie plate d’Or et d’argentCanons a la Royale brodez coupez en botte tenant au basSoutiers noirs lustrez et lizerez d’OrFigure 17.Habit d’HyuerGrande coeffe de gaze brodée Palatine de MarteBrasselets ou nœuds de DiamansManchon de pluche de couleurRobe de velours noir et les nœuds de diamansHermine sur vne Iupe de dessous noireFigure 18.Habit d’HyuerRuban large brodé de SoyeCastor ras noirIuste-au-caorps de drap de Hollande couleur de noisetteBaudrier brodé couleur de la pluchedouble renuers de manches sans-vestefrange forte couleur de Princepluche de couleurBas routér couleur de lhabitlEcharpe de point d’espagne ou de raiseau Or et ArgentFigure 19.Deshabillé d’HyuerCoeffe de Soye ecruëCoeffe noirePalatine de PointManchon de pluche couleur de feuManche Sereé de pluche.Manche de Chemise.Menchettes de point.Ceinture de tissu d’Or.Manteau de brocart a fleurs d’Or doublé de pluche couleur de feu.Iupe de pluche couleur de feu.trois rangs de grande dentelle Or et Argent-vollante.Iupon de brocart a fleurs d’argent bordé d’ermine.Figure 21.Habit d’EstéRuban large tabizé ou brodé avec de la frangeJuste au Corps destamine Couleur de Prince.La Veste aussy longue que le Juste au Corps de toile blanche garnie de dentelle ou point.Tour de manche double.Les Gans garnis de dentelle.Le Baudrier à fons blanc et des grans fleurons brodes de la Couleur de l’habit.Figure 22.Habit d’EstéA graphe de Piereries.Gans de point d’Angleterre.Manchettes doubles.Manteau de gaze.Jupe de point d’Angleterre sur un fons de couleur.d’entelle d’Angleterre plissée.
The text for figures 6 and 11-14 was printed as blocks of verse below the illustration. The remaining text (figures 16-22, skipping 20) was printed within the body of the illustration. As with all original (pre-1967) text, the spelling, capitalization and punctuation are unchanged.
Figure 6.
L’angloyse.Ainsi vestue est une femme AngloisePar le dessus son bonnet est fourré,On la cognoist (biẽ qu’ aux lieux on ne voise)Facilement à son bonnet carré.
L’angloyse.
Ainsi vestue est une femme Angloise
Par le dessus son bonnet est fourré,
On la cognoist (biẽ qu’ aux lieux on ne voise)
Facilement à son bonnet carré.
Figure 11.
Que ce m’est vne chose estrangeDe remarquer combien me changeCet habillement reformé:Que i’ay de mal à m’en defendre,Et q’uil me fache de le preendre,Pour ne l’avoir accoustumé:Je violente ma nature;Me voyant en cette posture,Et demeure tout interdit,Mais dequoy me sert cette pleinte,Si par raison ou par contreinteIl faut obeir à l’Edit!Il est iuste qu’on s’accommodeAu temps, au pais, à la mode,Suivant le sainct decret des loixSans chercher de preuue plus ampleQue celle qui luit dans léxampleDe Lovys le plus grand des Rois
Que ce m’est vne chose estrange
De remarquer combien me change
Cet habillement reformé:
Que i’ay de mal à m’en defendre,
Et q’uil me fache de le preendre,
Pour ne l’avoir accoustumé:
Je violente ma nature;
Me voyant en cette posture,
Et demeure tout interdit,
Mais dequoy me sert cette pleinte,
Si par raison ou par contreinte
Il faut obeir à l’Edit!
Il est iuste qu’on s’accommode
Au temps, au pais, à la mode,
Suivant le sainct decret des loix
Sans chercher de preuue plus ample
Que celle qui luit dans léxample
De Lovys le plus grand des Rois
Figure 12.
Tout ce que l’Art humain a jamais inuentéPour mieux charmer les sens par la galanterie,Et tout ce qu’ont d’appas la Grace et la beauté,Se descouure à nos yeux dans cette Gallerie.Icy les Caualiers les plus aduantureuxEn lisant les Romans, s’ániment à combatre;Et de leur passion les Amans langoureux,Flattent les mouuements par des vers de Theatre.Icy faisant semblant d’acheter deuant tousDes gands, des Euantails, du ruban, des danteles;Les adroits Courtisans se donnent rendez-vous,Et pour se faire aimer, galantisent les Belles.Icy quelque Lingere a faute de succezA vendre abondamment de colere se picqueContre des Ciccaneurs qui parlant de procezEmpeschent les Chalands d’aborder sa Boutique.
Tout ce que l’Art humain a jamais inuenté
Pour mieux charmer les sens par la galanterie,
Et tout ce qu’ont d’appas la Grace et la beauté,
Se descouure à nos yeux dans cette Gallerie.
Icy les Caualiers les plus aduantureux
En lisant les Romans, s’ániment à combatre;
Et de leur passion les Amans langoureux,
Flattent les mouuements par des vers de Theatre.
Icy faisant semblant d’acheter deuant tous
Des gands, des Euantails, du ruban, des danteles;
Les adroits Courtisans se donnent rendez-vous,
Et pour se faire aimer, galantisent les Belles.
Icy quelque Lingere a faute de succez
A vendre abondamment de colere se picque
Contre des Ciccaneurs qui parlant de procez
Empeschent les Chalands d’aborder sa Boutique.
Figure 13.
The bottom edge of the caption is cut off in the (1967) original.
Not soe quick sighted, is the EAGLE for her prayAs I new fashions spie to make mee gay.
Not soe quick sighted, is the EAGLE for her pray
As I new fashions spie to make mee gay.
Figure 14.
WinterThe cold, not cruelty makes her weareIn Winter, furrs and Wild beasts haireFor a smoother skinn at nightEmbraceth her with more delight
Winter
The cold, not cruelty makes her weare
In Winter, furrs and Wild beasts haire
For a smoother skinn at night
Embraceth her with more delight
Figure 16.
Habit d’HyuerTour de plumes a deux pointesCastor gris blancPerruque noüéeColet rond BrodéManteau de drap de Hollande couleur de feu double de vetours noir ou plúche de couleurManchon de pluche de couleurIuste-au-corps gris brodé de soye de couleur doublé de satin et la veste de mesmeBroderie plate d’Or et d’argentCanons a la Royale brodez coupez en botte tenant au basSoutiers noirs lustrez et lizerez d’Or
Habit d’Hyuer
Tour de plumes a deux pointes
Castor gris blanc
Perruque noüée
Colet rond Brodé
Manteau de drap de Hollande couleur de feu double de vetours noir ou plúche de couleur
Manchon de pluche de couleur
Iuste-au-corps gris brodé de soye de couleur doublé de satin et la veste de mesme
Broderie plate d’Or et d’argent
Canons a la Royale brodez coupez en botte tenant au bas
Soutiers noirs lustrez et lizerez d’Or
Figure 17.
Habit d’HyuerGrande coeffe de gaze brodée Palatine de MarteBrasselets ou nœuds de DiamansManchon de pluche de couleurRobe de velours noir et les nœuds de diamansHermine sur vne Iupe de dessous noire
Habit d’Hyuer
Grande coeffe de gaze brodée Palatine de Marte
Brasselets ou nœuds de Diamans
Manchon de pluche de couleur
Robe de velours noir et les nœuds de diamans
Hermine sur vne Iupe de dessous noire
Figure 18.
Habit d’HyuerRuban large brodé de SoyeCastor ras noirIuste-au-caorps de drap de Hollande couleur de noisetteBaudrier brodé couleur de la pluchedouble renuers de manches sans-vestefrange forte couleur de Princepluche de couleurBas routér couleur de lhabitlEcharpe de point d’espagne ou de raiseau Or et Argent
Habit d’Hyuer
Ruban large brodé de Soye
Castor ras noir
Iuste-au-caorps de drap de Hollande couleur de noisette
Baudrier brodé couleur de la pluche
double renuers de manches sans-veste
frange forte couleur de Prince
pluche de couleur
Bas routér couleur de lhabit
lEcharpe de point d’espagne ou de raiseau Or et Argent
Figure 19.
Deshabillé d’HyuerCoeffe de Soye ecruëCoeffe noirePalatine de PointManchon de pluche couleur de feuManche Sereé de pluche.Manche de Chemise.Menchettes de point.Ceinture de tissu d’Or.Manteau de brocart a fleurs d’Or doublé de pluche couleur de feu.Iupe de pluche couleur de feu.trois rangs de grande dentelle Or et Argent-vollante.Iupon de brocart a fleurs d’argent bordé d’ermine.
Deshabillé d’Hyuer
Coeffe de Soye ecruë
Coeffe noire
Palatine de Point
Manchon de pluche couleur de feu
Manche Sereé de pluche.
Manche de Chemise.
Menchettes de point.
Ceinture de tissu d’Or.
Manteau de brocart a fleurs d’Or doublé de pluche couleur de feu.
Iupe de pluche couleur de feu.
trois rangs de grande dentelle Or et Argent-vollante.
Iupon de brocart a fleurs d’argent bordé d’ermine.
Figure 21.
Habit d’EstéRuban large tabizé ou brodé avec de la frangeJuste au Corps destamine Couleur de Prince.La Veste aussy longue que le Juste au Corps de toile blanche garnie de dentelle ou point.Tour de manche double.Les Gans garnis de dentelle.Le Baudrier à fons blanc et des grans fleurons brodes de la Couleur de l’habit.
Habit d’Esté
Ruban large tabizé ou brodé avec de la frange
Juste au Corps destamine Couleur de Prince.
La Veste aussy longue que le Juste au Corps de toile blanche garnie de dentelle ou point.
Tour de manche double.
Les Gans garnis de dentelle.
Le Baudrier à fons blanc et des grans fleurons brodes de la Couleur de l’habit.
Figure 22.
Habit d’EstéA graphe de Piereries.Gans de point d’Angleterre.Manchettes doubles.Manteau de gaze.Jupe de point d’Angleterre sur un fons de couleur.d’entelle d’Angleterre plissée.
Habit d’Esté
A graphe de Piereries.
Gans de point d’Angleterre.
Manchettes doubles.
Manteau de gaze.
Jupe de point d’Angleterre sur un fons de couleur.
d’entelle d’Angleterre plissée.