December 10, 1786 ENGLISH FASHION. Never, perhaps, have colors been better united and nuanced in an entire outfit than in the one in which the young Englishwoman is shown in this Plate; never will one find colors which, taken together, would give more grace or sweetness to the face. We do not hesitate to say that … Continue reading Magasin des Modes, 3e Cahier, Plate III
Category: 1780s
Magasin des Modes, 3e Cahier, Plate II
December 10, 1786 To be precise, it is not the leading fashion that we show in this Plate: it is not even fashionable, since frock coats must be of puce, black, or London chimney-soot colored wool, but it is a dress which could become fashionable for the reasons that we gave in the sixteenth and twentieth Books of the … Continue reading Magasin des Modes, 3e Cahier, Plate II
Magasin des Modes, 3e Cahier, Plate I
(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 … Continue reading Magasin des Modes, 3e Cahier, Plate I
Before Victoria: White Wedding Dress (Part II)
So, previously I showed you a lot of examples of actual white or white-ish gowns worn for weddings, including fashion plates (as they are intended to be prescriptive of real clothing - they exist to tell you what you can/should wear); these prove at least that white was worn. Now I'm going to follow that up … Continue reading Before Victoria: White Wedding Dress (Part II)
Before Victoria: the White Wedding Dress in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries (Part I)
The history of white wedding dresses is a popular topic, and a few related narratives have built up in both popular and academic writing: Queen Victoria was the first to wear a white gown for her wedding in 1840, and women began to copy her, creating a tradition. Queen Victoria was not the first to … Continue reading Before Victoria: the White Wedding Dress in the 18th and Early 19th Centuries (Part I)
Mimic of Modes 