#18th century fashion

[orchidscript]

Girl with sword.

Need I say more?

Dress made by me. Sword is antique.

[iridessence]

une reine sans le hameau | iridessence shot with Kelly Lenza

[sartorialadventure]

Historical costuming by Dr. Christine Na-Eun Millar

(She’s on IG at https://www.instagram.com/sewstine/ ! (Thanks, @lurkingscientist !)

More photos under the cut!

[lookingbackatfashionhistory]

• Court dress (Open robe, petticoat).

Place of origin: England

Date: ca. 1760

Medium: Silk brocade

[jewellery-box]

Robe á la Française with bows made of silver lame and antique silver laces, hand embroidered buttons and bows centers, silver tassels made of metal. Silk taffeta and duchess satin.

mme_jejette via Instagram

[melaninnpink]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CX3PIVQsRI-/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[antiquevanity]

Embroidered stomachers (18th century) | American/European | The Met

[kittensbooksart]

Do you think you can draw a historically accurate version of belle’s other dresses in beauty and the beast?

(While I was searching for the pictures of the original designs for this post I realised I had forgotten the existence of the green dress, which I think she wears at the end of the film?)

I do love making these historical versions so I did do couple of sketches.

I made them based on around 1750s fashion, like the first Belle I made. I do have to admit that the blue dress is not exactly super historically accurate. I gave her jumps, usually a sort of waistcoat that's laced (usually unboned or very lightly boned) and works as a replacement of stays. Usually when they are depicted in art from the time, they are used by working women while they are doing physical labour. Which makes sense, you don't have extra sleeves that might be too warm or hinder arm movement and they are softer than stays so they don't also hinder torso movement but are still somewhat supportive. But upper class women did wear them too as a part of negligee but not really at all in social situations. Then they were usually also quilted. I think it's pretty safe to say Belle is not working class. I think her father could be classified as craftsman and being from that class does make sense to their social status. That would make them under the merchant class and basically roughly lower middle class in 18th century French standards. They do live in rural village though, and jumps seem to be more depicted on rural settings and on peasants too. They are very informal, but it also seems like rural social settings just tended to be more informal. So I think that could lend a little more plausibility.

If I would have taken a safer route I'd given her a jacket/caraco or a round gown/robe a l'anglaise, which were commonly used by middle and lower classes and also upper classes for casual wear. People at the time generally didn't go outside without covering their head. Most women wore caps at least during the day to keep their hair cleaner. In fancier evening occasions (mostly only upper classes and upper middle classes would attend those) they would not cover their hair. Also hats were popular and I've seen several of these very wide brimmed hats, usually made of straw, on artisan and peasant French women.

For her pink gown robe a l'anglaise would have worked too, as it was clearly semi casual, not negligee, but also not the ball gown. But being a castle of a prince and it being used for a dinner scene, robe a la francaise works better, as at the time they were used for salons and other fashionable but not very official gatherings (not outings though) by the nobility. I could have also given it the kerchief, it would have fitted better the look of the original design's neckline made it a little less formal, but maybe we can imagine this is how she wore it to the dinner and she'd had worn it with a kerchief during the day or something.

[eyes-eyes-eyes-eyes-eyes-eyes]

1. are you are into fashion history at all

2. are you queer and/or neurodivergent

trying to prove something

[theladygruoch]

Some handy tips for going outside in historical clothing! ...or not...

[threadtalk]

This pale green and grey robe à la française is quite dreamy, isn't it? Though I am a fan of the bright, bold patterns of this period, there is something to be said about an understated combination like this.

While certainly not as wide in the hips as some similar gowns, this dress dates from the middle of the 18th century, somewhere between 1750 and 1760. It makes beautiful use of the S curve patterning as well as scalloping and pleating. The subtle color differences on satin lend a very ethereal aesthetic to the piece on the whole.

French dress © L. Degrâces and Ph. Ladet / Paris Museums, Palais Galliera

[empirearchives]

Comb, c. 1810

Rome

The oil lamps and butterflies depicted in the micromosaics on this comb were probably inspired by those in ancient wall paintings which had been discovered in Italy in the mid-eighteenth century.

Location: Victoria and Albert Museum

[iridessence]

*intro to Age of Consent plays* | XX

[jamesfitzjamesdotcom]

Longitude (2000)

A very good mini-series about John Harrison (1693-1776) who invented the marine chronometer. Also very important, the cast comprises of my faves Jeremy Irons and Andrew Scott, plus other faves cold boys Ian Hart, Charles Edwards and Tobias Menzies.

Tobias appears for less than a minute. Blink and miss.

Ian Hart!

Charles Edwards and Ian Hart! On a boat!

Making observations in cute outfits

Ian being carried off while Cedwards watches

[lookingbackatfashionhistory]

• Dress.

Date: 1795-1805

[jewellery-box]

Wedding Dress, 1795, silk, cotton

Rare transitional gown. The bodice in keeping with earlier 18th century construction in white silk embroidered with scattered rosebuds and carnations. The apron front skirt constructed in Directoire style. Sheer stiffened white mull overskirt. Hem with rich polychrome embroidery having delicate baskets filled with rosebuds, trailing vines, tasseled bows trimmed with sterling spangles. Ground embroidered with scattered rosebuds and tiny carnations. All densely worked in tambour stitch.

This silk embroidered dress was worn by Elizabeth Bull in 1795 when she married Richard William Hart. The dress shows the transition from 18th century construction and design to 19th century styles. The embroidery design consists of scattered rosebuds, carnations, trailing vines, bows, and baskets.

Connecticut Historical Society