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Picture of the Month

February/March

Oh my goodness - I somehow managed to delete the image again and nobody told me.
It seems it hasn't been visible for the best part of February, so I leave it here for March es well.

 

Fashion Plate

from the Jornal des Luxus und der Moden

A line at the bottom indicates which fashion magazine the print is from, but not which year. Journal des Luxus und der Moden was the first German fashion magazine which first appeared in 1786. Even if we didn't know that would it pretty obvious that we are looking at Directoire or Empire fashion: The high waistline is a dead giveaway, as is the light, white dress fabric.

At the (dress, not natural) waist, the dress is gathered, possibly with a drawstring. The V-shaped neckline seems to be filled with a kind of undershirt. The long sleeves might be part of it rather than of the dress. It's probably a spring or autumn costume. The sleeves are long and there is almost no train.

Gowns with drawstrings at the waist were most popular until about 1800, when they were replaced by smooth fronts. Trains, which had tended to be rather long during the earlier 1790s, were becoming shorter towards 1800. V-necks appear most often in the years immediately before and after 1800. I have found one example of a high collar which seems to be part of a tricot undershirt, dated 1800. It looks quite similar to the one here, doesn't it? The hat bears a certain similarity to these two, dated 1798, and some others seen in fashion plates throughout the late 1790s. I have never seen anything like the peculiar overgown, which looks like a shawl with attached sleeves. Thigh- or knee-length overgowns of various façons appear throughout the period.

For all these reasons, this plate appears in the database as 1798.

 


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