1882 – John Singer Sargent, El Jaleo
El Jaleo is one of Sargent’s many paintings relating to Romani culture, and brings a vivid scene of Spanish dance, music, and fashion to the viewer.
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Month: Last updated Dec 16, 2020 | Published on Oct 29, 2020
1856 – Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Madame Moitessier
In Ingres’s 1856 portrait, Madame Moitessier wears a fashionable off-the-shoulder dress with a bertha collar trimmed with tassels. The evening dress reflects her elegant taste and features the essential elements of 1850s fashion–from its floral silk brocade fabric to its Renaissance-revival jewelry.
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chantilly lace
Chantilly lace is a kind of bobbin lace popularized in 18th century France. It is identifiable by its fine ground, outlined pattern, and abundant detail, and was generally made from black silk thread.
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1788 – Jacques Louis David, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and Marie-Anne Lavoisier
Jacques-Louis David painted famed scientist, Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, and his wife, Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze, in 1788. This dual portrait was commissioned by Lavoisier and is executed in the neoclassical naturalism for which David is best known. Both are dressed in the latest fashions, embracing simplicity (in Paulze’s case) and somber restraint (in Lavoisier’s).
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1783 – Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress
Vigée Le Brun’s infamous portrait of Marie Antoinette embodies the tension between fashion and politics in 18th-century France.
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1778 – Thomas Gainsborough, Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott
This portrait of Mrs. Grace Dalrymple Elliott (1754?-1823) by English portraitist Thomas Gainsborough was commissioned by Mrs. Elliott’s lover, the Earl of Cholmondeley. First exhibited at Royal Academy, London in 1778, the composition and treatment are reminiscent of Van Dyck.
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1942 – Gilbert Adrian, Evening dress
Gilbert Adrian’s evening dress is fashionable because it followed the strict guidelines of General Limitation Order L-85 during World War II, but still was able to capture the sense of hopefulness felt by the American people with its playful and uplifting charm.
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1710-1719
During this decade, men’s fashionable dress exhibited few changes from the preceding ten years, apart from the powdered wig that became noticeably less voluminous. For women, the most significant developments were the decline of the fontange, the elaborate wired headdress that had been popular since the 1680s; the increasingly widespread adoption of the hoop-petticoat, or panier; and, around 1716, the introduction of the robe battante, or sack, a billowing gown that replaced the mantua as everyday dress for women in the 1720s.
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