Fashion Prints in the Age of Louis XIV: Interpreting the Art of Elegance (original) (raw)
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This article explores fashion collecting and dress exhibitions in nineteenth-century France. The first three exhibitions of historic dress in France, which occurred in 1874, 1892, and 1900, raised a host of questions for French dress historians, collectors, and curators: they debated how historical dress should be displayed, what kind of garments should be collected, and what role fashion had in the narrative of French history. This article explores the “historical turn” in dress history, which formalized the practice of using historical garments and accessories as sources for the writing and display of history. It also examines how the shift from industrial to decorative arts spurred an interest in fashion collecting. Finally, it argues that the spectacularization of fashion display between 1874 and 1900 had an impact on the garments themselves, as collectors and curators began to alter garments in order to display them within imaginative settings. Rather than condemning these restorations, this article proposes that we view them as forms of historical imagination.
Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century French Silk Designers
2015
Life: family events, living arrangements, social activities, possessions and fortunes. Addresses: rapid overview of movements in and beyond Lyon. Work: designs by the hand of the designer or fabrics following his/her designs. Bibliography: abbreviated reference to the main secondary sources for each name, although often such sources are not entirely reliable. Readers will find the full details of each of these entries in the Bibliography at the end of the document. This bibliography is probably not absolutely comprehensive. My PhD supervisors have guided, advised and criticised me generously: Lou Taylor proposed this subject, Michael Sonenscher initiated me in the mysteries of French archives, and the late Gillian Naylor pointed out parallels between design then and now. Faithful friends and colleagues in France deserve a special mention, as they have encouraged me in many different ways:
The Marriage of Art and Commerce: Philippe De Lasalle's Success in Silk
Art History, 2005
Oh Lyons. .. remember that it was within your walls that was born the celebrated Lasalle who has contributed so much to the glory and prosperity of your manufactures. This famous designer and manufacturer, truly worthy of the honours and advantages that the Sovereign poured on him. .. found a new route through the mixed colours and shades resulting from the multiplication of the lashes [on the drawloom]. Then, we saw on fabrics, something most astonishing, flowers and fruits imitating nature perfectly, peaches with all their velvety texture, grapes with their transparency, birds with all the richness and pomp of their colouring, charming landscapes in which the spaces were skilfully managed, they all created the most ravishing illusion. Up until him, no-one had ever executed these brilliant representations with that correctness, that lightness and that freshness in design that characterised him. From his manufactory came the vestments for the coronation of Louis XVI, the beautiful fabrics known by the name of 'The Renowned', 'The Gardener', 'The Flower-girl', etc., charming compositions; but for its effect and magnificence, nothing is comparable with the pheasant and peacock of China [plate 4.1]. This skilful businessman also had executed on the loom the portrait of Louis XV, that of the Empress of Russia, with an amazing verisimilitude. It was no longer the palette and the paintbrush that. .. represented the features of dear people, but the humble shuttle in the hands of. .. the most ignorant weaver. .. 1
The Evolution of Fashion in the XVIII -XIX Centuries (On the example of a ball gown
Fashion is constantly developing and changing. Fashion is flexible: styles evolve and are adopted at a different pace depending on the wearer's age, location and economic or social status. In our project we are planning to find out what historic events influenced fashion and made a considerable impact upon new trends in fashion in the centuries. In our practical part we aim to make a sketch of a fashionable ball gown of 1812 that is historically informed as well as beautiful.