18th century blog

Click the picture to see photos taken by Lisotchka at the 2008 Vaux le Vicomte event.

Au Cour des Roses
I don’t know the language on this site (german?) so I’m not sure if this is a society or if they hold events or you can rent them for events or something else. It’s a gorgeous site anyway with tons of beautiful photos!

Edit: They both arrange events and you can hire them for events!

In July there will be 18th century weeks at Skansen again, just like last year. There will be costume showings, music, food and more. More information at the Skansen website. (That’s me in the ad above by the way!)

On Sweden’s national day, June 6, the royal castle in Stockholm, an 18th century castle, will have free admission and several special events. Some of the things I’m planning to see are a lecture about Gustav III, Gustav III:s museum of antiquities and a tour at Livrustkammaren. There is a program of the day in English here, at the website of the Swedish court.

Dangerous Liaisons
I love this movie. It’s based on a book published in 1782 and set about the same time, but (based on the fashions) the movie is set several decades earlier in the mid 1700s. I haven’t read the book, yet, but I’m planning to read it in the future and I’m guessing it’s good since it has inspired such a great movie. I’m also a fan of another film adaptation of the same book, Cruel Intentions.

The movie is set before my very favourite period fashion and style wise, but the costumes are absolutely amazing and the environments are incredibly lavish. The sets are very detailed, and we get to see many typical 18th century situations. The beginning where the main characters wake up and get ready is probably my favourite part of the entire movie. There are also some beautiful opera scenes that I wish they would have shown more of.

I noticed a few small anachronisms, like a portrait on the wall sporting a 1780s hairdo, and one of the operas appears to me to be set in the 1780s as well, but I certainly don’t mind since I love the 1780s :) All in all a great movie!

Lots of screenshots and some publicity stills after the cut.

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This blog can now be found at 18thcenturyblog.com!

Fashion - A History from the 18th to the 20th Century is a catalogue of the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute, published by Taschen. The collection ranges from the 18th to the 20th century, and it’s divided into two big volumes. This is just one of the best costume history books ever, at least if you go by the pictures. The 18th century section is great with tons of beautiful photos of 18th century clothes, and some basic information as well.

This might not be the best choice if you want advanced in depth information, or instructions on how to make things, but the point of these books is the amazing and plentiful photos of absolutely gorgeous clothes. Definitely one of my favourite books.

The 28th and 29th June there will be an 18th century market at the Danish manor museum Gammel Estrup.

Come and visit the 1700s weekend here at Gammel Estrup, where the courtyard will be bursting with life and sound. The jugglers and fire-eaters will show what they can do, musicians will play lively old folk tunes and there are rumours that two headstrong noblemen will repeatedly get into argument and duel violently with each other. Dressed in clothes from the 1700s, the staff of the museum and a group of volunteer helpers will sell things at market stalls, serve food and drink in the coffee house and the secret bar, and ensure that there is music and entertainment.

Read more at the Gammel Estrup website.

Frihetstidens Konst and Den Gustavianska Konsten by Göran Alm et al. are two big books in the same series about Swedish art history. As far as I know they’re not available in any other language than Swedish.

I thought both books were excellent, although Den Gustavianska Konsten was my favourite since the gustavian era is my favourite. They both cover many categories such as architecture, gardening, visual arts, furniture, textiles and folk art and more and there’s lots of information in every section, plus some general information about the era. There are also many gorgeous pictures, both photos, paintings and drawings. It’s just as fun to just look at the pictures without reading, but if you want good information the text is great. I’m far from an expert on antiquities though so this is an amateurs opinion.

Unfortunately both books seem terribly hard to find for sale, I could only find Den Gustavianska Konsten for sale at one place on the web, and it was insanely expensive. I found both books at the library though so I recommend looking for them there. I already returned Frihetstidens Konst so that’s why I only have a photo of one cover. If I could find them for sale at a reasonable price I would definitely buy them both, highly recommended!

I found this through Mme. du Jard. This website has almost every issue of a German fashion and luxury journal called Journal des Luxus und der Moden, from 1786 to 1827. There are plenty of fashion plates, and if you read German I’m guessing the texts are very interesting. Just click “blättern” and follow the links for every year and month and you will get to the journals.

Gustaf III:s wänner is not a society with members but a group of friends who arrange 18th century events that are open to anyone. Their philosophy seems to be fun over elitism which sounds excellent!

Slottsfrun
A Swedish website that makes and sells 18th century basic garments and accessories like shirts, corsets and pockets. They also sell used clothes from Durán textiles, although they don’t seem to have any on the site at the moment (I couldn’t find any anyway).

There is also some general 18th century information and trivia on the site, as well as photos.

Amazing Grace
I thought this movie was very boring and it was much too sentimental for my taste, so I don’t have much to say about it. There were a few nice outfits but most of the movie was about men dressed in simple dark suits.

One more picture after the cut.

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There’s a completely new ballet about Gustav III currently playing at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. I haven’t seen it myself and the only pictures I’ve found are very small, but you can see a clip from it. If anyone has seen it I’d love to hear what you thought.