18th century blog

This blog is sadly neglected these days , I don’t have the time and energy to update it regularly.

Here’s something I had to share though. A very interesting and well researched article by Madame Isis’ Toilette about supposedly poisonous ingredients in 18th century makeup and their effects: Death by makeup- An 18th century beauty myth?

I was contacted by the publishers of this book what must have been at least a couple of years ago, and asked if I wanted a copy to review for the blog. At the time I was busy with university and said I had no time to read it, but they still sent the book!

My main period of interest has always been the 1770s to early 1790s, but lately my interest for the mid and early 18th century has grown, I’m even tempted to make a mid 18th century outfit! This is what made me pick up this book and finally read it. The Courtiers by Lucy Worsley is a book about the court at Kensington Palace during the reigns of George I and George II, and it was a fun introduction to this period. The author presents all the interesting people at the court, and we get to follow them through their lives, and hear all the court gossip.

It’s not exactly an in-depth book and very much written as entertainment, which for me made it a great and easy to read introduction to earlier 18th century court life in England. I think it started out very interesting and fun but lost some of its momentum towards the end, which I suppose is natural since at the beginning all the characters are young and at their social peak with tons of things happening around them and at the end everyone is growing old and things are slowing down. Definitely recommended if you want to learn about the Georgian court!

Madame Isis’ Toilette is a new blog about 18th century beauty products and recipes to make them.

A Royal Affair is an upcoming Danish 18th century themed movie about the mad king Christian VII, his queen and her affair with the king’s physician Struensee.

It’s been a while since the last big 18th century movie so I’m looking forward to this!

The Swedish premiere is April 13.

I started making this pelisse last winter for the 12th night ball. I raced to get it finished and didn’t quite make it, but it was still wearable enough for the ball.

After the ball I wasn’t as motivated to finish it so it’s been in the same state ever since, but now I have finally done the final trimming and the arm holes.

I used the instructions at Marquise but made it a bit shorter and less wide. The pattern is from the 1760s but it’s a very basic shape that stayed very similar for several decades.

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Portrait of a Young Woman in Powder Blue, ca. 1777.
Source: Fergus Hall Master Paintings.

George Romney was one of the major English portrait painters of the late 18th century, and I can’t believe I haven’t featured him earlier!

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A fashion plate from Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français.

Jeune Dame coeffée d’un Bonnet rond avec un fichu en marmotte, un Ruban en rosette, une Polonoise et un mantelet blanc.

Source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Marie Adelaide of France as Diana, 1745.
Current location: Uffizi Gallery.

Jean-Marc Nattier was a French painter who did many portraits of the French royal family during the mid 18th century.

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While looking through the National Trust Collections I came across something interesting. This robe above, dated 1785 - 1795 from the Snowshill Wade Costume Collection stood out very much to me because I’ve never seen anything like it before.

The reason I was so surprised by it is because of the fabric. I’ve never before seen an extant garment made up in a toile de Jouy type fabric before, and thus I’ve always thought it was a fabric used strictly for decorating purposes. I wouldn’t have been so surprised if it was a pair of stays or a pocket that could have been made from scraps, but an entire robe definitely seems unusual to me. The print also seems very large and more suited for massive drapes or something rather than clothing.

Any thoughts on this dress and its unusual fabric? Have you seen any other garments made of toile de Jouy?

Everyone and their grandmother have already blogged abut this, but the National Trust has a new online archive.

So far the information is often scarce, the photos are often small or of bad quality, and the clothes are often badly mounted or not mounted at all. Still there’s lots and lots of great stuff to see, and the search function is great, except for the fact the session times out if you leave it too long.

I found this new database via Isis’ Wardrobe and Madame Berg.

Livrustkammaren (The royal armory), The Hallwyl museum and Skokloster castle have put their large collections online, containing many18th century costumes and other objects. The search function is great but the photo quality isn’t always the best. Click the picture to go to the website.

P.S. I just added a Databases category where I will be adding all the posts about 18th century related databases.

Armfelt by Adolf Ulrich Wertmüller. Source: Livrustkammaren.

In march an exhibition about Gustav Mauritz Armfelt, Gustav III’s favourite, will open at Livrustkammaren in Stockholm. Until then you can follow the preparations of the exhibition through the exhibition blog.

I feel terrible for neglecting this blog so much lately, but here’s a great 18th century blog I just discovered. At the Sign of the Golden Scissors talks about 18th century costuming and has some great articles about 18th century clothing with a focus on historical accuracy.

Very short notice, but on November 12 Drottningholms Slottsteater are selling out some of their costumes. As they mainly use 18th century style costumes I though it might be of interest, especially to those who don’t make their own 18th century clothes!