18th century blog

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

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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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.

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!

Portrait of V.E. Novosiltsova, 1780.

Fedor Stepanovich Rokotov was a Russian portrait painter.

Four more paintings »

I just found this via Isis’ Wardrobe.

Before the Automobile is an absolutely amazing costuming blog by a Finnish girl with some of the best 18th century costumes I’ve seen. She also makes beautiful 19th century costumes.

My favourite post is one about making her own 18th century shoes, something I have been planning for some time. Maybe now I’ll finally get around to making a pair!

You should check out this lovely, informative and well researched article on 18th century hairstyles and cosmetics over at Démodé.

Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, Johanna Constantia, 1780s.

The Tischbein family was a German family of painters of who the most well known appear to be Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder, Johann Friedrich August Tischbein and Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein.

Due to all these artists sharing the same name there seems to be total confusion on the internet regarding who has made which painting (Wikipedia attributes one painting from 1796 to a Tischbein who died in1789…). I haven’t managed to figure it out myself and therefore will show all the Tischbein paintings I have found in this post, but will only state the artists of the ones I’m fairly sure of. If you can shed any light on the subject (perhaps you know in which museums some of these are kept?), do tell!

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(Photo from Diary of a Mantua Maker)

I just found this on A Fashionable Frolick. If you’re near New York you can sign up for a week long 18th century shoemaking workshop, August 20-27. Head over to A Fashionable Frolick to read more!

I would absolutely love to do this, learning to make my own shoes is probably highest on my 18th century wishlist, but unfortunately it’s not possible for me to get to New York that soon.