An 18th century fashion ambassadress
This may look like the other costumes displayed at this year's Court Pomp and Ceremony exhibition at Versailles. But this picture is deceptive: this is in fact but a half-size model of a French court gown.
Ordinary ladies, unlike the Crown Prince of Sweden, could not rely on their own ambassadors to keep informed of Versailles fashions. So French dressmakers, like the famous Mademoiselle Rose Bertin, who supplied Marie-Antoinette, sent dolls such as this abroad to spread the good word about the newest fabrics, colors and decorative motifs (the cut of the gown itself remained unchanged until the French Revolution.)
Such fashion dolls were given diplomatic passports so as to be allowed to travel freely through Europe. It is only decades later, during the wars of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, that international conflict took its toll on the free diffusion of fashion information.
This picture is particularly interesting because it shows the back view of the the gown. Note that the ends of the bodice do not meet at the back, and leave a gap several inches wide. This was indeed the proper manner of wearing a court gown at Versailles, as my heroine Gabrielle might have told you: the - very sheer - chemise had to show in the back.
Related post: 18th century male court costume
Ordinary ladies, unlike the Crown Prince of Sweden, could not rely on their own ambassadors to keep informed of Versailles fashions. So French dressmakers, like the famous Mademoiselle Rose Bertin, who supplied Marie-Antoinette, sent dolls such as this abroad to spread the good word about the newest fabrics, colors and decorative motifs (the cut of the gown itself remained unchanged until the French Revolution.)
Such fashion dolls were given diplomatic passports so as to be allowed to travel freely through Europe. It is only decades later, during the wars of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, that international conflict took its toll on the free diffusion of fashion information.
This picture is particularly interesting because it shows the back view of the the gown. Note that the ends of the bodice do not meet at the back, and leave a gap several inches wide. This was indeed the proper manner of wearing a court gown at Versailles, as my heroine Gabrielle might have told you: the - very sheer - chemise had to show in the back.
Related post: 18th century male court costume
Posted by Catherine Delors at 12/10/2009 7:15 AM 
Categories: 18th century life,fashion,exhibition,Versailles
Tags: 18th century life fashion exhibition Versailles
Categories: 18th century life,fashion,exhibition,Versailles
Tags: 18th century life fashion exhibition Versailles
what an amazing treasure! I have never heard of these traveling fashion "illustrations" before. Is the fabric pattern also produced especially to scale, or is it the actual fabric that a gown was crafted from?
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A treasure indeed, Tristan! Better than any fashion plate. This is probably a silk from Lyon, trimmed with silver lace. The colors are still completely vibrant. I assume this was the real fabric of a full-scale dress, so the pattern would have looked twice as large.
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Definitely not something I could wear. Plus I think after seeing the tiny waist, I may have to lose 50 lbs to be healthy instead of the 40 I thought of. LOL. M-A was more interested in fashion than in French government or politics. At least that is the impression I get from the biography I am reading by a French historian. Evelyne Lever.
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I wouldn't wear it either, Penny! Especially since it is half-size.
Madame Lever is right: MA had very little interest in politics at the beginning of the reign. She only became involved in public affairs a few years before the Revolution.
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Hello Catherine,
Love this post, how amazing!
Question for you...are dolls like these related in any way to the small and big Pandoras? Would you know?
Thank you!
~ Gabriela ~
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Thanks. Gabriela! In fact I don't think these functioned as toys at all. Their purpose was to market and promote French fashions, and the target audience was grown women. They are also very large to be handled by children. This one must be about three feet tall.
At the same time, as you note, upper class French girls received beautiful dolls, with full sets of clothes, and even real jewelry and gold watches. But these were really dolls, meant as toys. A different kind of artifact, I would say. The Comtesse de Boigne describes in her Memoirs a beautiful doll she received as a gift from Madame Adelaide. It served as an inspiration for the doll the daughter of my heroine Gabrielle (!) receives for her etrennes.
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Cheers for the info. It was a good read.
Anna Sullivan
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