Galerie des Modes, 7e Cahier, 3e Figure

 Little Mistress in a Polonaise Gown of painted linen trimmed with muslin, reading a letter. (1778)

Polonaise,
open over the chest and closed in the middle of the waist, with wings that are developed in the front and a tail that blooms in the back.*

As the polonaise allows the sight of the chest in its brilliance, if you desire to excite curiosity
you will require a fichu or a gauze handkerchief, folded back on itself and
trimmed all around the edges: this gives a negligée appearance an air
of decency which seems to add to its beauty.

The Print
represents a young lady reading a letter.  Her gown is of linen painted with floral sprigs and narrow stripes; linen trimming in box pleats, sabot cuffs of the same and a little flared; very high volant, plain at the top* with box pleats.

Coiffure in racine droite, topped with a gauze pouf with a curved heron
aigrette fitted to her head; four curls on each side, one of which is stylishly falling.

Watch cord of hair, equipped with sequins, key, seal, and a perfume bottle made of ostrich egg.

Shoes with high heels: buckles à la d’Artois, with the latchet of a different color than the rest of the shoe.

*  I.e., rather than the wings being in the back with the tail, they’re mostly in the front and the tail is rather full.
** Compare to previous plates, which had colored fabric over the top of the flounce.

2 responses to “Galerie des Modes, 7e Cahier, 3e Figure”

  1.  Avatar

    Dear Cassidy,Does “painted linen” here (toile peinte), really mean painted? Or printed?If the former, veryyyyyy interesting.Very best,Natalie

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  2.  Avatar

    I'm not 100% sure. When I look at the period dictionaries, peinte is given as “painted” – in the 1801 Dictionary of the Academie Française, it says “One calls toile peinte a toile of cotton which is painted with different colors. Usually, by toile peinte, one means a toile painted in the Indies, or in the Indian manner, with solid and lasting colors. … One also calls toile imprimé toile painted by printing.” But it seems possible that the GdM writers used peinte for both, as this plate does look more like a printed fabric. So thank you for bringing up the point!

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