“D” for Damask: “The Night Watch of the costume world.” Claude Fauque, Textile and Dress historian

Dress, Damas, XVIIe c.(detail). Museum Kaap Still.
Dress made of Silk, 17th c. Texel, Kaap Skil Museum

Au cours des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, les tissus de soie en Europe échappent aux influences orientales de leur origine première et des styles nouveaux apparaissent. Continue reading “D” for Damask: “The Night Watch of the costume world.” Claude Fauque, Textile and Dress historian

“L” for Lace: Thinking about Lace. Michael Yonan, Associate Professor of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Art, Director of Graduate Studies, University of Missouri

Miguel Cabrera (Mexican, 1695-1768). Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes, ca. 1760. Oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 52.166.4
Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes, ca. 1760. Miguel Cabrera (Mexican, 1695-1768). Oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 52.166.4

Lace is largely consumed. All different sorts of Lace -of all sizes and qualities- from Normandy, du Puy and Lorraine have a great debit.”(Translated from Jean de Monségur, 1709, Chap. XXXVI)

When looking at early modern colonial portraits, the viewer’s attention is invariably drawn to the subjects’ clothing. Continue reading “L” for Lace: Thinking about Lace. Michael Yonan, Associate Professor of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Art, Director of Graduate Studies, University of Missouri

“A” for Appearance: The Culture of Clothing. “The Art of Tailoring”

“There is nor Church nor private in the Western Indies, who does not consume this kind of gold silk brocade; it has then to be considered for significant and its consumption shall rather increase than diminish, especially on occasions where vice-royalties looking for pomp and glory will walk through Mexico without wearing the golilla.” (Translated from Jean de Monségur, 1709, Chap. XXXVIII)

Pérez de Holguín, The Entrance of Don Diégo Morcillo, Viceroy of Peru, in the city of Potosí, in 1716, Bolivia, 1716. Painting, oil on canvas, 240 x 570 cm. Madrid, Museo de América, Inv 00087
Pérez de Holguín, The Entrance of Don Diégo Morcillo, Viceroy of Peru, in the city of Potosí, in 1716, Bolivia, 1716. Painting, oil on canvas, 240 x 570 cm. Madrid, Museo de América, Inv 00087

In early modern Europe, a man’s complete suit consisted of a coat (long vest or justaucorps), a vest (or waistcoat) and breeches. Continue reading “A” for Appearance: The Culture of Clothing. “The Art of Tailoring”