18th century blog

Dances of Vice: The Grand Shipwreck Ball

2009-11-14T10:22:16+01:00

November 20-22 Dances of Vice hold a spectacular nautical themed party in New York called The Grand Shipwreck Ball. It’s not strictly 18th century but from what I understand many people dress up in (among other historical eras) 18th century clothes to go to these events.

The festival program features live music ranging from classical opera to rock ballads, international guests, historical costume fashion shows, dance, puppetry, fencing, performance art, vendors, and ballroom dancing, among other chimerical amusements.

Colonial Williamsburg collection online

2009-11-05T13:13:46+01:00

Thanks to Abbyelyn on the Historical Sewing forum I just found out that Colonial Williamsburg are putting their collection online! There are lots of clothes but also portraits, prints, furniture and so on. Everything is accompanied by a very informative text about the item. Unfortunately the pictures are rather small, and I can’t find a way of browsing everything in categories (except the “highlights” selection) rather than having to search (I can’t be sure I haven’t missed something!).

Click the picture to go the collection!

EDIT: I found a way to browse categories. In “Advanced search” choose “classification is” and you’ll be able to choose a category.

Robe à la circassienne, 1770s

2009-11-02T17:49:11+01:00

Gilbert Stuart

2009-11-02T17:42:50+01:00

Self portrait, 1785.

Gilbert Stuart was an American portrait painter who lived between 1755 and 1828.

Gilbert Stuart on Wikipedia.

Gilbert Stuart (Metropolitan Museum of Art Series) at Amazon.

Eleanor Gordon, ca. 1783-1784.

Mrs. Franck Rolleston, 1785-92 or 95.

Mrs. Christopher Bertson, ca. 1788-92.

Mathilda Stoughton de Jaudenes Y Nebot, 1794.

Mrs. James Arden, 1794.

Elizabeth Stoughton Wolcott, Laura and Oliver, ca. 1795-1796.

Henrietta Hillegas, Mrs. Joseph Anthony Jr, ca. 1795–98.

Mrs. Thomas Lea, 1796.

Lady Luke White & Her Son.

Mrs Blades and her daughter.

Lady Friz at her Toilet

2009-11-02T17:19:02+01:00

1780.

17th and 18th-Century Costume in Detail

2009-11-02T15:27:02+01:00

17th and 18th-Century Costume in Detail by Avril Hart and Susan North contains big detail photos of garments from the Victoria and Albert Museum. There are no photos of the entire garments, instead there are detailed drawings. While these are great for understanding the construction, a small photo of the entire garment besides the drawings would have made it even better. We now only get to see a small part of the fabric and colours used. Most drawings show both front and back of the garment but a few show only one side, which I thought was a bit strange.

Each picture is accompanied by a short but informative text about the garment depicted. I wouldn’t have minded longer texts, but it’s a great book as is. This book is excellent for closeups on different trimmings and other decorations like embroidery, both for costumers and people who just like to look at pretty pictures.

Ralph Earl

2009-11-02T15:07:28+01:00

Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, 1787.

I discovered American portrait painter Ralph Earl through the great blog 18th century American women which I’ve featured here earlier. I love his slightly naive paintings with great attention to costume and detail, and depicting one of my favourite fashion periods, the late 1780s and early 1790s.

Ralph Earl on Wikipedia.

A short Ralph Earl article at Bolton Community News.

An extensive biography of Ralph Earl at Worcester Art Museum.

Ralph Earl: The Face of the Young Republic on Amazon.

Jerusha Benedict (Ives), probably 1780s.

Marianne Drake, 1783.

1784. On one site this painting was listed as being by George Romney, so I’m not sure which is right. It does seem very similar to some of Ralph Earl’s other paintings though, with the outfit and the setting and the landscape in the background.

Ann Whiteside Earl, 1784.

Martha Spear, Mrs. John Johnston, 1785.

Esther Boardman, 1789.

Mariann Wolcott Litchfield, 1789.

Clarissa Seymour (later Mrs. Truman Marsh), 1789.

Mary Floyd Tallmadge, Mrs. Benjamin Tallmadge, with son Henry Floyd and daughter Maria Jones, 1790.

Abigail Starr, Mrs. William Taylor, and Son Daniel, 1790.

Mrs. William Moseley and Her Son Charles, 1791.

Hulda Bradley, 1794.

Lucy Bradley, 1794.

Mrs. Ralph Earl, 1794.

Mary Ann Whiting, Mrs. Elijah Boardman, and Son William, 1796.

Apphia Ruggles, Mrs. Jared Lane, 1796.

Elizabeth Eliot, Mrs Gershom Burr, 1798 ( the fashion depicted doesn’t look like 1798, maybe it’s a copy of an earlier painting).

Société d’Histoire In Memoriam

2009-10-09T18:07:51+02:00

Here’s a link to a Canadian society that reenacts the 1750s, the Société d’Histoire In Memoriam. The costumes are very accurate and beautiful and there are tons of wonderful photos on the site!

18th century dinners in Belgium

2009-10-09T11:59:29+02:00

I got an e-mail about these 18th century dinners at the Kasteel d’Ursel, asking if I would write about them here, so I thought I’d pass along the information for those of you able to go to Belgium. I don’t understand the language on the site, but according to the e-mail I got it’s…

…a series of 18th-century dinners with a custom made theatre show…

Here’s a promotional video.

Mordet på Gustav III

2009-09-15T20:32:15+02:00

Mordet på Gustav III by Lars Ericson Wolke is a tiny little book about (obviously) the murder of Gustav III. It’s very entertainingly written and gives us the facts about both Gustav, his murderer and the whole conspiracy and events leading up to the murder. It’s a quick and interesting read and there are quite a lot of pictures as well.

It’s only available in Swedish as far as I know.

Pimpernel Clothing

2009-09-15T20:19:28+02:00

Pimpernel Clothing makes men’s clothing in 18th century styles, but meant for modern people. I think it’s a great idea. So far they only have waistcoats, but coats are on their way as well.

We set up Pimpernel Clothing to design and create clothing and accessories inspired by the beauty and quality of craftsmanship of period garments.

They also sell wonderful replicas of 18th century (and earlier) card decks.

Historical Sewing forum

2009-08-10T11:32:11+02:00

Historical Sewing is a brand new 18th century fashion forum started by Madame Berg. I hope it takes off!

Louvre databases

2009-08-10T11:27:10+02:00

John Guilford Russell, 1790

Check out the Louvre databases! Not exactly tons of 18th century stuff and not very big pictures, but still a lot of great stuff.

Photos from “Lyss till 1700-talet”

2009-08-04T17:13:30+02:00

Click the picture to see my photos from the day I visited the Lyss till 1700-talet event at Skansen a couple of weeks ago, plus some photos from previous years. I wore my new outfit.

Skönhetens mask

2009-08-04T17:01:49+02:00

Skönhetens mask by Carolina Brown is a book about the history of beauty ideals, with the main focus on the 18th century. It talks about both general ideals and specific details about such things as make-up and hair. There are not a lot of specific things about clothing though.

It’s not a big book, but what’s in it is very interesting. It has lots of pictures, although most of them are in black and white. I’m afraid I can’t find this book for sale anywhere but I found it at the library. It only exists in Swedish as far as I know.

A few years ago I attended a course by the same name at the Gotland University that used this book (and others) as literature.