There are many ways to express the culture of a time period, such as its social hierarchy, food, clothing, dance and architecture. There are also many ways to document those expressions: historically that includes written communication, verbal accounts handed down through generations, art shared through the hands of its creator, and more recently, photography. The record of today, looked back on from the future, will also include social media such as Instagram and Twitter. All of these methods tell a story and share the messages or images through the eyes or words of the creator. Visual imagery is the method that best captures the changes in clothing through history, including the style and color. One such historical record is a painting by François Hubert Drouais created in 1761.
In the beginning of the 18th century, France was just coming out from under the rule of King Louis XIV. Due to the consistent warfare during his reign, the nation was struggling financially. Many of the lower class citizens suffered from starvation during times of bad harvest due to lack of money to purchase food elsewhere and having no food reserves. The lack of finances caused industry and commerce to begin failing as well. Most people began to save whatever money they made and spend less on luxury items, such as extravagant clothes (History of France).
Those citizens in the upper class, however, continued to have money to spend on luxury items. The social structure most often worked in their favor, never really threatening their place on the top. This often angered the lower classes because they watched the upperclassmen spend large amounts of money on items that were unnecessary while a great many of them were starving. An example of this can be seen through the hairstyles often worn by the women of the upper class. The pouf hairstyle was extremely popular and required the use of flour paste and powder. The popularity of this hairstyle was frustrating to the members of the lower class because they could not afford those items to feed themselves but they watched as their political leaders and higher citizens wasted much of the items on their hair. This was often evident among the political leaders. They seemed to only care about themselves and their appearance rather than the fact that their people were largely struggling (History of France).
Regardless of the anger towards the political leaders, many lowerclassmen tried to imitate their dress. The kings’ wives or mistresses were often the creators of new fashion trends. The upper class women imitated them easily, while the lower class struggled with it but tried anyway (Johnston).
Most of the citizens of France adhered to the Catholic faith. Their religious beliefs showed through in their dress through their adherence to modesty. The women wore clothes that covered most of their bodies and they were seen as property of the men. Women were often viewed as a way to showcase the wealth and status of their husband. Women were rarely educated and the men held the majority of the important jobs in society (History of France).
During the 18th century, France became known for the increasing amount of people that could write intellectually. This included playwriting, social writing, and writing in hopes of advancing education. The advances in writing helped to increase the importance of art within the nation and among the citizens because more people were gaining the ability to understand and enjoy the art (Morizot). The increase in the amount of people that could write, and the advancement of writing itself, also helped to increase communication. The use of written letters became a more popular mode of communication. People were very excited about the newfound freedom that could be found within the use of written communication (Morizot).
The Industrial revolution also began during the 18th century. Many people began moving to the cities and working in factories to aid in the newfound idea of mass production. Many new inventions were centered around textile production such as power spinning for the loom, the mechanical cotton gin, and the use of “ready made” apparel. These inventions made it much faster and easier for fashion trends to change and allowed citizens, mainly women, to easily express themselves through their clothing (Johnston).
The attached artwork is a painting created by François Hubert Drouais in 1761. The painting depicts Marie Rinteau, most distinctly remembered as the great-grandmother of the writer George Sand. She was also known for having an illegitimate child with the famous soldier, Maurice de Saxe. Marie Rinteau had a short period of fame in music and theatre but ultimately lived out her life wealthy and unmarried (Drouais).
Drouais’ painting depicts Marie in an open front gown seemingly made out of a pale green silk. The use of silk helped to represent her wealth because silk was an expensive textile to create and only those of high wealth could afford to purchase it. Her gown includes pink eschelles, or ribbon bows, down the center bodice or corset piece. The gown also has engageantes, lace and ruffles, at the ends of the sleeves, near the elbow. She is wearing a smaller fichu made of lace draped around her neck, as well as a piece of black felt tied around her neck. The use of many different materials and layers also helped to exhibit her wealth. The citizens of the lower classes could afford only the bare minimum for their clothing but the wealthy citizens could afford to embellish their outfits to illustrate their status in society (Drouais) (Johnston).
Marie’s hair in this painting actually tells two stories about the time period. At first look, the pouf with the pearls and feathers represents her wealth and social status, as the products necessary to produce the hairstyle were a luxury for this type of use. This was true in the general timeframe of the mid 1700’s. However, while the painting was created in 1761, the pouf hairstyle was not actually prevalent until the mid 1770’s. It was not unusual for paintings to be retouched in the late 18th century to update style or make other changes to modify the visual story. Some have referred to it as the historical version of photoshop (Chrisman-Campbell).
This artwork, even with its slight alteration, reflects the social structure of the time because much of France was in an economic depression. However, Marie Rinteau was a wealthier upperclassman and this can be seen in her choice of dress. Those of the lower class would not have been able to afford the lace or the silk used to create her dress. They also would not have been able to afford to use the flour paste and powder required to create the pouf hairstyle, as they would have needed it for food. This allows a look into how the upper class differed from the lower class in regards to what they spent their money on and how much money they had to spend on luxury items (Johnston).
Marie Rinteau’s choice of dress also helps to reflect the political powers. Through the study of dress at this time, one can identify that those of political importance originally wore many of Marie’s dress elements; particularly the eschelles, engageantes, and the pouf hairstyle. These imitations reflect that those in political power were looked upon highly and had a lot of influence on the citizens under their ruling as many of the women often imitated their fashion choices (History of France).
Art provides a window into the past, providing vivid detail of those images. The details of the dress in Drouais’ painting reveal a lot about the styles of the time, but in this piece, also the status of its model. Clothing is often so much more than its basic function. Capturing its change throughout time creates an intriguing story about society and culture.