Two Costume Designs or Portrait Types 1785 - 1790

These costume designs were drawn by an anonymous artist using pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, over graphite. The designs likely reflect the elaborate fashions of the French court. We are invited into the world of elite women, where clothing was a powerful tool for expressing identity and social status. The clothing and hair are over the top, obscuring any aspect of the women's natural figures. This wasn't about comfort or practicality, it was about creating a spectacle. The artist also included the detail of the shoes, emphasizing the importance of fashion in defining the wearer's identity. It's tempting to dismiss these images as simply decorative, but they also speak to the complex relationship between women, fashion, and power in a patriarchal society. Were women complicit in their own objectification, or did they use fashion as a way to subvert expectations and assert their individuality?