Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français, 1777, kopie K 60 : Jeune Dame en Polonaise avec des manches à la Circassienn (...) c. 1777

Curator: Isn't she exquisite? This lovely piece, made around 1777, is entitled "Jeune Dame en Polonaise avec des manches à la Circassienne" which translates to "Young Lady in Polish Dress with Circassian Sleeves." It's rendered with watercolor and colored pencil. Editor: Well, my first impression is...she's incredibly top-heavy! That hair and hat contraption is competing fiercely with her poofy skirt. It’s Rococo alright! Curator: Precisely. Let’s break that down. The Polonaise style refers to a type of dress popular in France at the time, inspired by Polish fashion. The “Circassian sleeves” point to an interest in exoticism, with Circassia being a region in the Caucasus. This interest played out on the runway, so to speak. Editor: Exoticism, got it! I see it. The ruffles on those sleeves! So dramatic. And all the trim, really; it's such a commitment to detail. Does this tell us something about social hierarchies, the woman depicted, and about this intense emphasis on embellishment and fashion in late 18th-century France? Curator: Absolutely. Fashion at the time was an essential signifier of status and identity. The detail is indicative of a society that prized artifice and display. This particular image is a reproduction from a series titled “Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français," which aimed to document contemporary trends. Consider too, the fact that she's offering a little 'apres vous' arm. Very specific, but what’s her gesture about? Editor: It could just be the height of formality...the curtsy without the squat, perhaps? What strikes me now is how rigidly constructed her outfit looks. Almost architectural, like a wearable building. It reminds me how appearances, especially for women, were so carefully, physically, molded back then. This, even now, it reminds us of something. The woman and what it represented. Even so close to the Revolution. Curator: I completely agree. There's a sense of artifice, as if she's playing a part. Editor: And perhaps she was. Wearing an entire symbol-laden world, trying, as we all do, to telegraph her place within it. Curator: A fleeting moment captured forever in watercolor and colored pencil, just as history should be rendered for us. Editor: Indeed.