Femme de Paris allant par la Ville 1662

This engraving, "Femme de Paris allant par la Ville," captures a Parisian woman in elaborate dress. The heavy fabrics and fur signal wealth and status, yet it's the distinctive silhouette that truly speaks. Consider the farthingale, the understructure that creates the dress's voluminous shape, particularly at the hips. This fashion, descended from Spanish court styles, rigidly dictated posture and movement. It echoes, strangely, the ancient Minoan 'wasp waist' fashion. Though separated by millennia, both constrict the body into a culturally determined ideal. This pursuit of an ideal form, reflected in both ancient and early modern fashion, is a cyclical phenomenon. It speaks to our collective fascination with controlling and manipulating the body. The farthingale, a cage, becomes a symbol of enforced social norms, shaping not just appearance but also behavior, and resurfaces in new forms across history.