Hello,
Welcome to the final chapter on women's clothing during the New France period. This chapter took me much longer to produce than anticipated. I wish to address the clothes that appear less frequently in paintings and other sources; the clothes of the working and domestic classes. I would also like to mention that for the 17th century period, my research is not extensive enough to know the exact terminology of clothing, my main interest being the 18th century.
To my knowledge, there are only two sources depicting middle-class Canadian women, and both are ex-votos. The oldest is the ex-voto in the women's room of the Hospitalières de Montréal museum.
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| ex-voto La chambre des femmes Anonymous Early 18th century Collection des RHSJM |
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| Detail of the ex-voto La chambre des femmes Anonymous Early 18th century Collection des RHSJM |
The sick woman in the left foreground of the portrait depicts the basic components of women's clothing in the 17th and 18th centuries: petticoats and jacket (in French depending on the source, called ''juste'', ''casaquin'' or '' cloak'') of contrasting fabric. The outfit is completed by a white bonnet and a white neckerchief. In fact, it's unclear if she's wearing a skirt or if her legs are covered in a yellow-trimmed blanket. From looking at the painting I lean more towards the cover hypothesis due to the yellow border near the forearm.
The second painting of Canadian origin showing women of rather modest origin is the ex-voto of the castaways of Lévis 1754. Maria (or Marie or Mrs?) Chamar and Marguerite Champagne drowned during the shipwreck while Marthe Feuïlleteau survived (as well as JBT Aucler and Louis Bouvier).
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| Ex-voto des trois naufragés Date 1754 Auteur Anonyme Collection du Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec Crédit photo: Joseph Gagné |
I can't tell here if the ladies are wearing dresses or a combination of petticoat and jacket. However, the three women wear white caps and white neckerchiefs. Two wear a pearl necklace, or so it seems. The lady on the left appears to have a brown striped fabric while the lady in the center has a checkered pattern.
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| Détail de l'ex-voto des trois naufragés Date 1754 Auteur Anonyme Collection du Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec Crédit photo: Joseph Gagné |
Marthe Feuïlleteau's sleeves in the center end in pleated facings with a squared fabric.
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| Détail de l'ex-voto des trois naufragés Date 1754 Auteur Anonyme Collection du Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec Crédit photo: Joseph Gagné |
It's hard to tell if this lady is wearing ''engageantes'' (lace undersleeves), the name given to women's cuffs at the time, or if the white lines around her forearms are waves. Additionally, two left arms can be seen, one out of the water and one in the water. Is it a desire to illustrate the movements of the arms of the drowning lady or an ''error'' of the artist left on the canvas?
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| Détail de l'ex-voto des trois naufragés Date 1754 Auteur Anonyme Collection du Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec Crédit photo: Joseph Gagné |
One last time, I will turn to French iconography from the New France period to illustrate the clothing of common women. Even if the forms vary slightly during the century that interests us, the clothes themselves have changed little for the women of the people. At least in a less remarkable way than for women of high society.
The illustration of peasant and working class people is named in painting genre scenes. The Le Nain brothers, they were three painter brothers and their style is so similar that it is impossible to decide was, were among the first to practice this new form of pictorial art.
Although the Le Nain brothers worked before 1663, the date I had set myself for this series of articles, I decided to include them in this article. Firstly because I appreciate the subjective realism of these painters. They do not hesitate to present subjects whose clothes are worn, patched and torn, a sign that clothing is an object whose use we want to prolong as much as possible. Some characters are even barefoot to illustrate the poverty of the household represented. Despite this poverty of clothing, the people depicted in the paintings of the Le Nain brothers have shirts, headdresses, bonnets, chokers and neckerchiefs of almost dazzling white. Their faces, hands, feet and clothes are all free of stains or dirt, contrary to what the media of cinema has made us reflect in recent decades. In other words, the peasant classes are portrayed as poor, clean and proud, taking care of their clothes and their laundry. Is this an artistic style or a real transfer of reality? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Because by showing what happened a little before 1660, we can better appreciate the slow integration of new fashions into the less well-off classes. Throughout the period that interests me, New France, the pieces of women's clothing hardly changed: a bonnet or headdress for the head, a neckerchief for modesty (of the neckline), a jacket, bedgown or gown to cover the torso and arms, skirts and petticoats to cover the legs, and shoes to protect the feet. Added to this are stockings, shirts and aprons. And the corset in all this? I reserve an entire section for it later in this article.
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| Famille de paysans dans un intérieur Artiste: Louis le Nain ou école de Louis le Nain vers 1642 Collection musée du Louvres |
Before looking at the clothing of the women in this painting, I repeat that the body linen and the table linens, in other words the shirts, neckerchiefs, tablecloth and napkin are all immaculately white. Is this a fantasy of the Le Nain brothers or a representation of reality? My knowledge is not advanced enough to affirm one or the other of these hypotheses.
The woman on the left holding the glass of red wine wears a long skirt sometimes still referred to as a ''cotte'' in french (and could be the origin of coat in petticoat) during this period (according to the meager information I have gathered so far), covering her feet, a long straight sleeved juste. The neckerchief covers the front of the jacket. In fact, I don't know the exact name of the apparent garment covering the body and arms of a woman in the 17th century, and if it is different from the 18th century. If anyone in my readership knows, please send me the information. On the right, the young woman is either a servant of the family or the eldest daughter of the couple. She wears a pair of bodies or jumps (''corps de cotte'' or ''corset'') to which sleeves have been added. In this case, the sleeves are the same color as the pair of bodies. This mode is utilitarian because if the sleeves wear out more quickly than the jumps, it is enough to replace the sleeves even if they are of a fabric of different color or texture. To my knowledge, this fashion began in the Middle Ages and is the origin of the expression ''C'est une autre paire de manches'' (It's a different pair of sleeves). She also wears a beige apron over a dark blue skirt.
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| Paysans dans une creutte Les frères Le Nain 1642 Collection Petworth House and Park |
I love that despite the visible wear on all the clothes in this portrait, they still have vibrant colors other than brown, gray and beige... The two girls on the left are wearing a pair of bodies with different colored sleeves than the body. The one on the right has a red jacket that looks brand new compared to her yellow skirt that is torn and patched in several places. Past the period of potty training, children have miniature versions of adult clothes.
I find this painting particularly interesting because the clothes of the people represented do not belong to the same social class. The contrast is striking between the flutist in the red jacket with holes in the elbow and armpit and the child in a silk dress and feathered headdress right next to it. The young pearl lady on the right wears a pair of bodies with contrasting red sleeves. This painting shows that clothes had various shapes. Also, I note the pointed shape of the apron of the little girl in the center, a detail commonly returning to the 18th century.
I particularly appreciate the color detail of this old lady's ensemble. The skirt is greenish with ample pleats, the just or the jacket tends to the color of aubergine has short basques and a thin red belt is visible at the waist.
Other painters illustrated the common people in the mid-17th century.
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| La charette Artistes: Louis et Antoine Le Nain 1641 Collection du Musée du Louvres |
In terms of clothing colors, this canvas shows duller shades than the previous ones, except for the red of the young girl at the top right. Dazzling white caps and neckerchief are still there. The sleeves of women's jackets are rather long with pleats at the shoulder and wrist in a shape vaguely reminiscent of the court dresses of nobility women of the time, themselves borrowed from the male doublets of the late Renaissance.
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| Portraits dans un intérieur Artistes: Antoine Le Nain et Louis Le Nain vers 1647 Collections du Louvres |
I find this painting particularly interesting because the clothes of the people represented do not belong to the same social class. The contrast is striking between the flutist in the red jacket with holes in the elbow and armpit and the child in a silk dress and feathered headdress right next to it. The young pearl lady on the right wears a pair of bodies with contrasting red sleeves. This painting shows that clothes had various shapes. Also, I note the pointed shape of the apron of the little girl in the center, a detail commonly returning to the 18th century.
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| Détail d'un paysage avec paysans Artiste Louis le Nain Vers 1640 Collection National Gallery of Art |
I particularly appreciate the color detail of this old lady's ensemble. The skirt is greenish with ample pleats, the just or the jacket tends to the color of aubergine has short basques and a thin red belt is visible at the waist.
Other painters illustrated the common people in the mid-17th century.
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| Les petits dénicheurs d'oiseaux D'après l'École des Maîtres des Cortèges XVIIe siècle Collection Musée du Louvres |
I'm not familiar with the ''École des Maîtres des Cortèges''. Not being very familiar with the 17th century either, I cannot explain the presence of two open and unfastened women's jackets in this painting. A provincial peculiarity, perhaps? This way of wearing the jacket, is also found less commonly in the following century, as I will present it to you a little later. This indicates that there is no single way of depicting women's clothing in the mid-16th century...
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| Famille paysanne près d'un puit Artiste: le Maître aux béguins vers 1650-1660 Collection Art institute of Chicago |
Apparently a ''béguin'' is a kind of headdress and this painter was famous for often representing it in his paintings, hence his name the ''Maître aux béguins''. I don't know anything else about this artist. The fashion of rolling up the bottom of one's skirt around the waist to make it a kind of puffy half skirt has been present among ladies at least since the beginning of the 17th century. It is also an effective method to protect your outer skirt, especially if you only have one. So the dirt, if there is any, will be hidden during more official events because the outer skirt will cover them. The aprons in this painting appear to be simple rectangles of fabric tied in a cord around the waist.
The next illustrations that I will show you are colored engravings from the end of the 17th century. At that time, Louis XIV wanted to promote his kingdom through arts and culture. It is possible that reality was embellished with luxurious additions to common people's clothing such as gold braid or lace to emphazise the idea that the Kingdom of France is a place of culture. It is a form of propaganda; my kingdom is so comfortable that even small people can afford luxurious clothing decorations. It is important to look at them for the shape of the clothes in general and not specifically. The street criers probably did not all wear gold stripes on the sides of their skirts and all of ambulant sellers could not afford to to buy lace.
Second warning: it must be understood when looking at a colored engraving that the artist making the engraving is different from the one who adds the colors. This means that there are, for the same engraving, several differently colored versions which informs us of the interpretation of the colorist of the engraver's drawing. Depending on the interpretations, the garment represented can change completely. As for this first example.
For the ''crieuse de balets'', this first version makes her wear a jacket or cloak while the second is rather a corset with sleeves.
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| La Crieuse de balets Artistes: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart et Nicolas Bonnart fin XVIIe siècle Collection LACMA |
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| La Crieuse de balets Artistes: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart et Nicolas Bonnart fin XVIIe siècle Collection Musée Carnavalet |
So take colored prints with a grain of salt. The same stamp can represent a woman in jumps and sleeves or a woman in a gown, according to the interpretation of the colorist.
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| La bonne femme de Meudon Artiste: Nicolas Bonnart Fin du XVIIe siècle Collection musée Carnavalet |
The square neckline of this woman's jacket reminds me of dresses from the time of François 1er in the 16th century, a century earlier. This kind of detail supports the hypothesis that clothing fashions among common people were not renewed at the rate of desires as for the rich and the noble, but at the rate of wear of clothes. And since the clothes were made to last and cared for, wearing them out completely took decades of daily wear to well over a century. It is common to see textile pieces appear in the wills of the early modern era, something now very rare today. Even if the text below says that this woman takes the path of misery, she wears a gold braid at the bottom of her skirt. This type of decoration does not evoke, in my opinion, misery.
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| Crieuse de Raves D'après Henri Bonnart Fin XVIIe siècle Collection LACMA |
The skirt of this woman is much shorter than that of the ''Bonne femme de Meudon'' previously, even if both have a ribbon decoration. It seems to arrive between the middle third and the distal third of the tibia, which is the often estimated length of the skirts considered short by the women of New France. I like the jacket's long and relatively fitted sleeves down to the wrist, its lace closure and its wide front basque. The lace-trimmed neckerchief appears to be a square folded in on itself. I cannot identify the piece of green clothing rolled up on the hip but under the pink jacket, an apron, a skirt or a simple rectangle of fabric... Last detail worthy of attention, the stockings of the young lady are slouched and full of pleats in the ankle area. No apron is visible on this engraving.
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| Revandeuse Artistes: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart et Nicolas Bonnart fin XVIIe siècle Collection LACMA |
This ''revandeuse'' (woman retailer) uses her petticoat creatively and usefully to carry her resale items. The length of her skirt is barely higher than the floor and it is trimmed with ribbons or monochromatic stitching. For the headdress, it reminds me of the Dutch "oorijzer" of the same period in black. The sleeves are long and relatively fitted on the arms with a cuff at the wrist that seems to come from the shirt.
Example of headdress supported by a ''oorijzer'':
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| La dentellière Caspar Netscher 1662 Wallace Collection |
End of the parenthesis of the Dutch "oorijzer".
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| Fille de la Charité servant des malades Artiste: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart Fin XVIIe siècle Collection Musée Carnavalet |
The details of the folds or seams of this girl's jacket at the neckline and the sleeve are rarely observable in the engravings. The jacket and the skirt seem to be the same color, which is rather rare and suggests that she is dressed by an employer. A bib apron for the 17th century is also quite rare. The panel, however, is unpinned and falling down. It is difficult for me to define if the white on the neck is a collarette or a shirt.
This woman's job is to sell sticks of earth or dried dung to serve as fuel in homes. Despite this subsistence occupation, she was illustrated wearing accessories trimmed with lace such as the bonnet and the neckerchief. This lady is wearing a possibly second-hand burgundy coat that is laced up the front.
Like the previous engraving, this chestnut seller wears a coat rolled up at the hips. The blue skirt ends at the ankle and has a color reminder to the wide sleeves that end at the elbows. Here, there is no neckerchief and the shirt goes up pretty high at the neckline.
The coloring of this engraving is confusing. It seems that this young woman has an apron hidden in a skirt rolled up at the hips. The front of the jacket is closed with spiral lacing. Note the presence of a donut-shaped cushion on the head to make it easier to hold the wicker tray on the head.
The headdress of this fishmonger reveals hair pulled up to the top, somewhat evoking the Fontange hairstyle. I appreciate the very small pocket apron which is reminiscent of the change belt worn by many waitresses and waitresses in restaurants today. The sleeves of the jacket reach the height of the elbow.
Who said that multiple layers of skirts hide the shapes of the legs? Certainly not the artist who drew this engraving!
I love this milkmaid's single pocket apron, it's quite rare to see this detail in illustrations. She wears jumps, with or without sleeves (hard to tell). The spiral lacing leaves a wide space between the two parts of the jumps. A long neckerchief completes the outfit.
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| La vendeuse de Mottes Artiste: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart Fin XVIIe siècle Collection du musée Carnavalet à Paris |
This woman's job is to sell sticks of earth or dried dung to serve as fuel in homes. Despite this subsistence occupation, she was illustrated wearing accessories trimmed with lace such as the bonnet and the neckerchief. This lady is wearing a possibly second-hand burgundy coat that is laced up the front.
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| La Crieuse de Chataigne Artistes: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart et Nicolas Bonnart fin XVIIe siècle Collection LACMA |
Like the previous engraving, this chestnut seller wears a coat rolled up at the hips. The blue skirt ends at the ankle and has a color reminder to the wide sleeves that end at the elbows. Here, there is no neckerchief and the shirt goes up pretty high at the neckline.
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| La Crieuse de petit fromages Artistes: Jean-Baptiste Bonnart et Nicolas Bonnart fin XVIIe siècle Collection LACMA |
The coloring of this engraving is confusing. It seems that this young woman has an apron hidden in a skirt rolled up at the hips. The front of the jacket is closed with spiral lacing. Note the presence of a donut-shaped cushion on the head to make it easier to hold the wicker tray on the head.
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| Marchande de maquereaux frais Artiste: Nicolas Bonnart Fin XVIIe siècle Collection Musée Carnavalet |
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| La crieuse de poire Artiste: Nicolas Bonnart Fin XVIIe siècle Collection Musée Carnavalet |
Who said that multiple layers of skirts hide the shapes of the legs? Certainly not the artist who drew this engraving!
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| Laittière de Babnolet Artiste: Nicolas Bonnart Fin XVIIe siècle Collection Musée Carnavalet |
This milkmaid outfit really baffles me. The colorist decided to make colored sleeves on jumps that seems to be quilted if not simply boned. Or as my friend Cathrine pointed me, it could be a pair of bodies. She wears a donut-shaped pillow so she can carry her milk jug on her head. The left sleeve is raised enough to let the shirt appear while the right is elongated to the wrist. A possibly golden embroidery ribbon seems to decorate the bottom of the underskirt while the overskirt is raised. Babnolet is a town located just outside the Paris ring road to the east. At the time, it was possibly a nearby village. I don't know the geographical evolution of Paris well enough to say more.
The next engravings were made by an artist from the same period as Nicolas Bonnart but less known: Sebastien Leclerc. They are taken from a collection of fashionable figures dedicated to M. le Duc de Bourgogne. I took only those showing women of the people.
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| Femme debout, de profil, tenant sur la tête un pot à lait tiré de ''Figures à la mode dédiées à M. le Duc de Bourgogne'' Artiste Sébastien Leclerc Fin XVIIe - début XVIIIe siècle Collection de la Bibliothèque numérique de Lyon |
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| Femme âgée, debout, de profil avec le bras tendu devant elle tiré de ''Figures à la mode dédiées à M. le Duc de Bourgogne'' Artiste Sébastien Leclerc Fin XVIIe - début XVIIIe siècle Collection de la bibliothèque numérique de Lyon |
The position of this elderly woman's breasts suggests that she is at least wearing a pair of jumps because they are not saggy. A bibless apron is pulled up by her dangling left arm. Her bodice could be closed with clasps. The sleeves of the bodice are wide and end at the elbow. The accumulation of headdresses and bonnets is particular but typical of the period.
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| Servante debout, une main sur la hanche et l'autre sur le ventre tiré de ''Figures à la mode dédiées à M. le Duc de Bourgogne'' Artiste Sébastien Leclerc Fin XVIIe - début XVIIIe siècle Collection de la bibliothèque numérique de Lyon |
The attention to detail in Sébastien Leclerc's engravings is impressive. The bodice or jacket of this servant seems to have eyelets for lacing it but to be tied only at the waist. The jacket is laid over all the layers of petticoats, the basques seem to be the length of the elongated arm.
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| Servante tenant un petit chien tiré de ''Figures à la mode dédiées à M. le Duc de Bourgogne'' Artiste Sébastien Leclerc Fin XVIIe - début XVIIIe siècle Collection de la bibliothèque numérique de Lyon |
This engraving appears to show a garment with a seam at the waist. It could be a shortened gown, inherited from the mistress of the house. The back of the upturned skirt is visible, which is rather rare and allows for a more three-dimensional vision.
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| Religieuses soignant des malades Artiste anonyme Après 1713 Collection du château de Versailles |
Let's go a little further in time to find ourselves in the middle of the 18th century. The vocabulary is more defined... or is it really?
The words juste and casaquin in France designate the mantelet in Canada, a piece of clothing covering the torso with sleeves and basques adjusted to the waist.
The geographical distinction is underlined by the testimony on the vocabulary used in the St. Lawrence Valley by Jean-Baptiste d'Aleyrac, a French officer who served in New France during the Seven Years' War. He says that Canadians speak without accents except for a few words he is not familiar with, such as the word mantelet for a casaquin without pleats, the ordinary dress of girls and women. The description of the fourth edition of the dictionary of the French Academy of 1762 for the casaquin is after all very vague: Espèce d'habillement court, & qu'on porte pour sa commodité. (Species of short clothing, & that one wears for one's convenience.) This definition of usual clothing does not appear in the first three editions of 1696, 1718 and 1740. We can assume that the usual vocabulary evolved during the first half of the 18th century. Yet the dictionnaire François-Flamand de 1733 de François Halma is a little more descriptive about the casaquin: women's clothing which only goes down to the hips, which is without folds, and which is very tight to the body. Proof that the use of this word began at least during the 1730s in France. However, this definition goes against that of the officer of Aleyrac who implicitly says that the casaquin he knows has folds. This same piece of clothing (casaquin, mantelet, we could call it a woman's jacket) is named ''juste'' by M. de Garsault in his Art du Tailleur.
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| La pourvoyeuse Jean-Siméon Chardin 1738 Collection du musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada |
Here is the painting that greatly inspired the pattern of the Fleur de Lyse in my opinion. From around 1730, the wearing of an apron seems to have become the norm for daily dress. It is no longer a protective accessory but a fashion accessory for the day-to-day wear. The dress of the woman in the portrait shows a different assortment of fabrics: red/ocher stockings, a striped petticoat, a blue apron, a white cloak/casaquin with red ribbons on the pleated sleeves, a variegated neckerchief and the head wearing a combination of a bonnet and a cornette.
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| Femme à la fontaine Jean-Siméon Chardin Vers 1733-1739 Collection du musée de Toledo |
Gaspard Gresly
Avant 1756
Collection particulière
Source: Artnet
I have a guess about this woman's dress. I think she wears a petticoat, a jacket and an apron made of linen and/or cotton, two washable materials. This would be the reason why all of his clothes would be beige and white. The techniques of laundering clothes at the time involved a bleaching process, which is why colored outer garments, especially those made of silk and wool fibers, were not washed but brushed and cleaned. Considering the messy job of this woman, this hypothesis would explain the absence of color in her clothes.
Quite the opposite of the young lady cleaning the silverware of the previous painting, this elderly spinner wears long sleeves up to the wrist. This is a rare painting where the chest support seems not very present. It remains to be seen if it is an optical illusion of the apron. Speaking of the apron, it is light blue, gathered at the cord and not pleaded.
The coif worn by this cherry vendor is edged with lace, a rare detail for this type of headdress. The neckerchief and the mantelet/casaquin are in shades of red ochre. The pinned bib apron has a plaid pattern and the tie loop is visible in the center.
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| La récureuse Jean-Siméon Chardin 1738 National Gallery of Art |
I have a guess about this woman's dress. I think she wears a petticoat, a jacket and an apron made of linen and/or cotton, two washable materials. This would be the reason why all of his clothes would be beige and white. The techniques of laundering clothes at the time involved a bleaching process, which is why colored outer garments, especially those made of silk and wool fibers, were not washed but brushed and cleaned. Considering the messy job of this woman, this hypothesis would explain the absence of color in her clothes.
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| La servante attentive Jean-Siméon Chardin 1747 National Gallery of Arts |
Pink is the dominant color of this servant with her pink flowered jacket, probably indienne, her pinned bib apron and her striped petticoat. His head is covered with a cap and a headdress. She wears mules whose heel height impresses me for a person whose work requires a lot of walking. The concept of comfort varies from one person to another.
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| La récureuse André Bouys 1737 Web gallery of Arts |
This woman wears a juste with striped sleeves that end at the elbow. The stripes allowed the artist André Bouys his virtuosity and he illustrates the stresses that the fabric undergoes at the top of the sleeves. The bottom of the sleeves seem devoid of any decoration.
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| La fileuse endormie Gaspard Gresly avant 1756 Musée des Beaux-Arts et Archéologie de Besançon |
Quite the opposite of the young lady cleaning the silverware of the previous painting, this elderly spinner wears long sleeves up to the wrist. This is a rare painting where the chest support seems not very present. It remains to be seen if it is an optical illusion of the apron. Speaking of the apron, it is light blue, gathered at the cord and not pleaded.
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| La bouillie au coin du feu Jean-Baptiste Lallemand XVIIIe siècle Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon |
Decoration of a bourgeois or gentry interior, this painting depicts the daily life of this family. The mother in yellow does not wear an apron over her jacket and feeds her child. Her hair is covered with a handkerchief or a headdress. She has a towel on her knees. The servant at the back's sleeves are to the wrists while those of the mother are a little shorter reaching the distal third of the forearm.
I want to emphasize that this interior, with the sideboard at the back filled with crockery, the abundance of pans, pots and cauldrons on the wall as well as the copper fountain shows a great material ease in this kitchen. This is by no means a poor man's kitchen.
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| Les préparatifs du repas Jean-Baptiste Lallemand vers 1761 Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon |
In this other kitchen scene, we only see servants. The one in front in green on the left wears a jacket with sleeves reaching just a little beyond the elbow, a white apron without bib and a rust-colored petticoat. Her hair is covered with a white cap.
The maid from behind on the right brings up water from an interior well. The white sleeves of her shirt are clearly visible. She seems to be wearing a simple corset. Her raised petticoat is the same color as the corset. Exceptionally, she wears nothing on her head.
The appearance of women wearing only a corset is uncommon in the 18th century and almost non-existent in the 17th century. I noticed that this fashion was very present in Prussia and Switzerland in the 18th century and that the French painters representing this fashion of the people were often located near the border with these countries.
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| Marchande de dentelles Gaspard Gresly avant 1756 Musée des Beaux-Arts et Archéologie de Besançon |
Gaspard Gresly is one of those border painters who illustrate women in corsets. He lived in Besançon most of his life. Here, the lace merchant wears a blue bib apron over a red corset, often called jumps in English. The neckerchief does not fully cover the neckline. She is wearing a gray-blue handkerchief and an atypical hat. The girl on the right who is examining a lace braid is wearing a dress or a jacket, a colored neckerchief and a white bonnet.
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| La coupeuse de chou Anonyme français XVIIIe siècle Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims |
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| Écureuse tiré de Études prises dans le bas peuple ou les Cris de Paris de Edme Bouchardon 1737-1746 Gallica |
It's hard to tell with confidence if this scullery is wearing a sleeved or sleeveless garment with the engraving details. I see a young lady wearing a corset over white shirt sleeves. She works with heeled shoes and a white cap worn high on her head.
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| Jeunes filles allant au garde-manger Gaspard Gresly avant 1756 Musée des Beaux-Arts et Archéologie de Besançon |
Gaspard Gresly is the artist who has most represented French peasants in jumps to my knowledge. As said above, his geographical location was near Switzerland and Prussia, where this fashion of seeing the shirt was more widely spread and accepted among the women of the people. Here the bib of the white apron covers the closure of the blue corset of the young lady in the foreground. A red neckerchief enhances the rosy features of the girl's face. The girl on the left is wearing a black cap. The games of light and shadow are very interesting in this painting.
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| La fête du village Étienne Jeaurat 1748 Collection particulière |
This village fete shows two village women wearing a corset: one in the center back in yellow carrying a tray on her head and one on the right kneeling looking after the children. Two out of fifteen women visible in the foreground is 13% for those who would like to make statistics. Women who only wear a sleeveless corset are, as I said above, a minority.
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| La demande accordée Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié XVIIIe siècle Musée Thomas-Henry de Cherbourg |
In this painting by Lépicié, the young woman wears beige jumps whose folds suggest an absence of whalebones, a neckerchief tied at chest level, a blue apron with the bib folded up and a striped petticoat in shades of golden brown. The mother's sleeves and petticoat of the same fabric suggest she's wearing a matching ensemble, if not just a dress.
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| Jeune laitière tiré de Études prises dans le bas peuple ou les Cris de Paris de Edme Bouchardon 1737-1746 Gallica |
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| Tiré de l'Art du tailleur contenant le tailleur d'habit d'homme; les culottes de peau; le tailleur de corps de femmes et enfants: la couturière; et la marchande de Modes par M. de Garseault, 1769 Source: Gallica |
Here is how M. de Garsault explains the manufacture of the bedgown.
This illustration probably shows a woman in a bedgown. The crossing of the front panels and the absence of seams at the shoulder are characteristic of this garment.
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| Vendeuse de Pommes tiré de Études prises dans le bas peuple ou les Cris de Paris de Edme Bouchardon 1737-1746 Gallica |
This illustration probably shows a woman in a bedgown. The crossing of the front panels and the absence of seams at the shoulder are characteristic of this garment.
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| La servante de cuisine Jean-Siméon Chardin 1738 National Gallery of Art |
Given the large pleats at the front and possibly at the back, I would say that this woman is wearing a second-hand dress whose worn bottom has been shortened, also called pet-en-l'air
( literraly fart in the air). The term pet-en-l'air existed in the period of New France but remained relatively marginal until the decade of 1760. If you want more information on the word pet-en-l'air, I wrote an article in 2019 on the subject.
The cuffs are special in that: they are not the same color as the whole coat. This is an exception for all types of clothing combined. This is the only example within which I noticed this peculiarity during my research. A border of the same color seems to be at the bottom of the half dress.
Also, the apron has a peculiarity that I cannot explain: the fold and the corner located under the kitchen maid's elbow. I only have seen that arrangement for 17th century folks, it could be a clue that latest fashions weren't always followed by the common people .
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| Balayeuse tiré de Études prises dans le bas peuple ou les Cris de Paris de Edme Bouchardon 1737-1746 Gallica |
This engraving shows the characteristic features of a shortened ''robe à la française'': the famous pleats. To repeat myself, calling these “Watteau folds” or Watteau pleats'' is an anachronism since no document from the time mentions this name for this sartorial feature. This way of describing the folds would have appeared during the 19th century by way of a historian or an art lover, I did not push my research far enough to discover who exactly. For more information on the dress as such, please consult chapter 5 which is entirely dedicated to it: From Filles du Roy to the French and Indian War: the robe à la française.
This woman's apron is pinned at the bib, pulled up on the side and allows you to see a little more of the front of the demi-robe / half gown / pet-en-l'air.
Not so long ago, I would have ended my article here. However, there is a variety of mantelet/casaquin that I discovered recently, the one that is worn open over the corset or the pinned apron.
I first believed in a local particularity of the Besançon region because it first appeared in paintings by Gaspard Gresly. Another source, possibly illustrating workers from the Lyon region because they are silk workers from the Diderot and D'Alembert Encyclopedia.
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| Vieille femme descendant à la cave Gaspard Gresly Avant 1756 Musée des Beaux-Arts et Archéologie de Besançon |
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| La raccomodeuse de dentelles Gaspard Gresly Avant 1756 Musée des Beaux-Arts et Archéologie de Besançon |
I am perplexed as to the clothing of this lace mender. There is an absence of seams on the sleeves which reminds me of a bedgown. However, it seems to lack material to cross the two front sections and there is no eyelet. The fabric used could be indienne, I can't tell if the pattern is printed (indienne) or interwoven (broché). The edges of this jacket are reinforced with blue ribbon. She wears a bonnet covered with a coif tied on top of her head.
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| Planche CXXIII signée h h h h illustrant les soieries de l'Encyclopédie Diderot et d'Alembert 1772 La vignette représente l'intérieur d'une chambre & deux ouvrières occupées à fabriquer une lisse à noeud. Fig. 1. Ouvriere, qui après avoir formé le noeud près la barre de bois du milieu, arrête le fil près de la barre qui est de son côté à la ficelle ou crête de la lisse, par l'opération que l'on nomme natter, que l'on trouvera représentée dans les Planches suivantes ; la corde sur laquelle elle natte le fil de lisse chargé sur le rochet ou bobine qu'elle tient de la main droite est attachée d'un bout à une des chevilles des barres du lissoir, & de l'autre passe sur un des chevalets, d'où elle est tirée en bas par le poids dont elle est chargée, comme on le voit dans la vignette. 2. Seconde ouvriere qui présente les mailles du bas des lisses à la premiere ; elle tient de la main gauche plusieurs mailles ; elle choisit de la main droite celle qu'il faut présenter ouverte, observant de les prendre de suite comme elles ont été fabriquées. Pour former le bas des lisses, il ne faut qu'une seule ouvriere. |
Even if this illustration is a little outdated for the frame period ending at 1763, I appreciate this engraving because it shows another jacket open on the torso. The absence of visible folds on the back rules out the possibility of a ''pet-en-l'air'' in my opinion.
In conclusion, is it possible to make a summary of the feminine fashions of the less wealthy people for the hundred years separating the arrival of Filles du Roy and the end of the Conquest? In the portraits of France, one can see a certain evolution between the 17th and 18th centuries without being as important and defined as for noble and wealthy women. It should be remembered that the clothing for these women with a limited income is first and foremost a protection against the cold, the wind, the insects...
To quote Pehr Kalm in his diary of August 26, 1749, about the inhabitants of Canada:
«Les habitants de la campagne paraissent très pauvres. Ils n'ont guère plus que le strict nécessaire. Ils se contentent de pain et d'eau et portent tous leurs autres produits tels que le beurre, le fromage, les oeufs et les volailles, à la ville, pour les convertir en argent avec lequel ils achètent des vêtements et de l'eau-de-vie pour eux, et des robes pour leurs femmes. Malgré leur pauvreté, ils sont toujours d'humeur joyeuse et gaillarde»
'' The inhabitants of the countryside seem very poor. They have little more than the bare necessities. They content themselves with bread and water and carry all their other products, such as butter, cheese, eggs and poultry, to the city, to convert them into money with which they buy clothes and eau-de-vie for themselves, and gowns for their wives. Despite their poverty, they are always in a cheerful and merry mood.''
Some beautiful and pleasant touches added to the garment of these women of farming and working social classes come with the few "Sunday" accessories: neckerchief, state-of-the-art bonnet, silk ribbons, immaculate apron, when the budget allows it.
A little later in his diary, on September 12, 1749, Pehr Kalm notes: « Les gens de la campagne, les femmes surtout, portent des chaussures de bois faites tout d'une pièce et creusées en forme de pantoufle. »
''Country people, especially women, wear one-piece wooden shoes hollowed out in the shape of a slipper.''
For these social classes, clothing is primarily utilitarian and made to last a long time.
I believe that with these six articles, it is possible to better understand the fashion of the time of New France. At least, I hope so.
Thanks for reading me.
I wish you a good day.
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