Hello,
Welcome to the penultimate chapter on the evolution of women's fashions during the New France period, dealing with ''robe à la française''. The decade 1740 was the scene of the War of the Austrian Succession, which in 1745 saw the fortress of Louisbourg fall for the first time into the hands of the British before being exchanged for the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) during the negotiations leading to the peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748.
The characteristic pleats of the robe à la française were inherited from the robe volante, which was described in Chapter 4 of this series. The originality of the robe à la française is that henceforth the waist is emphasized by the dress, whereas it was concealed under ample pleats with the robe volante.
Here is one of the first tables where the French dress with the waist underline appears:
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| Le déjeuner Artist François Boucher 1739 Collection Musée du Louvres |
The emphasis on size, and its thinness, is undeniable in the following tables:
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| Madame d'Epinay et Madame de Meaux Artist: Louis Carrogis dit Carmontelle Around 1750-1760 Collection Musée Condée, Chantilly Source: La Tribune de l'Art |
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| Portrait of a woman, said to be Madame Chalres Simon Favart, born Marie Justine Benoîte Duronceray Artist: François Hubert Drouais 1757 Collection MET Museum |
The famous back folds of the robe à la française, which were later called Watteau pleats, were only called ''plis'' in French (pleats, I presume in English) in the 18th century. Jean Antoine Watteau did not live long enough to see what we call the robe à la française, because he died at the beginning of the fashion of the robe volante, that is in 1721. The robe volante differs from the previous one, the robe volante, by the sharp tightening of the waist on the boned body.
The painting of the Toilette by François Boucher shows the maid from behind. The pleats in her dress are slightly wider than her waist, increasing the illusion of thinness when viewed from the side or front. In addition, her dress is worn '' retroussée dans les poches '' (rolled up in the pockets), a style that facilitated movement and avoided soiling the bottom of the dresses in the muddy streets of the cities. Many see this style as a prelude to the so-called promenade dress ''à la Polonaise'' of the years 1770-1780.
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| La toilette Artist: François Boucher 1742 Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid |
The ''manteau de robe'' (coat of the robe) of the française is always open at the front over a stomach piece and the outside skirt. Most of the time, the ''manteau de robe'', the stomacher and the formal skirt are made from the same fabrics. Sometimes the stomacher is a different but complementary color, matching the accessories for the sleeves or hair.
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| Portrait of a woman holding a cup Anonymous French style , 18th century Collection du Musée d'Art et d'Industrie André Diligent Source: Ministère de la culture, France |
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| Portrait de Madame de Sorquainville Artist: Jean Baptiste Perronneau 1749 Collection of Musée du Louvre |
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| Portrait of a noble woman Artiste: Donat Nonnotte 18th century Private collection Source: De Artibus Sequanis |
Occasionally, some robe à la française are edged with furs. Considering that New France was one of the main suppliers of furs to Europe, it is more than likely that these came from North America.
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| Portrait of Mme de Brosse, daughter M. Briasson, échevin Lyonnais Artist: Donat Nonnotte 1758 Private collection Source: Artnet |
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| Portrait of a woman said to be the Marquise de Beauharnais, Artist: Circle of François-Hubert Drouais Vers 1750-1760 Private Collection Source: Christie's |
As for the hairstyles, you might have noticed, these are relatively unchanged from the robe volante. The head takes only a little volume, the hair is powdered and pulled up on the head in a flat bun under a cap. Some headdresses cover the head more than others.
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| Portrait of a woman with a dog Artist: Donnat Nonnotte 18th century Private collection Source: Artnet |
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| La coeffeuse Artist: Dominique Sornique after Étienne Jeaurat 18th century Collection Rijskmuseum |
Interestingly, the ''coeffeuse'' (hairdresser) in this engraving presents a bonnet to the lady she is visiting rather than shaping out her hair. Like the maid in François Boucher's painting '' la toilette '' above, the maid lady in this engraving wears her dress '' retroussée dans les poches '', a way of preserving the appearance of the bottom of the the dress while walking in the muddy streets of the cities.
Wealthier ladies can also style their hair "en cheveux" (in hair), that is to say in small curls always close to the head. Here are two examples of ladies with "en cheveux".
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| Portrait of the Marquise de Gast Artiste: Donat Nonnotte Around 1740-1750 Private collection Source: Artnet |
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| Portrait of Claudine Flachon, daughter of Claude Flachon, échevin de Lyon Artist: Donat Nonnotte 1750 Private Collection Source: Artnet |
Moreover, the expression styled in hair is used in the correspondence of Elisabeth Bégon in her letter of January 27, 1750, where she describes the adjustments of her granddaughter during her first official social outing in La Rochelle:
''Si tu eusses vu ta fille hier, cher fils, tu serais resté comme elle le fit à la vue de ce damas rose que tu lui donnas. Elle était coiffée en cheveux au mieux, avec un corps neuf qui lui fait la taille belle, de bonne grâce, et partit bien contente avec le la peine, cependant, de ne savoir point danser...''
''If you had seen your daughter yesterday, dear son, you would have remained as she did at the sight of this pink damask that you gave her. She was dressed in hair at best, with a new body which gives her a good figure, with good grace, and left very happy with the pain, however, of not knowing how to dance ... ''
Remember that Elisabeth Bégon is a letter-writer born in Canada who had decided to move to France.
The fashion for high hairstyles did not start again timidly until the 1760s to reach unmatched heights (literally and figuratively) with Marie-Antoinette in the 1770s. An emblematic hairstyle of this period is the coiffure à la belle poule.
One cannot evoke fashion in the middle of the 18th century without speaking of the famous Madame de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV.
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| Sketch for a portrait de Mme de Pompadour Artist: François Boucher around 1750 Collection Waddesdon Manor, Starhemberg Room Source: Wikimedia Commons |
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| Portrait of Madame de Pompadour Artist François Boucher 1759 Collection Wallace, Londre Source: Wallace Collection Blog |
On the two portraits of François Boucher selected, Mme de Pompadour wears a stomacher decorated with ''échelle de rubans'' as is called the set of ribbon bows. Ribbons attached to the sleeves are the same color as those on the ''échelle''. Underneath the sleeves are engageantes in lace which gives volume to the sleeve. The ''manteau-de-robe'' (coat gown), the skirt and the frills are made of the same fabric. She is dressed in hair, that is to say that she does not wear a cap.
Let us recall that the portrait of Mme de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, wife of the Governor-General of Canada, painted in France, represents her wearing a robe à la française of gilded brocade on a blue background.
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| Portrait of Madame Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, born Jeanne-Charlotte de Fleury Deschambault, Attributed to Donat Nonotte around 1753-1755 Copy of Henri Beau Début du XXe siècle Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
Less known, there is a second portrait of this noble lady of New France, where she also wears a robe à la française and plays the guitar.
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| Madame de Rigaud de Vaudreuil, femme du commandant du Canada Louis Carrogis dit Carmontelle Around 1753-1755 Collection of Musée Condé |
In 2019, I wrote an article on the life course of this lady. If you are interested, it is available here: Jeanne Charlotte de Fleury Deschambault - The woman behind the portrait.
The French dress was in vogue for about 35 years, from around 1740 to 1775. The originals that still exist today are mostly from the end of this period. Here are some copies of the period interests us.
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| Robe à la française Around 1740 Musée des Arts décoratifs Source: Google Arts & Culture |
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| Robe à la française Around 1740 Musée des Arts décoratifs Source: Google Arts & Culture |
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| robe à la française Around 1735 Private collection Source: Thierry de Maigret commissaire priseur |
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| robe à la française Around 1735 Private collection Source: Thierry de Maigret commissaire priseur |
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| Robe à la française around 1760 Collection MET museum |
Strangely, I have found few paintings or engravings illustrating a landscape or an overview of this period on which it is easy to identify the robe à la française. It must be said that the majority of the ladies of this period come out with a small cape, which makes it difficult to appreciate the dress below.
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| Vue du Château de Versailles du côté de l'orangerie Artist: Jacques Rigaud Between 1729 and 1752 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Detail of Vue du Château de Versailles du côté de l'orangerie Artist: Jacques Rigaud Between 1729 and 1752 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Detail of Vue du Château de Versailles du côté de l'orangerie Artist: Jacques Rigaud Between 1729 and 1752 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Vue du petit château de Choisy-le-Roy du côté de la cour Artist: Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté 1760 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Detail of Vue du petit château de Choisy-le-Roy du côté de la cour Artist: Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté 1760 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Vue du petit château de Choisy-le-Roy Artist: Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté 1760 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Detail of Vue du petit château de Choisy-le-Roy Artist: Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté 1760 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Detail of Vue du petit château de Choisy-le-Roy Artist: Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté 1760 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
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| Detail of Vue du petit château de Choisy-le-Roy Artiste: Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté 1760 Collection des Châteaux de Versailles |
In Richard Short's engravings appears a lady who appears to be wearing a robe à la française ''retroussée dans les poches''. Unless it's a half dress, the quality of the scan doesn't allow me to decide between the two hypotheses. Richard Short made a series of engravings in 1761 reflecting the devastation of the war on Quebec City after the French and Indian War.
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| Vue de la cathédrale, du collège des Jésuites et de l'Église des Récollets prise de la porte du Gouvernement Artists: Richard Short et Pierre-Charles Canot 1761 Collection of Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec |
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| Detail of Vue de la cathédrale, du collège des Jésuites et de l'Église des Récollets prise de la porte du Gouvernement Artists: Richard Short et Pierre-Charles Canot 1761 Collection of Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec |
Another print of Shorts from the same series clearly shows a robe à la française ''retroussée dans les poches''.
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| Vue du Palais épiscopal et de ses ruines, ainsi qu'elles paraissent en descendant à la Basse-Ville Artist: Ignace Fougeron after Richard Short 1761 Collection of Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec |
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| Detail of Vue du Palais épiscopal et de ses ruines, ainsi qu'elles paraissent en descendant à la Basse-Ville Artist: Ignace Fougeron d'après Richard Short 1761 Collection of Musée National des Beaux-Arts de Québec |
It was on September 8, 1760 with the surrender of Montreal that New France fell under British military rule. It is a temporary regime and the North American continent must wait until the end of the conflict with the Treaty of Paris of 1763 to formalize the cession of the territory of New France to England.
This is how the penultimate article on fashion in New France ends. The last will relate to the clothes of the ''habitantes'' (inhabitants) and the peasant women during this period 1663-1763.
Mlle Canadienne
