\. 



Figure 32. — Front and back view of a walking dress 

 sliowing rhat embroidered muslin was worn even 

 in winter. Here, the muslin is accompanied by a 

 red sarcenet Highland spencer and a matching 

 scarf lined with ermine. From La Belle Assemblee, 

 December 1808. (Courtesy of The Cooper Union 

 Museum.) 





% 



Figure 33. — Walking dress of gray merino. Plate 

 l)i, Ackevvasinn^ Repository of the Arts, 1819. {Cour- 

 tesy of The Cooper Union Museum.) 



is fully documented witii tailors' patterns and illustra- 

 tions. As all details were prescribed by court regu- 

 lations and very little scope was left for the impulses 

 and personal choice of the wearers, the dress may be 

 regarded to a great extent as a uniform rather than 

 a fashion. Modifications did take place, however, 

 and the style continued into the 19th century. As 

 late as 1827, a pamphlet was published in Copen- 

 hagen on the same subject." 

 With these dress-reform books must also be included 



the books on French Revolution fashions, of which that 

 by Grasset de Saint-Sauvcur is the best known. *^ 

 When reading the descriptions of dress of the various 

 officials, grades, and classes, one wonders whether 

 such clothes were actually worn except on state occa- 

 sions, or whether they were fanciful no\clties which tiie 

 French officials in their reaction against Louis XVI 

 and his court thought would be appropriate for the 

 new regime. The intention of this book, however, 

 undouijtedly was serious and quite unlike the cari- 



"J. C. RvGE, Ideei til en national Smag i ilansk Klaeclerdragt « Grasset de Saint-Sauvcur, Costume des Representans du 



(Copenhagen, 1827). />«//>/(• (Paris, 1795). 



P.\PER 60: ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE FASHION PI..\TE 



89 



