Démodé

historical costume projects & resources

18th Century Costume at Auction

kendra

This was a great post over on Worn Through, giving the backstory on an auction of historic costume and textiles:

This auction gathers textile elements from the 18th century but also rare costumes of the 18th and 19th century kept until now by old aristocratic French families that never hesitated to use those historical garments as fancy costumes.

Here are a few interesting things I found in the online catalog:

Beautiful fabric on this late 18th century dress bodice. You can see how the lining extends further down the waist than the outer fabric.
Rare robe redingote modified to accommodate pregnancy, circa 1790.
Nice close up of a late 18th century stripey redingote.
A beautiful cross-barred AND floral brocaded robe à la française.
Same dress as above — I love when you can see the mishmash of fabrics used to line 18th century gowns.
I love the green contrast binding and stitching on this 18th century set of stays.
Beautiful embroidery on an 18th century waistcoat.
This dress is interesting, as it has the scallops at the bodice bottom edge that you sometimes see in late 18th century fashion plates.
Lovely closeup of the fabric and trim from another 18th century robe à la française.
Hey, it’s not 18th century! Gorgeous beading on this 1910s evening dress.

Leave a Reply