Full-Color Sourcebook of French Fashion

Book excerpt: These color plates by Hippolyte Pauquet and his brother Polydore, reproduced directly from a rare and valuable nineteenth-century publication, magnificently depict 500 years of French fashion. Starting with the flamboyant headgear and voluminous robes of fifteenth-century royalty, the artfully rendered illustrations progress chronologically to the high-waisted Empire styles of the Napoleonic era. Members of the nobility and upper classes are well represented here. Portraits of lavishly garbed court ladies and gentlemen--many in fur-trimmed robes--appear next to dapper pages and handsome knights. Bourgeois fashions (including lace-trimmed garments for both sexes) are presented as well, along with the more modest attire of chamber maids, milkmaids, and shepherdesses. Images of such historic figures as King Henri IV, Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, and Marie Antoinette complete a splendid collection. A valuable reference for costume designers and fashion historians, this beautifully reproduced volume will also serve as a grand treat for fashion enthusiasts.