"Re-examining seventeenth-century French style"
Between 1678 and 1710, Parisian presses printed hundreds of images of elegantly attired men and women dressed in the latest "mode, "and posed to display every detail of their clothing and accessories. Long used to illustrate dress of the period, these fashion prints have been taken at face value and used uncritically. Drawing on perspectives from art history, costume history, French literature, museum conservation and theatrical costuming, the essays in this volume explore what the prints represent and what they reveal about fashion and...