Coat
This young man’s tailcoat, with its high turned-down collar, narrow back, and wide lapels, exemplifies the exaggerated silhouette fashionable in post-revolutionary France. Striped textiles, modish from the 1760s, were ubiquitous in the dress of both sexes by the end of the century. In menswear, stripes served as a decorative substitute for the ornate, polychrome embroidery of earlier suits. The trend reflects the influence of Orientalism and neoclassical taste; in earlier centuries, stripes had pejorative connotations in the West and were associated with the clothing of socially marginalized groups.
Artwork Details
- Title: Coat
- Date: 1790s
- Culture: French
- Medium: silk
- Credit Line: Purchase, NAMSB Foundation Inc. Gift, 1999
- Object Number: 1999.105.2
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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American or European
1785–1800
French
1774–92
French
early 1620s
French
1690–1700
French
1750–75
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