The earlier French revolution

October 23, 2015 3:55 PM

How women revolutionised 1670s fashion from Lapham's Quarterly. Mantuas.
posted by goo (9 comments total)

I wish the first article had more before-and-after 1670 comparison pictures.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 4:09 PM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

That Lapham's article has the weirdest collection of off-topic illustrations I've seen in a long time. The text is very interesting, though.
posted by Azara at 4:51 PM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

The article would have been ideal had it had actually relevant images. The second link was great, though it's amazing those are considered easy to wear casual outfits.
posted by jeather at 4:55 PM on October 23, 2015

Is this issue of Lapham's Quarterly all about fashion history? I currently have a browser tab open on this article about Islamic culture's influence on the West via Crusaders, and now this.
posted by Sara C. at 5:12 PM on October 23, 2015

Is this issue of Lapham's Quarterly all about fashion history?

Yes.
posted by listen, lady at 6:31 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

The images are just a function of how Lapham's Quarterly works - they're supposed to go with the overall theme of the whole issue, not necessarily the article they appear with. A large percentage of articles published in the magazine are from works that are out of copyright, and span from the earliest written word to present day. Then there's usually 4 or so essays at the back that are entirely new, and I'm guessing since this article doesn't have any attributions and is of considerable length for something in Lapham's, that it's one of those.
posted by LionIndex at 6:53 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's definitely amazing that the mantuas were considered casual wear! Not at all what I was picturing while reading the article.

Whenever I see Jane Austen era empire gowns, I imagine they must have been heaven to wear compared to what came before.
posted by maggiemaggie at 2:00 PM on October 24, 2015

Because of the strange images, I've been googling a lot, and it seems the first manteaus were more like this - which makes more sense. And then they developed into the more formal style in the second link.
I've always loved the whole idea of a light coat over a dress, and I'm definitely going for the rokoko look for my next big-party dress.
posted by mumimor at 2:28 PM on October 24, 2015

Article lacked illustrations... this was that the early type looked like, though it didn't take very long for the fashion to turn back into tight bodices again.
posted by Peregrine Pickle at 8:59 PM on October 24, 2015