Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français, 1783, tt 252 : Coeffure à la Dorvillièr (...) 1783

This print, made in France around 1783, depicts sixteen different women's hairstyles. It is entitled “Gallery of Fashions and French Costumes”. The image seems to be a fashion plate intended to advertise the latest trends in hairstyles and headwear to affluent women. Looking closely, we can see these styles are incredibly elaborate, incorporating feathers, ribbons, and various decorative elements. The higher the hair, the closer to God, as they say! These elaborate styles were status symbols, demonstrating wealth and access to skilled hairdressers, in the years just before the French Revolution. But more subtly, the print is also an institutional document, showing us how fashion was disseminated and consumed at this time. Research into the printing industry, costume history, and social etiquette of the period would give us a fuller picture of this image's place in the cultural landscape of 18th-century France. It's a reminder that art, even fashion plates, is always embedded in a specific social and institutional context.