[Figure 15.]—Man in petticoat breeches (Rhinegraves). This illustration is not a fashion plate but an engraving that was often reprinted in pattern books used by teachers and students of figure drawing. From a drawing book by S. le Clerc, ca. 1665. (Author’s collection.)
In the second half of the 17th century the attention of Europe was focused on the court of Louis XIV and the French style of dress, especially for men, predominated. In particular, the coat (justaucorps), which evolved from the cassock, an outer garment, began to be worn regularly over the doublet, which by this time was already much reduced in size yet destined to survive as the waistcoat (veste). This fashion spread fairly rapidly through Europe—in England, as has been mentioned, it was dominant by 1670—but it is not clear how. The position of France, however, was stated in a fashion article in the Mercure Galant in 1673 (vol. 3):[32*]
. . . rien ne plait davantage que les Modes nées en France . . . . C’est pourquoi dans toutes les Provinces du Monde on fait venir de France quantité de choses qui regardent l’habillement encor qu’on ne s’habille pas tout-a-fait à la Françoise . . . .
The Mercure Galant, strangely neglected by costume historians, occupies a most important place in the history of fashion literature, since it is the first and for almost a century the only periodical to contain regular articles on contemporary fashion. The person responsible for editing and indeed for writing these articles was Jean Donneau de Visé (1640-1710), an unsuccessful dramatist, rival of Molière, whom he sarcastically attacked several times in print. The story of his journalistic venture is not at all easy to unravel,[33]
since the octavo publications (“Chez Claude Barbin, au Palais”) were pirated almost immediately, and impressions—all that I have seen are duodecimos—appeared in Paris and Amsterdam (“Suivant la Copie imprimée à Paris”). A single number of an English translation, the Mercury Gallant, is in the British Museum.
[Figure 16.]—Courtier in full dress for the winter 1677-78 wearing a flame-colored embroidered cloth cloak over a gray silk coat and matching waistcoat. This costume is almost as grand as the blue privilege “justaucorps à brevet” which, after 1665, was occasionally granted to others than princes of royal blood. Issued with the Mercure Galant, 1678. (Author’s collection.)