18th century literature

[mala_14]

In my Gothic literature class today the prof put up two pictures of Marie Antoinette by Vigee Lebrun. (This one and this one.) She asked the class what we thought of the two paintings and how they differed. Nobody said anything, but she saw me smiling and called on me. I just couldn't help myself. I started talking about how in one MA is wearing formal court dress and in the other she's wearing a chemise a la reine and how scandalized people were when the painting came out because it looked like she was wearing her nightgown and how Vigee Lebrun had to paint another version of the portrait in more regular dress. I think I surprised a lot of people! ;p I guess there aren't a lot of people interested in fashion history in my English classes. lol

Comments

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

LOL! That's awesome! I love it when costume knowledge comes in handy in the real world. I recently amazed a coworker by being able to correctly date an old magazine that she had just by looking at what the women in the pictures were wearing. :)

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

It's pretty fun! That's some fantastic accuracy!