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Unknown

ca. 1740 · silk, metallic thread · Costume Institute

By the early eighteenth century, the skirts of men's formal coats became so generous that a woman observed in The Spectator, "The skirt of your fashionable coats forms as large a circumference as our petticoats." Drawings and paintings of the period reveal the feminine silhouette achieved by such full-skirted coats. The men's coats, which fall to the knees, almost conceal the breeches, a feature that serves to enhance their dresslike appearance.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1740

Medium

silk, metallic thread

Culture

British

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1977