Three French Woman – Summer 1867

Three French woman and a child at the seaside, Summer 1867

Three women and a child model their summer fashions for the July issue of Moniteur de la Mode. The woman on the left wears clothing that suggests she is a servant of the woman at center, and indeed she holds the child as well as a paddle that belongs to the game Knurr & Spell, or perhaps a spade for playing in the sand, while she looks off into the distance.

She wears a black dress covered by a brown and white striped apron. A brown fichu covers her shoulders. She wears a wide black ribbon in her hair and gold or silver oval earrings. The small girl in her arms looks out at the viewer. She wears a white dress trimmed with pink ribbon and ruffles. Her pink boots match the wide sash around her waist and the ribbon in her hair. The light-haired woman in the center wears full skirted blue and white dress with two layers. She wears a pleated white blouse with a high neck trimmed with a narrow ruffle.

Her snugly fitted bodice has three buttons on the diagonal. The lapels, cuffs, and shoulders of the bodice are edged with blue satin ribbon and blue scrolled embroidery embellishes the collar and cuffs. A wide blue belt or sash encircles the waist and the peplum is formed of a series of triangles. These points have more scrolled embroidery and are edged with blue fringe. The overskirt is white edged with two rows of three stripes of narrow blue satin ribbon, and the underskirt is solid blue. The skirt is short enough to show her ankles, signaling it as attire for a seaside holiday.

The woman’s blond hair is braided and pinned up underneath a small white cap trimmed with pink roses with long white ribbon ties. She wears black stockings, low heeled black boots, and yellow gloves. This woman greets the dark-haired woman on the right by taking her hand. The dark-haired wears a full skirted white dress heavily trimmed with green ribbon. The ribbons on the over skirt create tear-drop panels over the under skirt which has diagonal stripes. The ribbons on the sleeves form a chevron pattern.

A green bow at the neckline matches the green bows on the skirt. The bodice has a deep u shaped neckline edged in green over a white pleated blouse with a jewel neckline. A green ribbon extends from the u neck to the waist at the center front, and a wide green sash or belt circled her waist. The woman’s long hair is worn loose and she wears a white veil hanging from a flat cap that is lined with green silk and falls to her hips. Her dress is short, ending above her ankles.

To complete the outfit she wears gold or silver drop earrings, black heeled boots, yellow gloves, and carries a long thin walking stick. She stands next to a wooden chair upon which the artist has “carved” his name and the date: J. David, 1867. Against a background of ships at sea and tall mountains, a small pennant flag flies in the sea breeze near a row of beach huts. Groups of men and women stroll by or sit and converse in the background.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges