Sunday, April 25, 2010

Yay or Nay? Robertine Tourteau

Normally pink and green are a lovely color combination especially in Spring. However our judges deemed Mary Wilkes play with those colors totally wrong and she was met with a Nay. Better luck next time, Mary! To revive us from the overdone effort of Miss Wilkes, let's now look at some casual-wear. For, comfort doesn't mean sacrificing fashion...or does it?


Jacques-Louis David paints, Robertine Tourteau (1790) in her collared-fichu gown. Yay or Nay?

[Louvre]

19 comments:

  1. Yay !
    The dress is really classy yet not showy. The colours match really well. I don't know if she has big breasts or not but her dress really emphasizes her bosom. Nice try! ;-)

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  2. Yay, yay and thrice yay!

    she looks amazing, a woman happy at the height of her powers and with a lovely mischievous air about her!

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  3. Can't say I like the hair. But I love the pose and the colors of her outfit.

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  4. Lovely! She looks comfortable and at ease and that attitude helps to set the clothes off nicely.

    I'm wondering if her hair is naturally curly, which would explain it's unruly appearance.

    Overall though, a huge yay from me!

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  5. Too bad she is covering half of the dress:(
    I like the splash of color. I would say Yay!!

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  6. It's, like 99% yay, but...

    I'm a, uh, chesty girl myself and one time I was trying on some RenFaire garb and the piece I was trying on came under the bust, like this one, exposing my white chemise in the front.

    And both the costumer and I went, "Yerrrrgh!" noticing how that huge white expanse managed to make my decolletage look disproportionally, well, gigantic.

    I see that no one pointed the same out for poor Mme. Tourteau.

    Also, I her hair is a hot mess.

    Nay.

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  7. I'm gonna say "yay," on this one. The painting itself is great too, lovely and relaxed.

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  8. I love things about it and I don't like things about it. I'm not digging the hair, she could have done a better job. I love the cut of the black gown and the undershirt/shift she has on as a combination. The splash of red is well done and I think it is quite sophisticated. However, I do agree a bit with Sunny, I think it's a bit distracting with the large chest, with the black gown cut too low. But over all I love the look and I would wear it myself. So. YAY! :)

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  9. Meh. The bosom is way too poufy and she has a Washerwoman look to her. Love her pose though and it is beautifully painted. Still, it has to be a Nay.

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  10. I like the premise better than the execution, but it is still a yay.

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  11. Oh Nay! Trinny and Suz would have a field day with this outfit. Great dress, wrong body (or great body, wrong dress). The overlapped neckline of the white shirt paired with the black under-the bust dress creates a terrible case of Massive Tracts of Bust.

    And the large collar of the shirt, paired with the already problematic overlapping bodice conspires with her untidy hair to draw attention to her less than slender neck and well formed chin. Robertine wasn't an unattractive woman, but you wouldn't have known it from this outfit!

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  12. This wouldn't typically be my first choice for a favorite portrait, but she has her own characteristic charm and doesn't look like everyone else of the time. It looks as though she didn't want to give to much of an impression that she was probably wealthy. Its very natural. So I would say yay. Pluse, anything that made a woman's bosom look bigger was popular, if you haven't noticed LOL!

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  13. Just a fun fact. I was at le Louvre yesterday. It was my fourth time there(I'm from Paris, it's no big deal for me to go there ^^), but it's so big and there are many things to see you can't see everything. But I was happily surprise to come across this very painting, that I had never noticed, but which I had seen on the same morning on this blog. It was cool. And the painting is, of course, even better when you see it for real :)

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  14. How funny! Maybe it's a sign? You should play the lotto tonight

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  15. yay! and it shows of her "assets" rather nicely, too!

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  16. yay. it looks comfortable and clean. the dark rich color is absolutely dramatic in contrast with the fichu!

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  17. Oh nay! I like the dress, and I like her, but the combo?!

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  18. Yay for me.

    Love the casual pose, the composition, the detail of the draping, and the look of contentment on her face. A lovely portrait that seems to capture the personality of the sitter.

    Hair looks like it was the venue of a literal catfight, but i think it adds to the charm of this woman.

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  19. Nay. I agree with Sunny. The chemise and her hair and her face, with her pose, all seem to bunch up and look uncomfortable.

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