Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun paints Madame Le Couteulx de Molay (1788) in a black velvet reddingote and striped skirt. Yay or Nay?
[Musée Nissim de Camondo]
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Yay or Nay? Madame Le Couteulx de Molay
We came back from our Nay with a big Yay for Anna Karolina Orzelska . Not everyone was sold her accessories, but her dress was a big win. I personally love the 18th century walking stick, and as someone pointed out, the accessory was a good match to Anna Karolina's personality. This week we're going to skip a few decades and land back into the 80's.
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun paints Madame Le Couteulx de Molay (1788) in a black velvet reddingote and striped skirt. Yay or Nay?
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun paints Madame Le Couteulx de Molay (1788) in a black velvet reddingote and striped skirt. Yay or Nay?
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This earns a bit YAY from me. I simply love the sripes, although I am not a stripe lover :) and I simply adore the hat.
ReplyDeleteActually, I like it a lot! Then again, I am a sucker for stripes. It's sort of reminds me of a pirate look. It's fun, I like the the colors and stripes, and still feminine. I might be the only one, but I love it. Yay.:P
ReplyDelete1988 huh?
ReplyDeleteI love it, but I am a little WTF about the hat/veil. But the striped skirt and the absolutely killer red velvet frock coat win it a big Yay from me as well.
ReplyDeleteI liked it a lot more before I read your description and realized I was looking at black and not brown as I had first thought. Also not fond of the way her veil is swept directly back over her chapeau, but overall I still give her a Yay.
ReplyDelete~Lylassandra
... Just a little addition about that hat, albeit delayed. It's odd, because I would've liked the hat well enough as a veil alone, or (and preferably) absolutely adored it as the hat alone. Together it's a bit funky, but I can handle its oddities. The dress and coat though, is just awesome, I want a set.
ReplyDeleteI agree the hat is trying to be two things at once and it doesn't work; but I love the stripes and reddingote. Very elegant! Wouldn't mind having that in my closet. :)
ReplyDeleteYay.
I love the stripes and the redingote. Very elegante! The hat is gorgeous and the veil works in the picture but I might not hit the street in it. I suspect it's a 'best for posing thing'. But is there a sash around her waist? I 'm not sure it was a good idea with the redingote.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, big yay!
Yay! I'm not overly fond of the teased and powdered hairstyles of the era, but I adore the clothes (and hats!). And the contrast between the stripes and the velvet is practically perfect; the colors and textures both pop, but neither one overpowers the other.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, unequivocally YAY on the outfit but really, I am just not a huge fan of the hair and hat either. It's too bad a top hat came later. A modified one would look ever so smart with this outfit.
ReplyDeleteps: I sent you an email...
A yay from me, I like the stripes - but particularly love the tight velvet frock coat thing with the lace, very nice.
ReplyDeleteBig Yay from me, love the warm colors. The hat may be in the Turkish style. And Points to the artists for rendering bodily porportions correctly. Retro
ReplyDeleteVery classy! I'd wear it.
ReplyDeleteI met one of Elizabeth Vigee LeBrun's 7 or 8 times (I think!!) great granddaughter living right here in Florida! Most people thought I was nuts to be so excited about that! Oh well...the things this painter must have seen and heard in her day boggle the mind.
I would totally wear that outfit to work tomorrow if I could---minus the veil. There is something about a black velvet fitted jacket and stripes. Awesome and a big Yay from me.
ReplyDeleteNot too fond of the hat, but I love stripes, and I love red and gold. Yay!
ReplyDeleteI would wear that hat. I give it yay.
ReplyDeleteI like the stripes but I think each piece is just kinda odd. But then again, somehow that mess works so YAY.
ReplyDeleteOooh...this is a hard one. I love the gown with its striped skirt, but not with the sash and jacket. And I love the jacket, just not with the skirt. And the hat...well...it just isn't fab. It might still be a Yay, except that the colours are just wrong on Madame. She should never wear red and gold with her skin! So Nay, for a lot of lovely elements combined badly and worn by the wrong person.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Can I nag about one of my English peeves? Wood is stripped once you take the varnish off of it. Skirts are striped when they have alternating lines on them. ;-)
Thanks for the catch. I made a lot of typos on this post! Ay-yi-yi
ReplyDeleteI like it overall. I think she should have nixed the veil (the hat is enough!), but I think the veil is there so her silhouette can be seen. It would be hard to see without the veil considering the color of her reddingote and the background color.
ReplyDeleteYay! It's simple yet pretty and I adore the striped taffeta!
ReplyDeletewww.the18thcenturyblog.blogspot.com
Yay! I fell in love with this painting when I came face to face with it in the museum. I too at first thought that the veil was an accessory put on especially for the painting, Vigée Lebrun being fond of drapery, but then I discovered that the Magasin des Modes Nouvelles for 1788 is full of these headdresses with veils. It really was the fashionable thing just then.
ReplyDeleteYay! I love it--black, red and white never go out of style and it's a bold color statement. And the texture of the velvet against the shimmer of the taffeta is divine.
ReplyDeleteOh a definite Yay from me. Love the stripes, so very in at the moment. Its a very frivolous outfit and I like it for that exact reason. Not too crazy on the large quantities of lace at the throat though.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Yay! Sans reservations
ReplyDeleteI think she'd fit quite comfortably on the back of a box of Amaretti biscuits, to the left of the writing that explains the story behind its creation (in the 18th century, according to Wikipedia).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, despite her skirts looking like glorified Christmas wrapping paper, it's a yay from me.
The dress is nice, but I hate that hat - so much, that I will give a NAY!
ReplyDeleteI love it-Yay!!
ReplyDeleteReally like the velvet!!
ReplyDeleteYay! I like it! :)
ReplyDeleteyay yay yay!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this outfit, the colors are gorgeous, the stripes are stunning, and ... yeah, I think I'd go sans veil, but I even love how it's flecked with gold through it. I'd definitely wear this if I could!!
ReplyDelete