Sunday, August 7, 2011

Yay or Nay? Jacques Cathelineau

Week after week I've come to find out that I can't predict the outcome of our weekly selection.  So is the case of Mrs. Peale, who I assumed would have to simple a dress for everyone's taste.  I was wrong and Mrs. Peale earned a Yay.  This week, let's look at what handsome French war heroes were wearing.


Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson paints Jacques Cathelineau in his dashing outfit fit more for a pirate than soldier.  Yay or Nay?

[Musée d' Histoire et des Guerres de Vendee]

15 comments:

  1. OzorsanAugust 7, 2011 at 2:54 PM

    His jacket and waistcoat are fabulous, but the too-tight trousers (are they trousers?), his awkward pose (I expect his arm would have ached terribly when he sat for the painting) and the overload of items (crosses, guns, sashes, beads) are all rather off-putting. NAY

    Is it wearing a hat on his back? Why does his cloak look so bunched up behind him?

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  2. HeidenkindAugust 7, 2011 at 2:57 PM

    It's too much, and it's so randomly put together. I hate it! Nay!

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  3. Madame GuillotineAugust 7, 2011 at 3:06 PM

    I used to have SUCH a crush on Monsieur Cathelineau as a teenager until I discovered that he was actually an unattractive little peddler with a wife and six children. Oh woe. This doesn't detract from his bravery, bien sur, but um, well.

    Having said that, this painting gets a definite Yay from me. I love his outfit - there's something a bit Kasabian and almost steampunky about it.

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  4. CherylynnAugust 7, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    Oh yes.

    For sure this guy wasn't spending his days mincing through drawing rooms hence a wardrobe choice more appropriate for leading insurrections. It doesn't hurt that he has the look of a brooding poet as well.

    I think I have to give him a big Yay--regardless of what he's wearing!

    PS Madame guillotine's post just came up and I'm shattered! An unattractive peddler with a wife and six kids?! So much for that fantasy.

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  5. GrubStLodgerAugust 7, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    A big yay from me.
    I love it, all swashy and buckly and full of va va voom.

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  6. AnonymousAugust 7, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    Overly theatrical and busy and I love it! It's quite dashing. Yay, especially for that cheery necktie.

    ~Lylassandra

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  7. Amirak101August 7, 2011 at 6:05 PM

    Yay because he's a Revolutionary hero!!!!!Vive le France!!!

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  8. Lady MAugust 7, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    Quite sexy. Much more of a pirate than a solider. Yay!

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  9. Amirak101August 7, 2011 at 7:38 PM

    Oh he's not a revolutionary hero, he's counter-revolutionary. oh well

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  10. AnonymousAugust 7, 2011 at 9:00 PM

    Is he a dead war hero? That's a lovely cloak, but I envisage it getting all tangled up around him at the wrong moment. And what's with that plume? He has a plumed hood on his cape?
    Now if there were a lot less stuff wrapped around him, I would probably feel differently, but as it is, I vote Nay.

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  11. KatieAugust 7, 2011 at 9:19 PM

    I like it. Yay!

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  12. Retro BlogAugust 7, 2011 at 11:45 PM

    I give a resounding over done YAY except for the trousers that seem to depict that he dresses both right and left, how is that possible hmmm?

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  13. JuanAugust 8, 2011 at 3:42 AM

    I'm going to go with yay for the top half (minus the cloak, which is a bit much, I think). I have to agree that the trousers are a bit tight. I mean, I know they were designed to show off, but it doesn't always look good.

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  14. janicebAugust 9, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    Yay! Definitely a guy you would notice!

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  15. Talia FelixAugust 9, 2011 at 11:53 PM

    My God, I used to have a cape exactly like that, from Hot Topic.

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