Frogonard, The Swing c. 1767 — Frogonard, *The Swing* c. 1767

Time Line: 1600-1789

1599: East India Trading Company forms to import spices, cotton goods, and dyes from Far East

1603: Queen Elizabeth I dies

1606: Rembrandt is born

1610: Louis XII inherits the French Throne

1625: Beginning of the reign of Charles I

1641: Beginning of first English Civil War

1643: Beginning of the Reign of Louis XIV

1648: 30 Years War ended

1649: Beginning of the Reign of Charles II

1651: English Civil War ends along with the reign of Charles II

1653: End of First British Commonwealth

1660: Restoration of English Monarchy

1667: Marriage of William III and Mary II

1669: Louis XIV expands the Palace at Versailles. Rembrandt dies.

1682: The court of France officially moves to Versailles

1684: Jean-Antoine Wattaeu is bron

1685: J. S. Bach is born

1688: Beginning of the Reign of William III and Mary II

1689: Toleration Act

1694: Reign of William III and Mary II ends. Voltaire is born.

1715: End of Reign of Louis XIV

1721: Jean-Antoine Wattaeu dies

1732: Jean-Honoré Fragonard is born

1733: The Flying Shuttle is invented by John Kay

1742: Cotton Mills opened in England

1745: Madame de Pompadour becomes Louis XV’s chief mistress

1755: Marie Antoinette is born

1763: The Seven Years War begins

1764: The Spinning Jenny was invented by James Hargreaves and the Water Frame is invented by Richard Arkwright

1765: Louis XV dies

1769: Arkwright Patented the Water Frame

1770: Hargreaves patented the Spinning Jenny

1772: Rose Bertin is introduced to Marie Antoinette

1773: First all-cotton textiles were produced

1774: Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are married

1778: Voltaire dies

1779: The Spinning Mule was invented by Samuel Crompton

1785: Edmund Cartwright patented the power loom

1787: Cotton production has increased by 10 times since 1770

1789: Samuel Slater brought textile machinery to the USA. The French Revolution begins with 900 workers storming Bastille Prison.

1790: First Steam Powered textile factory

1792: The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli Whitney

1793: Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI are executed

Figure 1, John Baptist de Monginot by Hyacinthe Rigaud c. 1688

Figure 2, Venetian Pleasures by Jean Antoine Wattaeu c. 1718

Figure 3, 'A Laundry Maid Ironing' by Henry Robert Morland c. 1765-82

Figure 5, Spoiled Child by Jean-Baptiste Greuze c. 1760s

Influence on Textiles and Fashion

One of the biggest influences on textile of the 17th century was the inception of the East India Company. The English and Dutch had been vying for control over the spice trade with the far East. In 1599, the East India Company was formed by a group of English merchants. In 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted them a monopoly on trade with England from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straights of Magellan. They began bringing goods back to England in 1615 which included imported cotton and indigo from India.

Chintz, was a hand painted or printed cotton which became extremely popular in Western Europe. It was imported via the East India Company from India. The merchants requested it to be printed or painted with imagined and “westernized” versions of the native designs. Some designs were also influence by Japan, even though it had been cut off from the rest of the world during the previous century. First used as table and bed linens by the end of the 17th century, chintz was in demand for clothing. Colorful Indian printed calicos made of cotton also became popular. Fine muslin from Bengal became enormously popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Cottons were durable, easy to wash, and decently comfortable for clothing. They were also expensive to purchase due to being an import and therefor highly desirable. Calicos and muslins were also imported. Calicos were fine quality printed cottons and muslins were very fine quality plain weave-cottons usually white with a design printed on the surface or no design at all. Trade prospered between England and India despite parliamentary laws prohibiting certain materials to protect domestic woolen trade There is little evidence however that they were strictly adhered to.

“…Petticoats were fairly straight garments made of cambric (plain weave, fine white, linen), dimity (usually cotton with a woven, lengthwise cord or figure), flannel (a soft wool with a napped surface), or calico. In winter, they were often quilted for warmth,” Totora. (p. 279).

Mob caps and pinners (circular caps with frills around the edges) were worn at home and made of crisp cotton organdy or linen. Lappet, lace trimmings, and streamers were all decoration which were employed on these indoor head coverings. These styles could also be worn under hats when going out of doors. (Totora p. 281)

Ladies gown styles included the mantua (late Baroque style c. 1715-30) robe volante (c.1715-30), the robe à la Française (Watteau back, c. 1730-60), and robe à la Anglaise (c. 1760). Eschelles were added to pinned in stomacher panels or bodices and made of silk ribbons, flowers, embroidery, and/or lace. The robe à la Polonaise (Polish style) came into fashion as the Rococo style faded into the pre-revolutionary war. It was inspired by the tucked-up garments of Polish peasants but highly stylized and even worn with fine lined or cotton aprons. These gowns were often made in printed or woven striped silks (satins and taffetas) or cottons and could have embroidered floral elements. Appropriate fabric choices are silk satins, in plain, wide striped damasks, brocade, or embroidered. The Robe à la Anglaise was often made in printed or painted cotton styles as well. An Eastern inspired style of dress was called the Levite and it featured a simplified silhouette with a sash style belt (Figure 9). Spotted Jacquard weaves in silk taffeta, either imported from the East, or made to mimic eastern styles, were often used to make these dresses. Velvets were utilized more heavily in the Baroque styles and used as gown material and men’s wear. They gradually became lighter in color and used mostly for Men’s coats in the Rococo period. Embroidered silk waist coats are an iconic essential for French men throughout this period. The English styles (in both men and woman) were much more austere and pastoral in comparison.

The colors of the Baroque are deeper golds, blues, greens, reds, and creams and neutrals. The colors of the Rococo are in contrast light to medium valued pinks, blues, yellow, purples, white, and creams. They have a “powdery” essence.

Industrialization began partly in the late Baroque period to mechanize looms and increase the ability to produce cotton in England. This meant new innovations for the loom. The flying shuttle, invented in 1733, carried the yarn automatically across the loom. This increase speed of weaving made a need for more yarn. While fully mechanized looms would have to wait for the 18th century, the spinning mule, spinning jenny, and Arkwright water-spinning frame were all developed by the end of the 18th Century to aid in yarn production. These inventions increased the speed of carding and spinning yarn. Consequently, the looms were becoming more expensive as they became more complex. The average weaver was male and wove out of his home. When looms became more expensive the weavers could no longer afford them and thus an industrialist would step in, buy several machines, and house them all together for many weavers to work upon. This was the advent of the factory set up and would be joined by on sight dyeing and processing operations as Industrialization charged forward.

Weavers in Europe could produce complex and beautiful patterns which were then sold to the American colonies. Only the wealthiest colonists could afford these imports. Cheaper, lower quality goods were available to the less well-off colonists. Many colonists spun and wove at home or traveled to do so in their respective neighborhoods. Rural Europeans spun and wove their simpler woolen and linen cloths as well.

Knitting was utilized to make stockings and many women knit at home both on needles and a knitting frame.

Sericulture had been cultivated in western Europe by this time so silks continued to be available. Lyons in France was one such location of European silk manufacture. The Religious prosecution of the Huguenots in France forced many silk weavers to leave France in 1685 and set up in England or elsewhere in Europe. Silk was also coming in from China. The advent of the water waterpower operated looms lead to greater silk production as well. Silk looms were particularly expensive and therefore also required outside funding to be affordable.

By the 18th century women were making dresses for women and men were tailoring for men. The lowers classes had their clothing made by the women in the family and were most likely rudimentary and functional. Ready-made clothing was available for purchase as well. Tortora says that, “In the country, women could obtain wool, spin, and weave or knit garments, but in town clothing had to be purchased for those on a small income prices were very high.” This made is very difficult for the poor in the cities to keep clothed.

All the increased commercialization and production or clothing plus the circulation of fashion via fashion dolls and engravings led to a greater speed in the changing of fashions than had ever before been experienced.

The consumer society was born in the 18th century. The merchants saw the impact on the consumer market from the East India imports and capitalized on the idea of supply and demand. A caveat is that fashion was also now available to a much wider audience that just the royals and elites.