Yohji Yamamoto 2011 collection

This collection has a clear 18th century influence but has a more slovenly look. This could be quite a good look for charles, as i imagine him and Careless quite crumpled and slovenly.

Tim Walker Photography

One of Tim walkers Photo shoots taken last year showed a clear 18th century influence on the couture dresses, the mixture of couture and 18th century styles is really interesting and useful for this project.

Moustache and Beard Championships

To further exaggerate their animalistic qualities, facial hair could be used to create shapes and exaggerate features. These photographs are from the World Mustache and Beard Championships

Probably not as extreme as these beards, but its interesting to see the shapes that are possible to create.

The Duchess

Similarly to Marie Antoinette this film follows the life of Georgianna Duchess of Devonshire throughout her life beginning from her marriage, so it shows the 1770s but also the fashions before and after that time.

Alexander McQueen Womenswear Collections 2012 and 2013

Spring 2012;

In the spring 2012 collection the jacket tailoring is interesting, and slightly 18th century esque, i epseically like the idea of the low front jacket showing a bra underneath, this could possibly work on a character such as lady Sneerwell or Lady Teazle

It also has some dresses that have pleats or structure to exaggerate the hips in a similar way to the panniers of the 18th century, perhaps instead of having full panniers they could just have these exaggerated pleats.

Fall 2012;

Similarly to Spring 2012, this collection also has the large exaggerated pleating in the skirt

I was thinking of making Mrs Candour a Sheep, so these large fluffy dresses could work to create the over the top fluffy frilly natu re of her character.

Spring 2013;


Similar structured hips within the Spring 2013 collection as well as exaggerated waists and corsetry. The jackets also remind me a bit of pet en lairs, perhaps they could be worn over historical skirts.

Alexander McQueen menswear collection 2013

Alexander Mcqueens menswear collections over the past year will serve as good inspiration, in the fall 2013 collection the interesting tailoring and patterns could be quite interesting on some of the male characters. Perhaps Charles could have some interesting patterns on his clothes to illustrate his extravagent and outragous nature

Mens Fashion 1770s

Mens fashion consisted of the tradition coat, waistcoat and breeches, however changes were seen in the fabric and the cut of the garments. Under new enthusiasm for country pursuits the elaborate dress was simplified, similarly to the new fashion for Chemise De la Reine in woman's fashion, gradually giving way to very tailored woolen garments.

The skirts of the coat narrowed from the previous period, waistcoats lengthened to mid thigh and then after the 1770s began to shorten again. A coat with a wide collar called a frock coat was worn for hunting and other country pursuits. Breeches were knee length and snugly fited. They were worn with low heeled shoes fastened with buckles and silk or woolen stockings. Boots were also worn for riding.

Robe à la polonaise

The Robe a la Polanaise was a womans garment from the 1770s, consisting of a hitched up skirt worn over a petticoat or underskirt.

The style began when middle class women adopted various methods of gathering up their skirts to avoid the muck and dirt of the streets, the polonaise was a fashionable romanticised variation of this.

Marie Anntoinette Film

The film Marie Anntoinette, directed by Sophia Coppola and released in 2006, follows the life of Marie Antoinette from the age of 15 when she is first married to the Dauphin of France to the French Revolution. While the film starts earlier that the 1770s, the french revolution was in1789, so the film does show the 1770s aswell. The Dresses and costumes in this film are absolutley beatiful, with an interesting colour pallette (the costume designer Milena Canonero has said that they used a box of sweets as the colour inspiration). The costumes are slightly stylised so may not be 100% accurate, however on the whole i think the structure and the silloutte are about right if the fabrics and decorations are sometimes stylised.

She wears quite a few lovely hitched up Polanaise dresses in the film

I also like this 'Zone Front' Style of dress that she begins wearing later on in the film, i am not sure if this style of dress is possibly later than the 1770s, but i could probably still use it as inspiration for my designs.

The costumes and actors from Marie Antoinette were also used in a beautiful photo shoot for vogue magazine. This is my favourite shot of the group,

Mode in costume

This book is quite old, and therefore may not be completley up to date with what we know they wore in the 18th centruy, but the illustrations are pretty and clear and it illustrates both male and female fashion. The only downside is that for this time is shows only the fashion from France, which would be slightly different from that in england. However, although fashion may have been slightly different most people would have been trying to keep up with the french fashions as that was meant to be the most fashionable place, so perhaps the illustrations would still be useful.