Evening dresses, 1810′s From the exhibition "An Agreeable Tyrant: Fashion After the Revolution" at the DAR Museum

Court dress, 1820 :: Fashion Plate Collection

The 18th century was a century of great shifts in political and social thinking. In the beginning of the century, Europe was still dominated by the idea that monarchs were "chosen by God", and this was their true belief. This idea was so prevelant, that priests and clergymen were often present at the birth of royals in order to ordain their souls as sacrosanct to god and their "chosen position". This idea begins to fall apart with the Age of Enlightenment, an era from the 1650s to the 1780s…

Artist/maker unknown, American

by Susan Jarrett The Romantic period derives its name from Romanticism- a term used to describe a movement in art, literature, and music that valued freedom of expression. Romanticism began in…

Fashion Plate, ‘Dinner Dress’ for ‘The Repository of Arts’, Rudolph Ackermann (England, London, 1764-1834), England, London, April 1, 1825, Prints, Hand-colored engraving on paper.