Lithograph, Incroyables and Merveilleuses, 1794

This image depicts examples of Les Incroyables and their female versions, Les Merveilleuses. They were members of the French Directory after the Revolution who were known for their out-of-the-ordinary fashion. The Incroyables and Merveilleuses tended to be the wealthy and ruling class at the time and not only set trends for fashion, but also heavily influenced politics and the courts at the time. The fashion trends they set tended to be over the top and exaggerated, hence the names. Other French people at the time often made fun of their odd-looking dress by calling them Incoyables et meveilleuses, saying the names without the R because of how the ruling class’s accent made them sound.

The male is wearing a bicorn hat with long hair that comes down over his ears. This hairstyle was known as “Orielle de Chiennes” or dog ears. He is also wearing a jacket with extremely wide lapels and a very large necktie both of which would be common for their excessive style. The male appears to also be carrying a stick of some sort; apparently Incroyables would often carry short bludgeons or canes which they would refer to as their “Executive power”.

The female is wearing a lightweight dress. At this time, the Merveilleuses were heavily influenced by Greek and Roman fashion, and their dresses reflected antique style.

The hairstyles also imitated ancient Greek and Roman styles with short curls on the sides. Finally, this French woman is wearing a poke bonnet with an enormous brim trimmed with red ribbons. This particular fashion plate originally designed by Vernet shows the flamboyant style that the Incroyables et Merveilleuses would be seen wearing and shows off many of the articles of clothing and garments that these wealthy French elites enjoyed at the time.

References

Carle Vernet. Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_plate.

Les Incroyables by Carle Vernet – Antique Fashion Engraving. Village Antiques. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.villageantiques.ch/les-incroyables-antique-fashion-engraving/.