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TheUn-CorsetedBody
19
Thedressrejectedthedominantaimsandpracticesofmainstreamfashion,
whichhelpedtodefineitsoppositionalrole.Indeed,Pre-Raphaeliteclothing
formedachallengetotheconstrainingandregressiveaspectsofVictorian
fashionabledress,butthepointisthatitwasnotachallengeattestingtoits
modernity.CertainlythePre-Raphaelitedresswasapowerfulvisualexpression
ofaculturalcritique,butitsaimwashardlyprogressive.Thedresscanbeviewed
asaresponsetomodernfashionandculture;moreimportantly,however,it
clearlyexpressedvisual,moralandsocialanti-modernism,throughavalorisation
ofmedievalaestheticsaswellaspastsocialvalues.
Tostartwith,althoughtheartisticexpressionofthewoman’sbodyasnatural
andunrestrained,andthusexpressiveofmobility,individualityandsexuality,
wascounter-conservativeandstrikinglymodern,thePre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood
artistsreachedouttomedievalandearly-RenaissanceItalianartforhowto
clothethevitalityofthewoman’sbody.AnearlyreferencetoPre-Raphaelite
DresswasmadebyMaryElizaHaweisinherTheArtofDress(1879):“the
clothinginquestionreferenceshistoriccostumefromroughlyspeaking,the
periodofEdwardIII’sreign,from1327to1377”.Personallettersoftheartists
18
suggestthatCamilleBonnard’sCostumeHistorique(1829-30)wasanimportant
Pre-Raphaelitesourcebookusedasthebasisformediaevalcostumesintheir
paintingsanddrawings,especiallythoseofthe1848-50period.
19
Theartistic
dressthatthemodelsworewastheneitheranexactcopyofahistoricalcostume
orakindofhistoricizedtimelessdress.Unconventionalpre-industrialhalf-tinted
colours(indigo,salmon,sage-green,terracottaandambergold)producedfrom
vegetabledyescharacterizedPre-Raphaelitedress.Italsoreflectedmedieval-
inspireddetails,suchashand-madeneedlework,patternsderivedfromnature,
andfabricmadeofhand-woventextilesprintedbyhand-blocks.Thesefeatures
reflectedthephilosophicaloriginsofaPre-Raphaeliteapproachtoartand
culture:itvaluedthehand-madeoverthemachine-made,theone-of-thekind
overthemass-produced.Itisclear,thus,thattheartistslookedtopre-modern
dressforinspirationonhowtocombatmodernartandculturemarkedbythe
artificeofthemachine,thecounter-individualiststandardsofmassproduction,
andtheoppressiveregimesoffashion’sconventions.
IncontrastwiththeBrotherhood’srebellionagainstindustrialisationandthe
artestablishment,thefundamentalvaluesarticulatedinPre-Raphaeliteimages
conformedto,andconfirmed,themainstreamsocialviewsoftheperiod,and
Britain1848-1900.Ph.D.thesis,UniversityofGlasgow,2012,p.42:www.theses.gla.
ac.uk/3279/.
18
MaryElizaHaweis.TheArtofDress.London1879,p.99.
19
RogerSmith.“Bonnard’sCostumeHistorique-aPre-RaphaeliteSourceBook”.
Costume,vol.7(1973),p.28.
