Fontange
Afontange,orfrelange,is a high headdress popular during the turn of the late 17th and early 18th centuries inEurope.
Technically,fontangesare only part of the assembly, referring to the decorative ribbon bows, linen, and lace, and the small linen cap beneath[1]which support thefrelange.[2]The frelange was supported by a wire framework called acommode.[2]Along with hair being worn in tight curls of hair worn at the top of the head and the frills described, making up the fontange's elaborate decoration werelappetsdraping the side of the face or back of the wearer's head.[1]
Further, the term "fontange" is also used by some writers to refer to the associated hairstyle or the combination of headdress and hairstyle.[3]The 'fontange coiffure' was a hairstyle where the front of the hair was worn curled and piled high above the forehead in front of the frelange, which was always higher than the hair. Sometimes the hairstyle was supported by a wire framework called a pallisade.[4]
A surviving example of a frelange headdress with fontanges and commode in situ is that worn by the 1690s fashion doll Lady Clapham.[5][6]In England, the style was popularly known as a 'top-knot', versions of which were worn by ladies of all ranks, from the Queen downwards to kitchen maids, making it an easy target for satire and criticism.[5]
The fontange is said to be named for theDuchesse de Fontange,a mistress of KingLouis XIV of France.One version of the story is that after losing her cap while hunting with the King, the Marquise tied her hair up using a ribbon in a manner that pleased him, and this was imitated by the other ladies at court, subsequently spreading across Europe.[3]What started out as a simple headdress of folded ribbon in the 1680s became, with additional fabric,laceand trimmings, taller and more complex, increasingly difficult to create and wear.[5][7]Despite its courtly origins, fontanges were forbidden to be worn at French state occasions, although the English court accepted them, withQueen Maryhaving her portrait painted wearing one.[5][2]
The word fontange was later used to describe the edging and centre ribbon of a corsage, in about 1850.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abcCummings, Valerie; Cunnington, C. W.; Cunnington, P. E. (2017).The Dictionary of Fashion History(2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 112.
- ^abcMezzotint of Mary II of Englandin theVictoria & Albert Museumcollection
- ^abDefinition of 'fontange'at marquise.de
- ^White, Carolyn L. (2005).American artifacts of personal adornment, 1680-1820: a guide to identification and interpretation.Lanham, MD: Rowman Altamira. p. 111.ISBN0-7591-0589-8.
- ^abcdMcShane, Angela; Backhouse, Clare (2010), "Top-Knots and Lower Sorts: Print and Promiscuous Consumption in the 1690s", in Hunter, Michael (ed.),Printed Images in Early Modern Britain: Essays in Interpretation,Ashgate Publishing Ltd., pp. 337–358,ISBN978-0-7546-6654-7
- ^Lady Clapham's capin the Victoria & Albert Museum collection
- ^DeJean, Joan (2005).The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour.New York: Simon & Schuster. p.39.ISBN0-7432-6413-4.
