In the previous post, we mentioned Halloween costumes, but the spookiest night of the year has passed. Yet we can carry the theme forward, while re-shifting the attention on fashion by exploring what's considered the world's first "costume" book. Over ten costume books were created in Europe between 1550 and 1600, with François Desprez's Recueil de la diversité des habits, qui sont de present en usage, tant es pays d'Europe, Asie, Affrique et Isles sauuaiges, Le tout fait apres le naturel (Paris: Richard Breton; Download François Desprez_Recueil de la diversité des habits) leading the way.
Originally published in 1562 in Paris, this book's full title translates to "A Collection of the Various Styles of Clothing Presently Worn in the Countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Savage Isles."
The volume features 121 woodcut illustrations, each presenting a single figure in costume, accompanied by a descriptive, often humorous or satirical quatrain that comments on the attire of the person depicted. The figures represent diverse social classes, professions, and cultures, presenting a 16th-century European view of a rich world.
Desprez's work was inspired by the era's newfound fascination with cultural exchange, geography, and customs, as well as the growing interest in the unique clothing styles and customs from far-off lands.
Rather than serving strictly as a fashion book, this collection functions as an anthropological atlas, exploring identities, occupations, and social hierarchies. At the same time this is not a precise travelogue, rather, it's a blend of reality and imagination. Among the Spanish, Turkish, and Tartar figures, and the various scholars, peasants, soldiers, and merchants, we also encounter indeed fantastical monsters, like droopy-eared Cyclopes and creatures called "sea bishop" and "sea monk," with fish or octopus-like features.
The book holds a significant place in art and fashion history for several reasons. It combines François Desprez's precise, meticulous illustrations with exaggerated silhouettes, a satirical tone, and pointed commentary on clothing and professions.
Although this wasn't intended as a purely fashion-focused book, it offers valuable inspiration for fashion students exploring bold silhouettes and volumes, or details like sleeves. For instance, the mourning attire from Flanders and Bayonne envelops the wearer in a dark, cocoon-like form, while a woman heading to mass is draped in a grand, architectural cape reminiscent of ecclesiastical robes, but also evoking the solidity of church buildings.
There is something to keep in mind, though: Desprez's Recueil de la Diversité des Habits also reflects certain racial stereotypes and biases.
His portrayals of figures from the Ottoman Empire, Africa, and Asia often emphasize physical and cultural differences through exaggerated features or clothing styles, underscoring their "otherness."
This approach entertained European audiences and reinforced cultural hierarchies, presenting European norms as superior. The accompanying satirical commentary sometimes also took on a xenophobic tone, where curiosity about foreign cultures was tinged with suspicion.
For example, Desprez describes some styles as "curieux," meaning "curious" or "unusual," highlighting those attires that may have deemed as exotic or strange to a French audience of the 16th century. This term reflects both a fascination with foreign styles and a tendency to view them as novelties outside the European standard.
Desprez also criticizes the French, noting in his description of a German woman's attire that, while hers remains unchanged, the French constantly seek new styles, "changing them as often as the wind itself ("L'habit est tel de la femme allemande et point ne change ainsi que nous fouver, car le Français nouveaux habits demande, en les muant ainsi comme le vent même" - The attire is as it is for the German woman and does not change...while the French constantly ask for new outfits, changing them as often as the wind itself).
So, while Recueil is a valuable historical document and a glimpse into 16th-century costume books, it's best approached with a critical eye, acknowledging both its contributions to fashion history and its limits in the embedded cultural biases. If you're a fashion student, use it therefore as an educational tool that may help developing new studies on exaggerated silhouettes.
Last but not least, remember that this is a rare book: over ten years ago, a copy auctioned at Christie's fetched $30,000. So, if you ever happen upon a copy, keep in mind its value.
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