Buckles [ Clothing & Fashion ]
… the mid-century, one commentator noted that ‘they began to increase in size, their designs displayed a greater degree of taste, and their workmanship a greater degree of elegance’. 3 The metal ring could be adorned with jewels and decorative … buckles’ size and extravagance. The ‘Artois’ buckles were named after the Comte D’Artois, who was known for his lavish tastes. These huge buckles could be wider than the shoe they were fastening, so were heavy and impractical, but certainly … eighteenth-century sociability lies in their visibility at social occasions, where they served to project the wealth and taste of their wearer. The fact that the wearer might in fact be less wealthy than they appeared from their buckles only …
Consumption | Dance | Shoes
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