Habit of a Lady of the City of Milan

by Thomas Jefferys

Thomas Jefferys' remarkable engraving provides a rare insight into the elegant dress codes of Northern Italy during the 18th century. Titled "Habit of a Lady of the City of Milan," the print becomes an essential document in the history of fashion, marking the shift from the grandiose Baroque styles to the more elegant and tailored garments of the middle 1700s.

The Milanese woman appears in her dignified manner, far from the theatrical style of court fashion at Versailles. Instead, the garment embodies the noble class of Milan, which, like today, was renowned for its textile industry in Europe.