Habits of English Ladies in 1735

by Thomas Jefferys

This copperplate engraving from 1735 produced by Thomas Jefferys provides an important ethnographic picture of British society in the middle of the eighteenth century. Far from being simply a fashionable illustration, it reflects the behavioral semiotics of English gentlewomen, which marks their transition from Baroque style to the influence of Rococo.

These women are examples of the "Habits" of that age when the term "habit" signified not only clothing but also established modes of behavior. The women are represented wearing the elegant garments of the Pre-Victorian age with its characteristic mantua, fichu, and fan as an integral element of body language. The exacting lines of the engraving reveal the straight-backed position forced on the body due to the practice of stay making of that age, thus symbolizing the importance of rectitude.