Suit
Unknown Artist
late 18th century
Medium
silk, cotton
Classification
Suit
Culture
French
Department
Costume Institute
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of International Business Machines Corporation, 1960
Accession Number
C.I.60.22.7a, b
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent world of late 18th-century France with this elegant *Suit* from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.ed during the final decades of the Ancien Régime, just before the French Revolution upended social norms, this garment reflects the refined formality of aristocratic menswear. French fashion at the time emphasized tailored silhouettes, with silk as a hallmark of luxury produced in renowned centers like Lyon, symbolizing wealth and status. Made from a combination of silk and cotton the suit showcases the era's innovative textile blending—silk for its shimmeri...