A Study on the Aesthetics of Rococo Style in 18th Century Women’s Costume

The spirit and art style of a given period have a close relationship with various aspects of cultural phenomena including costumes. The beauty of a costume was influenced by a prevailing art style of the period. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between the aesthetic characteristics of the Rococo style (aesthetic characteristics of the Rococo period expressed in architecture, interior decoration, painting) and the aesthetic characteristics of the 18th-century women’s costumes. Aesthetic characteristics of the Rococo art style in the 18th-century are described in terms of elegant beauty, feminine beauty, sensual beauty, artistic beauty and exotic beauty. First, the elegant beauty can be found in the interior decoration of Rococo architecture. These are also manifested in the women’s costumes with, curvaceousness, flower, and rich decoration (such as ribbon, lace, ruffle), using pastel-tone color and light silk. Second, feminine beauty can be found in a delicate, feminine curve in the indoor space of Rococo architecture and women’s costumes. Third, sensual beauty was manifested in erotic paintings, where females were expressed enchantingly. Female robe has a deeply furrow forms to expose the chest with petticoat showy decorated. Fourth, the artistic beauty can be seen in interior decoration harmonized by sculptures, paintings, and curvaceous plaster. Women’s costume was decorated elegantly with ribbon, frill, lace, ruffle and flower, Lastly, exotic beauty was manifested in Chinese style pattern utilized in the design of interior decoration, earthenware, and textile. Robes were produced by printing oriental pattern on cotton fabric and silk.