Incroyable et Merveilleuse

Incroyable et Merveilleuse was a set of 33 engravings, published in 1814 , depicting extremely fashionable French men and women. They were engraved by George-Jacques Gatine after drawings by Horace Vernet and Louis-Marie Lanté. Whilst most fashion plates were on a small scale, designed to fit in women's magazines such as the Journal des Dames (which Gatine contributed to), the Incroyable et Merveilleuse plates were on a grander scale, designed for print collectors. Gatine's fashion engravings, particularly the Incroyable et Merveilleuse series, are now considered some of the finest records of French fashion of this period.

The Incroyable et Merveilleuse plates are particularly valuable as a record of men's fashion. This image shows a man in a blue cut-away coat over a pink and yellow striped waistcoat cut high to the neck, with the neckcloth ties extending over the waistcoat. He wears very tight, knitted pantaloons which cling to his legs and reveal his musclature, and Hussar boots with the typical tasselled fronts. His high-crowned hat, which the caption describes as a Robinson, is not quite a top-hat, but reflects a transitional form between the top-hat and the high-crowned hat popular in the late 18th century. A spyglass is attached to one lapel by a black ribbon. His hair, which is worn long in natural waves, is described as child-like in the caption.