The Romantic Fashion Spectrum ft some amis
This was basically made for the target demographic of me and @pilferingapples , your sources have been invaluable to me, thank you for always being there with additional information and I hope I captured some of whatever the hell was going on in late 20s/early 30s Romantic circles.
Non annotated version under the cut + sources and long rambling about my inspirations lmao. I’ve gotten really into this, you have been warned.
Prouvaire - The Medievalist
My main inspiration for Prouvaire's fit was this description from Graham Robb's Victor Hugo, in which he describes an outfit worn by one of Hugo's supporters to the opening night of his play Hernani in 1829:
One frightening specimen wore a broad-rimmed hat, pale green trousers with black velvet stripes, vast lapels and - after several sessions with a baffled tailor - a doublet, padded like a breastplate, in purplish-red satin. An important nuance. Bright red would have had a political connotation, whereas the doublet stood for pure, militant aestheticism. This was Théophile Gautier and his famous 'red waistcoat', which was neither red nor a waistcoat (waistcoats were bourgeois).
Genuinely one of the most insane outfit descriptions I've ever read and I knew I had to draw it. I looked at this post by Pilf for some photo references, mostly for the doublet (see below). I decided to go more red than purple because Prouvaire is actually a Republican unlike Gautier. I also added lapels to the doublet. I only realised after I'd drawn it that maybe the lapels were coming from a shirt he was wearing underneath. I also have no idea if 19th century medievalist would wear a cravat under his doublet. I opted to go without which does leave his neck scandalously bare but I'm going to call it a fashion statement.
For his hair and facial hair, I referenced the above portrait of Theophile Gautier from 1839, which is a little bit late but as far as I can tell he seemed to keep that severe side part for almost all of his life. I actually have no idea where the soul patch came from but the moustache is close enough. Prouvaire was the drawing I did first and also the one I like the least but he does undeniably look like a hot mess which is what I was aiming for so I'll take it.
Bahorel - The Bouzingot
I had come across the term bouzingo (or bousingo, I just picked one) before but I have to admit almost 100% of my references for Bahorel came from this other Pilf post, for more information go read that. I knew I needed to give Bahorel the iconic Republican scarlet waistcoat but I was also compelled by plaids starting to be in. I think Bahorel would be a pioneer in that regard. My main reference was the below illustration from George Sand's Horace but I also drew from the incredible Robespierre waistcoat as well (both found in Pilf's post). Though its possible I went a little hard on the lapels. I also think I accidentally made him look a little like the chad meme which makes me want to draw him next to Marius as the virgin Bonapartist vs chad Republican.
Courfeyrac - the dandy
I dithered over whether I should even use the term dandy because I have no idea if it was even commonly used in early 19C France but the Wikipedia page for dandy has a French fashion plate from 1831 which is good enough for me, I'm not getting paid for this. Apart from that, I was pretty well set up to draw a fashionable guy thanks to my main hobby of scrolling through the V&A's fashion plate archives. Though I do think he's kinda being outmogged by Bahorel, sorry Courfeyrac. My main direct reference was the guy on the right in the fashion plate below from 1832 (which I also used as pose references for all three men). I particularly liked the purple patterned waistcoat and I basically modelled everything else after that. There's no particular symbolism behind the jewel tones, I just think they look cool.
I also used the above illustration of Alexandre Dumas from 1829 which I'd been wanted to draw anyway. I mostly used his hair on Courfeyrac, it's an interesting example of how the popular style of the day (short but with lots of curl and volume) could have been achieved on afro textured hair. I also added his pocket watch and tried to emulate the looser fit his clothes have but I'm not sure how well I achieved it, I'm still working on rendering fabric properly. I also increased the lapel size because I have a problem.
In conclusion, I apologise for all the times I've called 19C men's fashion boring, Romantics I was unfamiliar with your game.
