[madameshawshank]

ok Griffin ..have started the new topic as you've suggested..with title you've suggested...'n thanks nima..should be fun
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"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

[Griffin]

Madame,

Those little leaves like golden fans - probably in case some lady came to visit and had forgot her own...

The ruffle... On the shirt front, not the cravat and would once have been lace, which was very expensive and like the 'bling' around today. If you get the chance, go and look at a costume collection in a museum. If they have 18th century menswear you'll see just how fabulous menswear used to be... embroidered waistcoats and large coat cuffs with big buttons.

The coat buttons were all kinds: wood, metal and enamel, wood covered in hand embroidered fabric, even Wedgwood made ceramic buttons. For the cutaway coat in any case buttons were more ornament than useful.

The buttonholes were stitched by hand and, to go forward quite some way - women were employed in the couture houses because they were thought to be able to do more delicate work on certain things. One couturier called his women employees who did this work his fairies because of the fine and intricate work they did.

Notice also the collar on the coat. This was made in what in Britain was the Regency period - the early 1800s. This coat is clearly from the late 18th/early 19th century. The 18th century coat didn't have a collar. Conventional wisdom (and I used to think this too) says this was because if a man tipped his head back his periwig would have fallen over his face! But apparently that's not the case.

I love the doorway, looks like something out of Lord of the Rings! The gorgeous pink stone is just so warm in contrast to the grey of the pigeons and the door.
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Confusion comes fitted as standard.