He’s one of England’s most famous diary-keepers, but Samuel Pepys had a secret love of French fashion, a new study claims.
Fancy garments were the diarist’s ‘guilty pleasure’, a University of Cambridge academic claims, citing a collection of French fashion prints that he owned.
But at a time when the English suffered a ‘moral crisis’ over the influence of French culture, Pepys ‘suffered internal conflict’ over his love for the Paris style.
Pepys (1633-1703), the son of a tailor, was a famous English diarist who served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament.
But his famous diary reveals him as a corrupt official and a serial womaniser – even a sex offender by modern standards.
Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), the famous English diarist and naval administrator, had a penchant for fancy French clothes – although he described a fellow France-loving Englishman as ‘an absolute monsieur’
Fancy French garments were the diarist’s ‘guilty pleasure’, an academic claims, citing a collection of French fashion prints that he owned. Pictured, , Habit de Ville, c. 1670, etching
The new study – which publishes eight of Pepys’ fashion prints for the first time – was conducted by University of Cambridge historian and PhD candidate Marlo Avidon.
‘There was certainly some indication in the diary that Pepys was interested in French clothing, though this fascination has never been the subject of dedicated study,’ she told MailOnline.
‘He described multiple instances in the diary where acquaintances returned from a trip aboard to France with an affected manner of speech, behaviour, and appearance, even calling one “an absolute monsieur.”‘
Most of what we know about Pepys comes from the diary that he kept for almost a decade, from 1660 to 1669, during his late 20s and 30s.
In it, he wrote about everything from his sexual encounters with women to parmesan cheese and the Great Fire of London, which he witnessed first-hand.
But the fact he stopped his diary in 1669 – due to fears over losing his eyesight – means we know comparatively little about the second half of his life.
During this later period, Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty in 1673 and was first elected as an MP in 1679.
To learn more, Ms Avidon studied Pepys’ private collection of fashion prints in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Pepys had been a student.
Printed between 1670 and 1696, the etchings suggest the owner was a fan of lace cuffs, ribbons and elaborate accessories including masks, wigs and fans.
‘As his failing eyesight made continuing the diary impossible, the prints suggest that he remained engrossed with the current trends,’ Ms Avidon said.
‘They constitute a visual continuation of his writing, warranting comparison between the two as evidence of his upwards mobility and sustained interests.’
The new study in the journal The Seventeenth Century publishes eight of Pepys’ fashion prints for the first time
Ms Avidon studied Pepys’ private collection of fashion prints in the Pepys Library (pictured) at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where the diarist had been a student
Pepys never shook off his worries about dressing inappropriately, making a fashion faux pas, or the moral dilemma of wearing designs imported from France, claims Ms Avidon – but he ‘had some conflicting feelings towards these styles’.
This was a time when French clothes were often viewed in England as scandalously excessive as they combined luxury silks with over-the-top trim and lace.
‘There was concern about the relationship Charles II was fostering with the Catholic French King Louis XIV and about growing French influence on English culture,’ she added.
One print from Pepys’ collection shows a female model wearing a black mask and a negligée that likely resembled an outfit he bought for his wife Elizabeth (whose father was French).
Meanwhile, another shows a model wearing an elaborate riding habit holding a feathered hat and riding crop.
Yet another has a woman in winter attire, including a tall ‘fontage’ headdress, named after one of Louis XIV’s mistresses.
French clothes were often viewed in England as scandalously excessive as they combined luxury silks with over-the-top trim and lace
There are already some references to frilly frocks in his diary, which Ms Avidon has linked with some of the attire depicted in the fashion prints.
In 1669, Pepys wrote that he was ‘afeared to be seen’ in a summer suit he had just bought ‘because it was too fine with the gold lace at the hands’.
Finally he plucked up the courage to wear it in public but a socially superior colleague spotted him in the park and told him the sleeves were above his station.
Pepys decided ‘never to appear in court’ with the sleeves and made a tailor cut them off, ‘as it is fit I should’.
He went on to buy a print entitled ‘Habit Noir’ (evening wear) which shows an elite Frenchman proudly showing off very similar lace cuffs and dangling ribbons.
Pepys also described an occasion where he went with Elizabeth to a shop in Covent Garden known for selling French accessories run by a family called the Cherett’s.
‘What we can learn from Pepys’ writing is that he maintained a regular relationship with a number of French merchants, who sent him prints as well as clothing items for him and his wife, Elizabeth,’ Ms Avidon told MailOnline.
There are already some references to frilly frocks in his diary, which the academic has linked with some of the attire depicted in the fashion prints
‘A particularly noteworthy moment in the diary is when his wife wears her new French gown called a “sac”, which Pepys finds incredibly flattering.’
Sadly, Elizabeth died in 1669, aged just 29, shortly before Pepys started collecting his fashion prints.
References in Pepys’ diary suggest that Elizabeth was interested in prints herself and Ms Avidon believes that she influenced what Pepys went on to collect.
After her death, Pepys soon employed a teenage housekeeper, Mary Skinner, who swiftly became his mistress – but he never remarried and died in 1703 at the age of 70.
2024 marks the 300th anniversary of Magdalene College acquiring Pepys’ private library including his original diaries.
The study has been published today in the journal The Seventeenth Century.