In my recent study of Gillray’s prints, I revisited Les Invisibles (c. 1810). This print explores French Empire inspired fashions satirically, exposing the strange Francophilia still rampant in England despite ongoing conflict between the two nations.
Gillray, J., Grego, J., Wright, T. (1873). The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; with the History of His Life and Times [by J. Grego].. United Kingdom: Chatto and Windus.
As is shared in the Victorian source above, the title is referencing how all the faces are hidden by bonnets and collars. The poke bonnet was often called in France les invisibles, because it hid the face.
Gillray was said to have been inspired, or copied, the image from a French version, no doubt being very tongue-in-cheek about doing so.
The poke bonnet reminds me of other styles of women’s headwear that hide their faces and hair, both religious and not, but Gillray’s print does not seem to take a gendered look at this style of fashion because he includes the gentlemen, too. The homogeneity and almost anonymity affected by the fashion is interesting to contemplate, particularly within the context of 1810s, as Britain entered a turbulent decade at home and abroad.
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