Description from Rothstein, Natalie, ed. Four Hundred Years of Fashion. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1984. "Full dress suits of this type (which is probably French, 1790s) were worn for ceremonial occasions. The silk embroidery on the suit, mainly in satin stitch, is considered to be among the finest in the collection, and its design probably dates from the 1780s" (60). The terrible scan I have here, unfortunately, does not show off the glorious floral embroidery on this dress suit. Even the buttons have flowers embroidered on them! Many representations of these formal dress suits are held by museums. The Victoria and Albert Museum owned twenty-four of them from 1770-1800 in 1984! (Rothstein 56). Most formal suits like this are in dark colors, either solids or subtly patterned as seen in this suit. This sort of suit would be appropriate to wear to court.