Michel Martin Drolling wears a double-breasted tail coat with turned-back cuffs and a matching high collar of velvet (or possibly fur). Note that, while the man’s obvious wasp-like torso is not overly emphasized in a caricature-like fashion, as was often the case in male fashion plates of the day, there is a definite and deliberate nipping of the waist. It is highly likely that the sitter in this portrait wore some sort of tight-laced corset or similar undergarment. The coat-sleeves are puffed at the shoulder. He wears a white waistcoat, shirt, and cravat, and light-colored pantaloons, 1819.
