 In the very late 18th century and for the first decade of the 19th, neoclassical gowns made of lightweight translucent muslin were fashionable.As the fabric clung to the body revealing what was beneath, it made nudity "à la grecque" a centrepiece of public spectacle.The concept of transparency in women's dress was often satirised by caricaturists of the day such as Isaac Cruikshank.