European costume

From the French Revolution to the Early Twentieth Century

The Revolutionary Period from 1789 – 1815

The clothing worn by Europeans during the seventeenth century
was influenced by fashion trends—rapid changes in style
influenced by trendsetters—as never before. During the course of
the century garments went from restrictive to comfortable and
back to restrictive again, and excessive ornament was both
stripped away and added back to clothing for both men and
women. While the very wealthy continued to determine the styles
that were most popular, political preferences and the rise of the
middle classes also began to have a significant influence on
fashion.

The trend towards an accelerated rate of change in fashion seen

in the 16th Century continued into the 17th Century. However the
17th Century is further complicated by a considerable
fragmentation of fashion in the West. Mainstream fashion reflected
sharpened divisions among Europeans in religion, nationality and
class that had been broadened by the wars of the Reformation and
by the "enclosure movement" (aka the early part of the
Agricultural Revolution).

So, for example members of various conservative sects of

Protestantism in this period develop "plain dress" (a style that in
greatly modified form is still worn by Amish and Mennonite people)
as a form of anti-fashion, and conservative clergy preach sermons
on the sinfulness of fine dress. Conservative Catholics at the
Spanish court, on the other hand keep wearing fashions from the
previous century well into the 17th Century.

Spanish courtiers at the wedding of Louis XIV of France to Maria

Therese, the daughter of the King of Spain, in the 1660's are
shown wearing stiffened Whisk collars and ruffs, and the poor
Infanta is trapped in a huge "French Farthingale" over 40 years
after the French dumped the fashion.

The dress of the poor is noticeably more ragged in this period, as

the "Beggar" engravings of Jacques Callot will attest, because in
many parts of Europe the peasantry were being displaced from
their homes in large numbers by either the numerous religious
wars of the period, or the Agricultural Revolution.

From ornamentation to elegance –

Fashions in the early seventeenth century continued the trends of
the previous century: men's doublets and women's bodices were
worn tight and stiffened with rigid stays or padding; women's
skirts were given full, rigid shapes with the help of farthingales, or
hoops; and the garments of both sexes were laden with
ornamentation, from jewelry to lace to the showiness of multiple
contrasting fabrics. By the 1620s, however, styles began to
change fairly dramatically. While the garments worn remained the
same, such as the doublet, breeches, and hose for men and long
gowns for women, the overall trend through the midcentury was
toward softness and comfort. To allow for easier movement,
waistlines on doublets and women's bodices rose higher, and the
padding on both doublets and bodices was removed. The starched
ruffs and whisks that once encircled the neck were replaced with
the softer, more comfortable falling and standing bands. Women's
sleeves began to rise, showing first the wrist and then the entire
forearm. With the exception of petticoat breeches, men's breeches
lost their bagginess and became slimmer and easier to move in.
People continued to value rich materials and exquisite design, but
they set aside the rigid formality of earlier years and didn't add
ornament for ornament's sake. Overall, the trend through the first
sixty years of the century was toward looseness, comfort, and
elegance.

Costume in Europe –

On the eve of outbreak of the French Revolution, English and

French modes were still preponderant on political events.

For the quarter-of-a-century which followed the French Revolution

created a new situation both in Europe, and between Europe and
rest of the world. Constitutional changes were brought about by
wars and invasions, economic circumstances were altered by new
conditions of production and exchange. All those changes
naturally precipitated new developments in European costume.

French influence –

These changes in fashion reflected the rising influence of France,

with its freer sense of style, and the shrinking influence of Spain,
with its stiff formality. French King Louis XIV (1638–1715), who
ruled from 1643 to 1715, helped make France the leading fashion
influence of the century. Louis believed that he could best lead his
country by setting an example of style and taste in everything from
architecture and furniture to food and fashion. He surrounded
himself with a huge court of officers and advisers and held
numerous lavish balls at which wealthy nobles competed to wear
the most tasteful and elegant clothes.

Louis's palace at Versailles became the center for French fashion.

At the same time, France became Europe's leading producer of
luxury goods. French cities led the production of silk, lace, and
brocade, and they aggressively exported these materials to other
countries, expanding their influence.

The political situation –

During the three successive phases of the French Revolution –

monarchical, republican and imperial – French progressive
conquests ensure a wider, readier distribution of her style through
the continental countries she occupied. England, who escaped the
occupation, spread her own modes to the rest of the world with the
aid of her sea power.

French style in continental countries benefited in turn from the

new regimes set up by the Revolution, as well as from the new
economic links and the propaganda for France. Even England and
the Scandinavian and south eastern countries were more or less
affected by this French expansion so that the evolution of
European costume does not, as we might expect, reflect the
division of Europe of two opposing camps.

Quickly changing fashions –

The powerful influence of French fashion and the conflicting

attractions of the Cavalier and Roundhead styles contributed to
a quickening of the pace of change in the world of fashion.
Another factor was the rising power of the middle class.
Throughout the European countries shopkeepers, lawyers,
doctors, and other skilled workers gained access to greater
wealth and were able to afford more.

Although the clothing of the seventeenth century required rich,

textured fabrics and elegant trim, the overall trend was toward
softness and comfort. Expensive clothes which soon mimicked the
styles of the nobles, and the nobles in turn developed new
clothing customs to set themselves apart. Styles changed much
more quickly. One fashion historian marked seven changes in
sleeve style in a two-year span. It became harder and harder to
keep up with the latest fashions. Rulers made laws, called
sumptuary laws, in order to keep "common" people from wearing
the clothes favored by the wealthy, but these laws were ineffective
and difficult to enforce. The poorer people remained outside the
fashion loop, and continued to wear simplified versions of the
garments of the wealthy in everyday fabrics such as wool and
cotton.