Fashion, like all other social processes, is cyclical. The heyday is followed by a decline, and the dominance of asceticism or moral principles comes in an era of free morals and pretentiousness. Fashion trends of the 18th century represent a gradual transition from the uncontrollable luxury of the Baroque era to the Rococo style, which has become a new word in the culture of visual images, and both male and female costumes of the 18th century serve as direct proof of this.
Rococo Fashion
The name of this style is of French origin and means “shell decoration”. Distinctive features of Rococo are elegant decorativeness, sophistication, fragility, sensuality and a certain mannerism. In this style you will not see straight lines, they have curvature and smoothness. And despite the fact that Rococo is a departure from royal splendor, it is still a reflection of the dominance of aristocratic fashion, which the French Revolution brought to an end. The ideal in this direction was considered an elegant silhouette. Both women's and men's suits of the 18th century assumed sophisticated manners, he dictated certain movements and gait, which were honed under the watchful guidance of mentors and teachers of the polites. The class of the bourgeoisie occupied a rather high position in society, but good manners separated it from the aristocracy. The 18th century went down in history as the century of chivalry, a minuet, powder and lace.
Features of rococo clothing
The costume of the 18th century was distinguished by a smooth silhouette, narrow shoulders, too thin, stretched waist, a rounded line of the hips, a lush hairdo. In a word, femininity reigned in fashion. Even the men's costume of the 18th century looked feminine and could hardly give masculinity to the representatives of the stronger sex. The materials used were velvet, expensive and heavy silk, brocade, as well as the finest canvas and lace. Clothing, as a rule, shone with gold and jewelry, often stones were used instead of buttons. By the way, Rococo fashion did not tolerate repetition. No self-respecting woman would wear the same outfit twice.
Description of men's suit
If you remember from literature and history, the representatives of the stronger sex were particularly addicted to beautiful dresses and were in no way inferior to the ladies in this. A must-have accessory for men's 18th-century European costume was a crystal-white shirt made of thin fabric. She had fluffy sleeves with lace cuffs and a slit. A frill - lace frills decorated her front. They wore vesta as a jacket. It was narrow, oar and made of bright silk fabric, had long sleeves fastened along the elbow seam in several places. As a rule, vesta was covered with embroidery. Clasps ranged from the waistline to the middle of the chest so as not to hide the frill. Later, she became a sleeveless jacket, and the back began to be created from another fabric - linen - and she became known as Weston or Vest, and on the other side of the English Channel - Veskout.
New elements of men's wardrobe
The top man’s clothing was considered the rigor. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Justocore was transformed into Abi. He was denser, tightened around the waist and chest, had several folds-folds in the side seams and had a slot with a fake, but quite noticeable clasp on the front. Grand abi was sewn from satin or silk, the sides and pockets were decorated with beautiful embroidery from gold and silver threads. The cuffs were made of the same material as the vesta worn under the abi. From the second half of the 18th century, this upper item of men's wardrobe became exclusively a palace robe. As for the lower part, it was customary to wear culottes in pairs with abi and the judokor - narrow and cropped trousers, like breeches, covering knees and fastening buttons below. On some models, pockets could be seen. With culottes, the nobles had to wear white stockings made of silk span, and stockings of other colors were included in the kit for the bourgeois. The 18th-century men's costume also included attributes such as gloves, a sword belt, and long or shortened raincoats. The winter kit was complemented by clutches and leggings - stockings without soles, which they wore on shoes.
Wardrobe of fashionistas of the Rococo era
Women's costume of the 18th century made of a representative of the fairer sex a real masterpiece, a beautiful, fragile and elegant figurine. The clothes were both bed and bright colors. The lady in her looked very feminine: fragile shoulders, a thin waist, rounded hips. Mandatory elements of women's costumes of the 18th century were the lower chemise, a corset with tansy, on which the skirt lay freely, falling in wide folds. Fijm in France was otherwise called “pannier”, made of flexible willow twigs or even a whalebone. They were laid with rollers of various shapes and several layers of quilted fabric. Pannier could also be diverse, have an oval, round and even conical shape. As a rule, aristocrats wore bell-shaped and widest tansy, but the wives and daughters of the bourgeois wore several starched skirts, since the pannier was an expensive pleasure. For the dresses of the court ladies , trains were made that were sewn either to the shoulders or to the waist.
Several dress models
The lower outfits were called "freon", and the upper - "modest". The first hem had a rich finish in the form of embroidery, but the upper part, the bodice, was very narrow, since a corset with hooks and laces was worn under it. Modest was swinging from the waist. An embroidery of incredible beauty was carried out along the edge of the cut; its bodice was fastened in the chest with several bows or lacing. In this era, it was customary to wear a deep neckline in the form of a square, decorated with lace. The sleeve was sewn to the shoulder line and was also trimmed with lush lace. An air scarf was tied around his neck.
Another model of the dress of that period was the contouch. This is a wide, not cut at the waist long outfit with Watteau folds on the back. It was worn without a belt, and a skirt was put on the frame underneath. The kontush was of two types - swing, which was fastened on the chest with ribbons, or solid, without a cut. For the manufacture of these dresses used silk, satin or semi-silk fabrics, and sometimes velvet. The coloring could be very different. Since the mid-18th century, the length was significantly shortened, they began to be worn only in the home. And only representatives of the lower classes put them on the street. Ladies dressed in light silk stockings, embroidered in gold or silver.
Shoes and other accessories
As shoes, men wore either flat shoes with buckles or shoes. Women put on open shoes, sometimes without a back. They were made of satin fabric or very thin leather of different colors and had a rather high heel. In the men's wardrobe, a hat was a fashionable hat. However, she liked the weaker sex so much that they sometimes began to wear it. By the way, men rarely wore it on their heads, and more often kept on their elbows.
A women's cap was also considered a special cape. It was sometimes worn over a cocked hat, especially when traveling. At home, the ladies put on smart caps.
Later rococo
The history of the costume of the 18th century suggests that by the end of the century, fashion has completely changed. The 70s were marked by the dominance of the English style. And this implied simplicity, austerity of form and color. In this case, the first to undergo changes was not a women's, but a men's suit. At first, representatives of the big bourgeoisie began to dress in the English manner, then noble youth picked her up, well, and then the fashion switched to a courtly men's outfit. The English nobility, unlike the French, appreciated their comfort. Therefore, the clothes were very comfortable in cut and simple.
Men's suit of the second half of the 18th century
The costume consisted of a coat from blue cloth, a short yellow vest, leather pants, high boots with lapels and a round hat. By the way, the tailcoat was originally considered to be the main part of the costume of the rider, but later became widespread in Europe as casual wear for representatives of the upper classes. However, he was not supposed to wear a sword. For tailoring tailoring used dark fabrics, including silk. He had a standing, and in some models a turn-down collar, bent floors descended from the waist.
If you follow the men's fashion of the second half of the 18th century, you can see that the tailcoat underwent constant transformation. Another element of the wardrobe of English origin, which entered the European fashion of this period, was a redingote. This outerwear had straight floors and a shawl collar. Initially, a redingot, like a tailcoat, served as an outfit for riding. Another feature of the clothing of the second half of the 18th century was that shirts became simpler: their cuffs narrowed and the frill became less voluminous and voluminous. In addition to white men began to wear striped woolen stockings. By the way, the strip was popular when sewing frock coats. Also appeared shortened (without gender) vests. As shoes, men wore soft shoes with large metal buckles, and for riding - boots-boots.
Women's wardrobe (18th century, 2nd half)
Ladies in the middle of the century were in no hurry to follow the representatives of the stronger sex and refuse elegant dresses in the Rococo style. However, the women's costume has become more complex both in decor and in silhouette. Krinolin acquired new forms and became oval. As a result of this, the skirts were ellipsoidal bells, greatly stretched at the sides. The front and rear skirts were flattened. As you know, standing next to a lady in such an outfit was impossible. The formal dresses were covered with a mass of bows and garlands of ribbons, and the edges were trimmed with a cascade of frills of lace. Such dresses were especially held in high esteem at the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
These amazing costumes of the 18th century (see photo in the article) were also taken at the court of the Russian Empress Catherine II. In the wardrobe of the ladies of this period, morning polonaises, which consisted of a skirt and bodice, over which a swinging dress was worn, were found. He had an inverted back, consisting of three parts. The floors were straight. At the place where the back was connected to the shelves, there was a lace that created assemblies. The hem of the dress consisted of semicircular draperies. Polonaise was so fond of secular fashionistas that they came up with a special fun - obligatory morning walks in its full dress versions.
Fashion features: modifications
By the end of the 18th century, skirts were shortened a bit - “to the bone”. In these dresses, ladies began to walk in everyday life. Lace capes were thrown over his shoulders. The ladies' costume contained many accessories: gloves, umbrellas, bouquets, hats with feathers, beads, brooches, etc. Toward the end of the century, these voluminous frames began to go out of style, dresses of a simpler cut began to come into use. This was affected by the influence of English fashion, which finally reached the women's wardrobe.
English women costume
Dresses from foggy Albion were distinguished by soft lines. It was customary to sew them from fabrics of light and delicate shades. Frames, tansy, crinoline are in the past. The waist of these dresses rose a few centimeters up like antique robes. Skirts flow and fall in soft folds, ending with a small train. The bodice has a round neckline; a soft scarf in the form of a drapery is thrown over it. The costume for the riders consisted of a separate skirt and jacket, similar to a male tailcoat. Women's shoes were made of brocade, satin or velvet. The heel was tall and square. They wore light stockings.
French revolution and fashion
The fundamental changes in the life of French society that took place at the end of the 18th century had a strong influence on fashion. Political parties appeared in the country, and the adherents of each of them began to wear special clothes indicating their belonging. Supporters of the king continued to flaunt in luxurious outfits of light colors, and the Republicans - in blue clothes with sharp forks. Instead of short stitches, the Jacobins began to wear long knickers, short jackets and a red "Phrygian" cap. It was he who was considered a symbol of freedom. The nobles believed that such a robe would bring them closer to the people. At this time, wigs, powder, braids, bows also disappeared. During this period, Parisian fashionistas of both sexes wore antique costumes, imitating the ancient Romans and Greeks. Women had a minimum of clothes. A flesh-colored leotard was worn as underwear, and very transparent and flowing muslin tunics on top.
Costume of the 18th century in Russia
Until the 18th century, all walks of life wore a traditional Russian outfit, but Polish and French dresses influenced it . Emperor Peter the Great brought European fashion to Russia. After that, the men's costume of the 18th century in Russia, and only representatives of the nobility, became more or less similar to the European ones described above. The common people continued to dress up in a national costume, which consisted of a shirt, ports and caftan for men and a sundress with a shirt for women. Among the models of shirts were popular “noses”, which did not have a collar. Sermyaga, zipun or poddevka (all these are varieties of caftan) were worn over them. As a shoe, ordinary people wore bast shoes. After the introduction of European customs, the Russian costume of the 18th century for noblemen of both sexes was practically no different from the pan-European one.