Clothing During the Revolution

Clothes in the Revolutionary Period are nothing like they are now. France, England, and America all had their own fashions that have evolved to become what people wear now. People sometimes think that the clothing then was much more formal than clothing is now, but in fact it was less formal. The women’s clothing was usually more detailed and colorful than men’s, and sometimes quite a bit stranger. The trends changed often due to conditions, great leaders, among other factors.

Today’s clothing stores that you could find at the mall have large variety of clothes, including lots of different sizes. A tailoring shop during the 18th century was sort of like a this kind of store, where there were ready-made clothes, but tailors who worker there also created custom-made dresses to fit the customer. Usually the customer would stand still while the tailor measured and made the garment. Tailors were usually men, and lots of their customers were young, because children were supposed to have good posture, and the clothes tailors made could have corsets to preserve their good posture. The quality of the fabric was better or worse depending on the amount of money the customer was willing to spend.

For women in France, it could be hard to keep up with the constantly changing, sometimes illogical trends. For example, a fontange, invented in the 1680s after a woman named Mademoiselle Fontange tied up her hair with a ribbon while she went hunting, but were still in use for quite a while. It was made of brass-wire, ribbons, baubles, hair, and sometimes other things piled up quite high, making the woman’s face appear to be in the middle of her body. It was very fragile, but eventually changed to gummed linen, rolled up, holding jewels, feathers, ribbons, flowers, and bows up on the hair. These eccentric hairpieces remained in style for about 10 years. Madame de Maintenon was the inspiration for many French women’s fashions and was copied by many, many women. These fashions included brocaded clothes, falbalas (slashed, plaited, or puffed flounces, used as petticoats), and some clothes that were too stiff. Most dresses were enlarged and poofy in the skirt and tight on the top, sometimes with very loose sleeves. The skirts on fancier dresses might have large bows, ribbons, and floral patterns for decoration. The King was the creator of many men’s fashions such as false hair, which was powdered. Men’s dress was usually cheaper than women’s, and didn’t change so often. They wore long coats, tight pants, pants, feathered hats, and ruffled sleeves. They wanted to look older so that they would seem wiser.

England had it’s own style as well. It was somewhat similar to France’s, but not it had it’s differences as well.

Men's clothing fads didn't change nearly as much as women's did. Wigs were popular in the early 1700s among men, including soldiers. White, curly wigs were used, the kind that would probably remind lots of people of Parliament or judges. Men’s clothes were mainly long coats and waistcoats, breeches, a sword, neckcloths, and shoes with buckles. Soon, the small shoe buckles became larger and more adorned with decorations such as jewels.

The women’s dresses were stiff, partly because the King who didn’t care about the elegancies in life. Simpler dresses had small lace aprons, which were worn very often, and a flowered petticoat under the skirt. The bodice was cut low, but it was very stiff. The petticoat was much more important than the skirt and it could be hitched up or drawn back in bunches or folds.

Both men and women wore diamonds since diamond cutting had become more advanced. Diamonds could even be borrowed or 'hired' to wear for special occasions.

European fashions affected the clothes that were worn in America. The appearance of a widened figure was popular for men and

women alike. To accomplish this style, women wore dresses with stiff, tight bodices and petticoats under the skirt. A full dress was a dress for fancier occasions, while an undress was an everyday dress. Women’s undresses usually consisted of stockings up to the knee, shifts (a very plain dress), and a cap to cover dirty or hair with lice. The cap also kept the woman’s hair safe from fires or getting caught in things. Men typically wore 3 piece suits. The three parts were breeches, a coat, and a waistcoat. The waistcoats were long, and the coats had no collars. A frock was the men’s version of an undress, which they wore to do work. The frock had a flat, wide collar. Along with their buckled shoes, they wore silk or woolen stockings and buckles on the breeches to hold up those stockings.