Fashion Cotinuity of 1750 - 1795...

1750-1795 in fashion

Portrait of John and Elizabeth Lloyd Caldwater and their Daughter Anne by Charles Willson Peale, Philadelphia, 1772

Fashion in the period 1750-1795 in European and European-influenced countries reached heights of fantasy and abundant ornamentation, especially among the aristocracy of France, before a long-simmering movement toward simplicity and democratization of dress under the influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the American Revolution led to an entirely new mode and the triumph of British tailoring following the French Revolution.

Women's fashion

French aristocratic court dress of 1778 with panniers.

Women's clothing styles remained confining and cumbersome for most of the period. The hoop-skirts of the 1740s were left behind, but wide panniers (holding the skirts out at the side) came into style several times, and the aesthetic of a narrow inverted conical corseted torso above full skirts prevailed during most of the period.
In the 1780s, panniers finally disappeared, and bustle pads (bum-pads or hip-pads) were worn for a time.
By 1790, skirts were still somewhat full, but they were no longer obviously pushed out in any particular direction (though a slight bustle might still be worn). The "pouter-pigeon" front came into style (many layers of cloth pinned over the bodice), but in other respects women's fashions were starting to be simplified by influences from Englishwomen's country outdoors wear (thus the "redingote" was the French pronunciation of an English "riding coat"), and from neo-classicism. By 1795, waistlines were somewhat raised, preparing the way for the development of the empire silhouette and unabashed neo-classicism of late 1790s fashions.
Gainsborough's 1785 portrait of Mrs Hallett (right) captures the exact transition between the tight bodice and elbow-length, ruffled sleeves of the mid-18th century and the natural waist and long sleeves typical of the 1790s.
Portrait of Mr and Mrs William Hallett by Thomas Gainsborough, 1785.

Gowns
The usual fashion of the years 1750-1780 was a low-necked gown (usually called in French a robe), worn over a petticoat. If the bodice of the gown was open in front, the opening was filled in with a decorative stomacher, pinned to the gown over the laces or to the corset beneath.
Tight elbow-length sleeves were trimmed with frills or ruffles, and separate under-ruffles called engageantes of lace or fine linen were tacked to the smock or chemise sleeves. The neckline was trimmed with a fabric or lace ruffle, or a neckerchief called a fichu could be tucked into the low neckline.
The robe à la française featured back pleats hanging loosely from the neckline. A fitted lining or under-bodice held the front of the gown closely to the figure.
The robe à l'anglaise featured back pleats sewn in place to fit closely to the body, and then release into the skirt which would be draped in various ways.

Jackets and redingotes

The lady wears strapless stays over a pink chemise. Her petticoat has pocket slits to access the free-hanging pocket beneath. "Tight Lacing, or Fashion Before Ease", 1770-75

Toward the 1770s, an informal alternative to the gown was a costume of a jacket and petticoat, based on working class fashion but executed in finer fabrics with a tighter fit.
The Brunswick gown was two-piece costume of German origin consisting of a hip-length jacket with "split sleeves" (flounced elbow-length sleeves and long, tight lower sleeves) and a hood, worn with a matching petticoat. It was popular for traveling.
The caraco was a jacket-like bodice worn with a petticoat, with elbow-length sleeves. By the 1790s, caracos had full-length, tight sleeves.
As in previous periods, the traditional riding habit consisted of a tailored jacket like a man's coat, worn with a high-necked shirt, a waistcoat, a petticoat, and a hat. Alternatively, the jacket and a false waistcoat-front might be a made as a single garment, and later in the period a simpler riding jacket and petticoat (without waiscoat) could be worn.
Another alternative to the traditional habit was a coat-dress call a joseph or riding coat (borrowed in French as redingote), usually of unadorned or simply trimmed woolen fabric, with full-length, tight sleeves and a broad collar with lapels or revers. The redingote was later worn as an overcoat with the light-weight chemise dress.


Underwear
The shift, chemise (in France), or smock had tight, short or elbow-length sleeves and a low neckline. Drawers were not worn in this period.
The long-waisted, heavily boned stays of the early 1740s with their narrow back, wide front, and shoulder straps gave way by the 1760s to strapless stays which still were cut high at the arm pit, to encourage a woman to stand with her shoulders slightly back, a fashionable posture. The fashionable shape was to have smooth curves, a rather conical torso, with large hips. The waist was not particularly small. Many women's waists measure larger with stays than without. Stays were usually laced snugly, but comfortably; only those interested in extreme fashions laced very tightly! They offered back support, for heavy lifting, and poor and middle class women were able to work comfortably in them. As the relaxed, country fashion took hold in France, stays were replaced by an unboned or lightly boned quilted underbodice (now called for the first time un corset) for all but the most formal court occasions.
Panniers or side-hoops remained an essential of court fashion but disappeared everywhere else in favor of a few petticoats.
Free-hanging pockets were tied around the waist and were accessed through pocket slits in the side-seams of the gown or petticoat.
Woolen waistcoats were worn over the stays or corset and under the gown for warmth, as were petticoats quilted with wool batting, especially in the cold climates of Northern Europe and America.

Shoes
Shoes had high, curved heels (the origin of modern "louis heels") and were made of fabric or leather.

Hairstyles and headgear
The 1770s were notable for extreme hairstyles and wigs which were built up very high, and often incorporated decorative objects (sometimes symbolic, as in the case of the famous engraving depicting a lady wearing a large ship in her hair with masts and sails — called the "Coiffure à l'Indépendance ou le Triomphe de la liberté" — to celebrate naval victory in the American war of independence). These coiffures were parodied in several famous satirical caricatures of the period.
By the 1780s, elaborate hats replaced the former elaborate hairstyles. Mob caps and other "country" styles were worn indoors. Flat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned straw "shepherdess" hats tied on with ribbons were worn with the new rustic styles.
Hair was powdered into the early 1780s, but the new country fashion required natural colored hair, often dressed simply in a mass of curls.

Men's fashion
Overview

Elijah Boardman wears a cutaway tailored coat over a waist-length satin waistcoat and dark breeches. America, 1789.

Throughout the period, men continued to wear the coat, waistcoat and breeches of the previous period. What changed significantly was the fabric. Under new enthusiasms for outdoor sports and country pursuits, the elaborately embroidered silks and velvets characteristic of "full dress" or formal attire earlier in the century gradually gave way to carefully tailored woolen "undress" garments for all occasions except the most formal.

In Boston and Philadelphia in the decades around the American Revolution, the adoption of plain undress styles was a conscious reaction to the excesses of European court dress; Benjamin Franklin caused a sensation by appearing at the French court in his own hair (rather than a wig) and the plain costume of Quaker Philadelphia.
At the other extreme was the "maccaroni".

Coats
The skirts of the coat narrowed from the gored styles of the previous period, and toward the 1780s began to be cutaway in a curve from the front waist. Waistcoats extended to mid-thigh to the 1770s, and gradually shortened until they were waist-length and cut straight across. Waistcoats could be made with or without sleeves.
As in the previous period, a loose, T-shaped silk, cotton or linen gown called a banyan was worn at home as a sort of dressing gown over the shirt, waistcoat, and breeches. Men of an intellectual or philosophical bent were painted wearing banyans, with their own hair or a soft cap rather than a wig.
A coat with a wide collar called a frock, derived from a traditional working-class coat, was worn for hunting and other country pursuits in both Britain and America.

Shirt and stock
Shirt sleeves were full, gathered at the wrist and dropped shoulder. Full-dress shirts had ruffles of fine fabric or lace, while undress shirts ended in plain wrist bands. A small turnover collar returned to fashion, worn with the stock. The cravat reappeared at the end of the period.

Breeches, shoes, and stockings
As coats became cutaway, more attention was paid to the cut and fit of the breeches. Breeches fitted snugly and had a fall-front opening.
Low-heeled leather shoes fastened with buckles, and were worn with silk or woolen stockings. Boots were worn for riding.

Hairstyles and headgear

Charles Pettit wears a matching coat, waiscoat, and breeches. Coat and waistcoat have covered buttons; those on the coat are much larger. His shirt has a sheer frill down the front. America, 1792.

Wigs were worn for formal occasions, or the hair was worn long and powdered, brushed back from the forehead and clubbed (tied back at the nape of the neck) with a black ribbon.
Wide-brimmed hats turned up on three sides called tricornes were worn in mid-century. Later, these hats were turned up front and back or on the sides to form bicornes. Toward the end of the period a tall, slightly conical hat with a narrower brim became fashionable (this would evolve into the top hat in the next period).

Fashion Continuity of 1700 - 1750...

1700-1750 in fashion

In this English family portrait, the ladies wear pastel-colored gowns with closed skirts and lace caps. Some wear sheer aprons. The lady on the right wears a mantua. The men's long, narrow coats are trimmed with gold braid. c.1730-40

Fashion in the period 1700-1750 in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by a widening, full-skirted silhouette for both men and women following the tall, narrow look of the 1680s and 90s. Wigs remained essential for men of substance, and were often white; natural hair was powdered to achieve the fashionable look.
Distinction was made in this period between full dress worn at Court and for formal occasions, and undress or everyday, daytime clothes. As the decades progressed, fewer and fewer occasions called for full dress which had all but disappeared by the end of the century.

Women's fashion

Gowns

A rigid, upright posture with a sharp "break" at the bust is characteristic of the stiffly boned stays of the 1730s. These English ladies wear formal mantuas for tea.

In the early decades of the new century, formal dress consisted of the stiff-bodiced mantua. A closed (or "round") petticoat, sometimes worn with an apron, replaced the open draped mantua skirt of the previous period. This formal style then gave way to more relaxed fashions.
The robe à la française or "sack back" gown with flowing pleats from the shoulders was originally an undress fashion. At its most informal, this gown was unfitted both front and back and called a sacque. Later, for formal wear, the front was fitted to the body by means of a tightly-laced underbodice, while the back fell in loose box pleats called "Watteau pleats" from their appearance in the paintings of Antoine Watteau.
The less formal robe à l'anglaise or "nightgown" also had a pleated back, but the pleats were sewn down to fit the bodice to the body to the waist.
Either gown could be closed in front (a "round gown") or open to reveal a matching or contrasting petticoat.
Open-fronted bodices could be filled in with a decorative stomacher, and toward the end of the period a lace or linen kerchief called a fichu could be worn to fill in the low neckline.
Sleeves were bell- or trumpet-shaped, and caught up at the elbow to show the frilled or lace-trimmed sleeves of the shift (chemise) beneath. Sleeves became narrower as the period progressed, with a frill at the elbow, and elaborate separate ruffles called engageantes were tacked to the shift sleeves, in a fashion that would persist into the 1770s.
Strings of pearls, ribbons, or lace frills were tied high on the neck.

Underwear
The stays or corset of the early 18th century were long-waisted and cut with a narrow back, wide front, and shoulder straps; the most fashionable stays pulled the shoulders back until the shoulder blades almost touched. The resulting silhouette, with shoulders thrown back, very erect posture and a high, full bosom, is characteristic of this period and no other.
Skirts were worn over small, domed hoops in the 1730s and early 1740s, which were displaced for formal court wear by side hoops or panniers which later widened to as much as three feet to either side at the French court of Marie Antoinette.
The shift (chemise) or smock had full sleeves early in the period and tight, elbow-length sleeves in the 1740s as the sleeves of the gown narrowed. Drawers were not worn in this period.
Woolen waistcoats were worn over the corset and under the gown for warmth, as were petticoats quilted with wool batting.
Free-hanging pockets were tied around the waist and were accessed through pocket slits in the gown or petticoat.
Loose gowns, sometimes with a wrapped or surplice front closure, were worn over the shift (chemise), petticoat and stays (corset) for at-home wear, and it was fashionable to have one's portrait painted in these extremely undress fashions.

Outerwear
Riding habits consisted of a fitted, thigh- or knee-length coat similar to those worn by men, usually with a matching petticoat. Ladies wore mannish shirts and tricorne hats for riding and hunting.
Elbow-length capes, often lined with fur.

Fabrics and colors
In the early years of this period, black silk hoods and dark, somber colors became fashionable at the French court for mature women, under the influence of Madame de Maintenon. Younger women wore light or bright colors, but the preference was for solid-colored silks with a minimum of ornamentation.
Gradually, trim in the form of applied lace and fabric robings (strips of ruched, gathered or pleated fabric) replaced the plain style. Ribbon bows, lacing, and rosettes became popular, as did boldly patterned fabrics. A mid-century vogue for striped fabrics had the stripes running different directions on the trim and the body of the gown.
Indian cotton fabrics block-printed in bright colors on white grounds were wildly fashionable. Bans against their importation to protect the British silk, linen, and woolen industries did nothing to reduce their desirability. Brocaded silks and woolens had similar colorful floral patterns on light-colored grounds. Blends of wool and silk or wool and linen (linssey-woolsey) were popular.

Men's fashion

Mr and Mrs Andrews, 1748. His undress coat has military button-back revers, which he wears casually unbuttoned, and is narrower overall than the coat of the 1720s. He wears a tricorne hat. Mrs. Andrews' petticoat is supported by wide panniers.

Overview
Men continued to wear the coat, waistcoat and breeches of the previous period for both full dress and undress; these were now sometimes made of the same fabric and trim, signalling the birth of the three-piece suit. Coats were roughly knee-length throughout the period.
By the 1720s, the skirts of the coat had pleated panels inserted in the side seams; these were occasionally stiffened to increase the fullness over the hips. Coats had no collars early, and a short standing collar later. Oversized, turned-back cuffs extended to the elbow. Waistcoats remained long. Full dress coats and waistcoats were trimmed with lace, braid, or heavy embroidery; undress clothing had a similar cut but without the trim.
The frock was an English undress coat with a wide, flat collar, derived from the coats worn by working men.
Shirt sleeves were full, gathered at the wrist and dropped shoulder. Undress shirts had plain wrist bands and a high stock at the neck. Dress shirts had in ruffles of fine fabric or lace at the cuffs. Early in the period a black ribbon called a solitaire was tied around the neck.
Leather shoes fastened with buckles, and were worn with silk or woolen stockings. Stockings continued to be worn over the breeches until 1730 when the breeches were often worn over the stockings. With this change, the garters gave way to buckles on the breeches to hold up the stockings.
A loose, T-shaped cotton or linen gown called a banyan was worn at home as a sort of dressing gown over the shirt and breeches. Men of an intellectual or philosophical bent were painted wearing banyans, with their own hair or a soft cap rather than a wig.

Hairstyles and headgear
Wigs in a variety of styles were worn for different occasions and by different age groups.
The large high parted wig of the 1690s remained popular from 1700 until around 1720. During this time various colors were worn, but white was becoming more popular and the curls were getting tighter. Later, wigs or the natural hair were worn long, brushed back from the forehead and clubbed or tied back at the nape of the neck with a black ribbon. A bag wig gathered the back hair in a black silk bag.
Wide-brimmed hats with brims turned up on three sides into tricornes were worn throughout the era.

Children's fashion

Toddler boys and girls wore low-necked gowns. Leading strings - narrow straps of fabric attached to the gown at the shoulder - functioned as a sort of leash to keep the child from straying too far or falling as it learned to walk.
Children older than toddlers continued to wear clothing which was in many respects simply a smaller version of adult clothing. Although it is often said that children wore miniature versions of adult clothing, this is something of a myth. Girls wore back-fastening gowns, trimmed much more simply than women's. The skirt of a girl's gown was not split down the front, as women's typically were.[1] Girls did not wear jackets or bedgowns. Boys wore shirts, breeches, waistcoats and coats a man would, but often wore their necks open, and the coat was fitted and trimmed differently from a man's, and boys often went bareheaded. During some decades of the 18th Century, boys' shirts and coats had different collars and cuffs than a man's. Even if the size is not apparent, it is usually possible to tell a child's garment from an adult's.

Fashion Continuity of 1650 - 1700...

1650-1700 in fashion

The elegant gentleman wears a coat, waistcoat, and breeches. The lady's bodice is long-waisted and her narrow skirt is draped and pinned up in back. Dutch, 1678.

Fashion in the period 1650-1700 in Western European clothing is characterised by rapid change. Following the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Restoration of England's Charles II, military influences in men's clothing were replaced by a brief period of decorative exuberance which then sobered into the coat, waistcoat and breeches costume that would reign for the next century and a half. In the normal cycle of fashion, the broad, high-waisted silhouette of the previous period was replaced by a long, lean line with a low waist for both men and women. This period also marked the rise of the periwig as an essential item of men's fashion.

Women's fashion

Susanna Huygens wears a long, tight white satin bodice with paned sleeves lined in pink and a matching petticoat. Her hair is worn in a mass of tight curls, and she wears pearl eardrops and a pearl necklace. 1667-69.

Overview
The wide, high-waisted look of the previous period was gradually superseded by a long vertical line, with horizontal emphasis at the shoulder. Full, loose sleeves ended just below the elbow at mid century and became longer and tighter in keeping with the new trend. The body was tightly corseted, with a low, broad neckline and dropped shoulder. In later decades, the overskirt was drawn back and pinned up to display the petticoat, which was heavily decorated.
Spanish court fashion remained out of step with the fashions that arose in France and England, and prosperous Holland also retained its own modest fashions, especially in headdress and hairstyles, as it had retained the ruff in the previous period.

Romantic negligence

Mary II wears 1690s fashion: a mantua with elbow-length, cuffed sleeves over a chemise with lace flounces at the elbow, a wired lace fontange, opera-length gloves, and pearls.

A daring new fashion arose for having one's portrait painted in undress, wearing a loosely fastened gown called a nightgown over a voluminous chemise, with tousled curls. The style is epitomized by the portraits of Peter Lely, which derive from the romanticized style originated by Anthony van Dyck in the 1630s. The clothing in these portraits is not representative of what was worn on the street or at court.

The mantua
The mantua or manteau was a new fashion that arose in the 1680s. Instead of a bodice and skirt cut separately, the mantua hung from the shoulders to the floor (in the manner of gowns of earlier periods) started off as the female version of the men's Banyan, worn for 'undress' wear. Gradually it developed into a draped and pleated gown and eventually evolved into a gown worn looped and draped up over a contrasting petticoat and a stomacher. The mantua-and-stomacher resulted in a high, square neckline in contrast to the broad, off-the-shoulder neckline previously in fashion. The new look was both more modest and covered-up than previous fashions and decidedly fussy, with bows, frills, ribbons, and other trim, but the short string of pearls and pearl earrings or eardrops worn since the 1630s remained popular.
The mantua, made from a single length of fabric pleated to fit with a long train, was ideal for showing the designs of the new elaborately patterned silks that replaced the solid-colored satins popular in mid-century.

Hunting and riding dress
In a June 1666 diary entry, Samuel Pepys describes the Maids of Honour in their riding habits of mannish coats, doublets, hats, and periwigs, "so that, only for a long petticoat dragging under their men's coats, nobody could take them for women in any point whatever". For riding side-saddle, the costume had a long, trailing petticoat or skirt. This would be looped up or replaced by an ankle-length skirt for shooting or walking.

Hairstyles and headgear
Early in the period, hair was worn in a bun at the back of the head with a cluster of curls framing the face. The curls grew more elaborate through the 1650s, then longer, until curls were hanging gracefully on the shoulder. In the 1680s hair was parted in the center with height over the temples, and by the 1690s hair was unparted, with rows of curls stacked high over the forehead.
This hairstyle was often topped with a fontange, a frilly cap of lace wired to stand in vertical tiers with streamers to either side, named for a mistress of the French King. This was popular from the 1690s to the first few years of the 18th century.

Men’s Fashion

Coat with cuffs, red-heeled shoes, and colored stockings, 1685

Overview
With the end of the Thirty Years' War, the fashions of the 1650s and early 1660s imitated the new peaceful and more relaxed feeling in Europe. The military boots gave way to shoes, and a mania for baggy breeches, short coats, and hundreds of yards of ribbon set the style. The breeches (see Petticoat breeches) became so baggy that Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary: “And among other things, met with Mr. Townsend, who told of his mistake the other day to put both his legs through one of his Knees of his breeches, and so went all day.” (April 1661) The wide breeches that made such an error possible were soon being gathered at the knee: Pepys noted, 19 April 1663 "this day put on my close-kneed coloured suit, which, with new stockings of the colour, with belt, and new gilt-handled sword, is very handsome." This era was also one of great variation and transition.
In 1666, Charles II of England, following the earlier example of Louis XIV of France decreed that at court, men were to wear a long coat, a vest or waistcoat (originally called a petticoat, a term which later became applied solely to women's dress), a cravat, a periwig or wig, and breeches gathered at the knee, as well as a hat for outdoor wear. By 1680, this more sober uniform-like outfit of coat, waistcoat, and breeches became the norm for formal dress.

Coat and Waistcoat
The unfitted looser fit of the 1640s continued into the 1650s. In the 1650s, sleeves ranged from above to below the elbow. The sleeves could be slashed, unslashed, or dividing into two parts and buttoned together. The length of the coat reached the waist but by the late 1650s and early 1660s, the coat became very short, only reaching the bottom of the rib cage, much like a bolero jacket. During the 1660s, the sleeves varied a lot from elbow length to no sleeves at all. The coat could be worn opened or buttoned in the front. One common factor were many yards of ribbon loops arranged on the shoulders and the lower parts of the sleeves.
A longer and rather baggy coat (still with sleeves rarely going below the elbow) made an appearance in the early 1660s and as the decade progressed became the most popular coat. By the late 1660s, an upturned cuff became popular although the sleeves had still remained above the elbows. By the 1670s, a vest or waistcoat was worn under the coat. It was usually made of contrasting, often luxurious, fabric, and might have a plain back since that was not seen under the coat. It was a long garment which by the 1680s reached just above the knees. With the end of the 1670s the sleeves became longer and the coat more fitted. The 1680s saw larger upturned cuffs and the waist of the coat became much wider. The coat could have lapels or none. This coat is known as the justacorps. The pockets on both sides of the coats were arranged horizontally or vertically (especially the mid to late 1680s) until the 1690s when the pockets were usually always arranged horizontally. The waistcoat could be sleeveless or have long sleeves. Typically, a long-sleeved waistcoat was worn in winter for added warmth. By the mid 1680s, ribbons were reduced to one side of the shoulder until by the 1690s, they were gone.

Shirt, collar and cravat

Puritan influence lingered in New England. This merchant of Boston wears his own long hair, not a wig. The flat lace collar with curved corners that came into fashion in the 1660s is worn over a simple dark coat and waistcoat, 1674.

James II of England wears red ribbon knots under his lace cravat and a blond wig, 1686
The ruffled long-sleeved white shirt remained the only constant throughout the period, although less of it was seen with the advent of the waistcoat.
During the early to mid 1650s, a rather small falling collar was in fashion. This increased in size and encompassed much of the shoulders by 1660. Cravats around the neck started to be worn during the early 1660s (initially with the falling collar). By the mid 1660s, the collar had disappeared with just the cravat remaining, sometimes tied with a small bow of ribbon. Red was the most common color for the bow, although pink, blue, and other colors were also used. By the 1670s, the bow of ribbons had increased in size and in the 1680s, the bow of ribbons became very large and intricate with many loops of ribbon. By the mid 1690s, the very large bow of ribbons was discarded. Also, a new style of cravat made its appearance in the 1690s, the Steinkerk (named after the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692). Before, the cravat was always worn flowing down the chest; the Steinkerk cravat looped through a buttonhole of the coat.

Breeches and stockings
James II of England wears red ribbon knots under his lace cravat and a blond wig, 1686

The previous decade saw Spanish breeches as the most popular. These were stiff breeches which fell above or just below the knee and were rather moderately fitted. By the mid 1650s, in Western Europe, much looser, uncollected breeches, called petticoat breeches became the most popular. As the 1650s progressed, they became larger and looser, very much giving the impression of a lady’s petticoat. They were usually decorated with many yards of ribbon around the waist and around the ungathered knee on the outside of the leg. Alongside the petticoat breeches, a collected but still loose fitted breeches called rhinegraves, were also worn. By the early 1660s, their popularity surpassed petticoat breeches. They were usually worn with an overskirt over them. The overskirt was heavily decorated with ribbon on the waist and the bottom of the skirt. Its length was usually just above the knee, but could also extend past the knee so that the rhinegraves underneath could not be seen and only the bottom of the stocking-tops was visible.
With the rising popularity of the longer coat and waistcoat, the large collected rhingraves and overskirt were abandoned in favor of more close fitting breeches. By the late 1670s, close fitted breeches were worn with the stockings worn over them and on or above the knee, often being gartered with a garter below the knee. With the long waistcoat and stockings worn over the knee, very little of the breeches could be seen. A possible reason that the stockings were worn over the knee, was to give the impression of longer legs since the waist coat fell very low, just above the knee. The breeches tended to be of the same material as the coat. The stockings varied in color.

Footwear and accessories

This man wears white boothose over red stockings with low shoes, 1663-65.
Shoes again became the most popular footwear during the 1650s, although boots remained in use for riding and outdoor pursuits. Boothose, originally of linen with lace cuffs and worn over the fine silk stockings to protect them from wear, remained in fashion even when boots lost their popularity. Boothose lasted well in the mid 1660s, attached right under where the rhinegraves were gathered below the knee, or fashionably slouched and unfastened. Shoes from the 1650s through the 1670s tended to be square toed and bit long in appearance. Usually the shoes were tied with ribbon and decorated with bows. By the 1680s, the shoe became a bit more fitted; the heel increased in height (with red heels being very popular, especially for attendance at Court), and only a small ribbon if any remained.
The baldric (a sword hanger worn across one shoulder) was worn until the mid 1680s, when it was replaced by the sword belt (a sword hanger worn across the hips).

Hairstyles

The elaborate wig of the 1690s

Artist François Desportes in hunting costume. His blue waistcoat has wide buttonholes, and he wears his own hair for outdoor activity. Self-portrait, 1699.
Throughout the period, men wore their hair long with flowing curls well past the shoulders. The bangs (fringe) were usually combed forward and allowed to flow over the forehead a bit. Although men had worn wigs for years to cover up thinning hair or baldness, the popularity of the wig or periwig as standard wardrobe is usually credited to King Louis XIV of France. Louis started to go bald at a relatively young age and had to cover up his baldness with wigs. His early wigs very much imitated what were the hairstyles of the day, but they gave a thicker and fuller appearance than natural hair. Due to the success of the wigs, other men started to wear wigs as well. By 1680, a part in the middle of the wig became the norm. The hair on either side of the part continued to grow in the 1680s until by the 1690s two very high pronounced points developed on the forehead. As well, during the 1680s, the wig was divided into three parts: the front including the center part and the long curls which fell well past the shoulders, the back of the head which was combed rather close to the head, and a mass of curls which flowed down the shoulders and back. The curls of the wig throughout the 1660s until 1700 were rather loose and flowing. Tighter curls would not make their appearance until after 1700. Every natural color of wig was possible. Louis XIV tended to favor a brown wig. His son, Monseigneur was well known for wearing blond wigs.

Hats and headgear
Hats vary greatly during this period. Hats with very tall crowns, derived from the earlier capotain but with flat crowns, were popular until the end of the 1650s. The brims varied as well. Hats were decorated with feathers. By the 1660s, a very small hat with a very low crown, little brim, and large amount of feathers was popular amongst the French courtiers. Later in the 1660s, very large brims and moderate crowns became popular. Sometimes one side of the brim would be turned up. These continued fashionable well into the 1680s. From the 1680s until 1700, various styles and combinations of upturned brims were in fashion, from one brim upturned to three brims upturned (the tricorne). Even the angle at which the brims were situated on the head varied. Sometimes with a tricorne, the point would meet over the forehead or it would be set at a 45 degree angle from the forehead.

Fashion Continuity of 1600 - 1650.

1600-1650 in fashion

Frans Hals' Laughing Cavalier (in the Wallace Collection) wears a slashed doublet, wide reticella lace collar and cuffs, and a broadbrimmed hat, 1624

Fashion in the period 1600-1650 in Western European clothing is characterized by the disappearance of the ruff in favour of broad lace or linen collars. Waistlines rose through the period for both men and women. Other notable fashions included full, slashed sleeves and tall or broad hats with brims. For men, hose disappeared in favour of breeches.

Overview

The artist Rubens with his first wife c. 1610. Her long, rounded stomacher and jacket-like bodice are characteristic Dutch fashions

The silhouette, which was essentially close to the body with tight sleeves and a low, pointed waist to around 1615, gradually softened and broadened. Sleeves became very full, and in the 1620s and 1630s were often paned or slashed to show the voluminous sleeves of the shirt or chemise beneath. Waistlines rose.
Spanish fashions remained very conservative. The ruff lingered longest in Spain and Holland, but disappeared first for men and later for women in France and England.
The social tensions leading to the English Civil War were reflected in English fashion, with the elaborate French styles popular at the courts of James I and his son Charles I contrasting with the sober styles in sadd or somber colours favoured by Puritans and exported to the early settlements of New England (see below).
In the early decades of the century, a trend among poets and artists to adopt a fashionable pose of melancholia is reflected in fashion, where the characteristic touches are dark colours, open collars, unbuttoned gowns or doublets, and a generally disheveled appearance, accompanied in portraits by world-weary poses and sad expressions.

Fashions influenced by royal courts

Fabric and patterns

Scrolling floral embroidery decorates this Englishwoman's gown, petticoat, and linen jacket, accented with yellow-tinted reticella collar, cuffs, and headdress, c. 1614-18.

Figured silks with elaborate pomegranate or artichoke patterns are still seen in this period, especially in Spain, but a lighter style of scrolling floral motifs, woven or embroidered, was popular, especially in England.
The great flowering of needlelace occurred in this period. Geometric reticella deriving from cutwork was elaborated into true needlelace or punto in aria (called in England "point lace"), which also reflected the popular scrolling foral designs.
In England, embroidered linen jackets fastened with ribbon ties were fashionable for both men and women from c. 1600-1620, as was reticella tinted with yellow starch. Gowns with split sleeves (often trimmed with horizontal rows of braid) were worn by both men and women.
From the 1620s, surface ornament fell out of fashion in favour of solid-colour satins, and functional ribbon bows or points became elaborate masses of rosettes and looped trim.

Portraiture and fantasy
In England from the 1630s, under the influence of literature and especially court masques, Anthony van Dyck and his followers created a fashion for having one's portrait painted in exotic, historical or pastoral dress, or in simplified contemporary fashion with various scarves, cloaks, mantles, and jewels added to evoke a classic or romantic mood, and also to prevent the portrait appearing dated within a few years. These paintings are the progenitors of the fashion of the later 17th century for having one's portrait painted in undress, and do not necessarily reflect clothing as it was actually worn.

Women's fashions

Elizabeth Poulett wears a low rounded neckline and a small ruff with paired with a winged collar. Her tight sleeves have pronounced shoulder wings and deep lace cuffs. English court costume, 1616

Gowns, bodices, and petticoats
In the early years of the new century, fashionable bodices had high necklines or extremely low, rounded necklines, and short wings at the shoulders. Separate closed cartwheel ruffs were worn. Long sleeves were worn with deep cuffs to match the ruff. The cartwheel ruff disappeared in fashionable England by 1613.
By the mid-1620s, styles were relaxing. Ruffs were discarded in favour of wired wing collars called rebatos and, later, wide, flat collars. By the 1630s and 1640s, collars were accompanied by kerchiefs similar to the linen kerchiefs worn by middle-class women in the previous century; often the collar and kerchief were trimmed with matching lace.
Bodices were long-waisted at the beginning of the century, but waistlines rose steadily to the 1640s before beginning to drop again. Bodices with wide, low, straight necklines were worn with matching or contrasting stomachers that ended in a broad, rounded point below the higher waist. Separate stomachers later disappeared in favour of bodices closed in front with tabbed skirts called basques; these were often worn with a ribbon sash.

Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England, wears a closed satin high-waisted bodice with tabbed skirts and open three-quarter sleeves over full chemise sleeves. She wears a ribbon sash. C. 1632-1635.

The long, tight sleeves of the early 1600s grew shorter, fuller, and looser. A common style of 1620s and 1630s was the virago sleeve, a full, slashed sleeve gathered into two puffs by a ribbon or other trim above the elbow.
In France and England, lightweight bright or pastel-coloured satins replaced dark, heavy fabrics. As in other periods, painters tended to avoid the difficulty of painting striped fabrics; it is clear from inventories that these were common. Short strings of pearls were fashionable.
Unfitted gowns (called nightgowns in England) with long hanging sleeves, short open sleeves, or no sleeves at all were worn over the bodice and skirt and tied with a ribbon sash at the waist. In England of the 1610s and '20s, a loose nightgown was often worn over an embroidered jacket called a waistcoat and a contrasting embroidered petticoat, without a farthingale. Black gowns were worn for the most formal occasions; they fell out of fashion in England in the 1630s in favour of gowns to match the bodice and petticoat, but remained an important item of clothing on the Continent.
At least in the Netherlands the open-fronted overgown or vlieger was strictly reserved for married women. Before marriage the bouwen, "a dress with a fitted bodice and a skirt that was closed all round" was worn instead; it was known in England as a "Dutch" or "round gown".
Skirts might be open in front to reveal an underskirt or petticoat until about 1630, or closed all around; closed skirts were sometimes carried or worn looped up to reveal a petticoat.

Underwear
Underwear consisted of a linen chemise or smock and (optionally) linen drawers. The chemise could have a low, square neckline or a high neckline; either style could be worn with ruffs (to c. 1625) or the newly fashionable broad collars.
Corsets were shorter to suit the new bodices, and might have a very stiff busk in the center front extending to the depth of the stomacher. Skirts were held in the proper shape by a padded roll or French farthingale holding the skirts out in a rounded shape at the waist, falling in soft folds to the floor. The drum or wheel farthingale was worn at the English court until the death of Anne of Denmark in 1619.
In conservative Spanish court fashion, the cone-shaped Spanish farthingale of the last century lingered well into the period, to be replaced by wide French farthingales toward the 1650s, long after they had gone out of style elsewhere.

Men's fashions

Charles I wears a slashed doublet with paned sleeves, breeches, and tall narrow boots with turned-over tops, 1631

Shirts, doublets, and jerkins
Doublet of embroidered glazed linen, 1635-40, V&A Museum no. 177-1900.
Linen shirts had deep cuffs. Shirt sleeves became fuller throughout the period. To the 1620s, a collar wired to stick out horizontally, called a whisk, was popular. Other styles included an unstarched ruff-like collar and, later, a rectangular falling band lying on the shoulders. Beards adopted the term Van Dyke, they were pointed and often a large and wide moustache was grown too. Doublets were pointed and fitted close to the body, with tight sleeves, to about 1615. Gradually waistlines rose and sleeves became fuller, and both body and upper sleeves might be slashed to show the shirt beneath. By 1640 doublets were full and unfitted, and might be open at the front below the high waist to show the shirt.
Sleeveless leather jerkins were worn by soldiers and are seen in portraits, but otherwise the jerkin rapidly fell out of fashion for indoor wear.

Hose and breeches
Paned or pansied trunk hose or round hose, padded hose with strips of fabric (panes) over a full inner layer or lining, were worn early in the period, over cannions, fitted hose that ended above the knee. Trunk hose were longer than in the previous period, and were pear-shaped, with less fullness at the waist and more at mid-thigh.
Slops or galligaskins, loose hose reaching just below the knee, replaced all other styles of hose by the 1620s, and were now generally called breeches. Breeches might be fastened up the outer leg with buttons or buckles over a full lining.
From 1600 to c. 1630, hose or breeches were fastened to doublets by means of ties or points, short laces or ribbons pulled through matching sets of worked eyelets. Points were tied in bows at the waist and became more elaborate until they disappeared with the very short waisted doublets of the late 1630s. Decorated metal tips on points were called aiguillettes or aiglets, and those of the wealthy were made of precious metals set with pearls and other gemstones.
Spanish breeches, rather stiff ungathered breeches, were also popular throughout the era.

Outerwear

The Duke of Buckingham wears a wired collar with lace trim and a slashed doublet and sleeves. His hair falls in loose curls to his collar. C. 1625

Gowns were worn early in the period, but fell out of fashion in the 1620s.
Short cloaks or capes, usually hip-length, often with sleeves, were worn by fashionable men, usually slung artistically over the left shoulder, even indoors; a fashion of the 1630s matched the cape fabric to the breeches and its lining to the doublet. Long cloaks were worn for inclement weather.

Fashion Continuity from 1550 - 1600...

1550-1600 in fashion

English opulence, Italian reticella lace ruff, (possibly) Polish ornamentation, a French farthingale, and Spanish severity: The "Ermine Portrait" of Elizabeth I

Fashion in the period 1550-1600 in Western European clothing is characterized by increased opulence, the rise of the ruff, the expansion of the farthingale for women, and, for men, the disappearance of the codpiece.

General trends

Isaac Oliver's allegorical painting of 1590-95 contrasts virtuous and licentious dress and behavior.
The Spanish style
Charles V, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily and Holy Roman Emperor, handed over the kingdom of Spain to his son Philip II and the Empire to his brother Maximilian II in 1558, ending the domination of western Europe by a single court, but the Spanish taste for sombre richness of dress would dominate fashion for the remainder of the century. New alliances and trading patterns arose as the divide between Catholic and Protestant countries became more pronounced.
The severe, rigid fashions of the Spanish court were dominant everywhere except France and Italy; black garments were worn for the most formal occasions. Regional styles were still distinct though.[3] Janet Arnold in her analysis of Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe records identifies French, Italian, Dutch, and Polish styles for bodices and sleeves, as well as Spanish.

Italian doublet and hose decorated with applied trim and parallel cuts contrast with a severe black jerkin, 1560

Linen ruffs worn at Court grew from a narrow frill at neck and wrists to a broad "cartwheel" style that required a wire support by the 1580s. Later ruffs were made of delicate reticella, a cutwork lace that evolved into the needlelaces of the seventeenth century.

Fabrics and trims
The general trend toward abundant surface ornamentation in the Elizabethan Era was mirrored in clothing, especially amongst the aristocracy in England: shirts and chemises were embroidered with blackwork and edged in lace, and heavy cut velvets and brocades were further ornamented with applied bobbin lace, gold and silver embroidery, and jewels.[6] Toward the end of the period, polychrome (multicolored) silk embroidery became fashionable.[7].
Leather and fabric garments continued to be decorated by slashing and punching the fabric in regular patterns, and linings could be pulled through the slashes in small puffs. [6]
Clothing was fastened with buttons or tied with cord or ribbon points. For the wealthy, buttons were made of silver and gold and set with gemstones, and points were tipped with aiguillettes or aiglets of precious metals. By the end of the period, a sharp distinction could be seen between the sober fashions favored by Protestants in England and the Netherlands, which still showed heavy Spanish influence, and the light, revealing fashions of the French and Italian courts; this distinction would carry over well into the seventeenth century...

Women's Fashion

Isabella de' Medici's bodice fastens with small gold buttons and loops. A double row of loops trims the shoulder, 1560-65.
Bodices and sleeves
The narrow-shouldered, wide-cuffed "trumpet" sleeves characteristic of the 1540s and 1550s disappeared with the accession of Elizabeth, in favor of French and Spanish styles with narrower sleeves. Gloves of perfumed leather featured embroidered cuffs.
Folding fans appeared late in the period, replacing flat fans of ostrich feathers.

Hairstyles and headgear

Elizabeth I wears padded shoulder rolls and an embroidered partlet and sleeves. Her low-necked chemise is just visible above the arched bodice, 1572.
Early in the period, hair was parted in the center and fluffed over the temples; later front hair was curled and puffed high over the forehead. Wigs and false hairpieces were used to extend the hair.
In keeping with tradition, married women in Northern Europe wore their hair pinned up and covered. A close-fitting linen cap called a coif or biggins was worn, alone or under other hats or hoods, especially in the Netherlands and England; many embroidered and bobbin-lace-trimmed English coifs survive from this period. A style called in French at attifet was wired or starched into a slight heart-shape; it is called a Mary Stuart cap by costume historians, after the Queen of Scots who wears this French style in several portraits. Flemish and French hoods were worn into the 1560s (and later farther from Court and great cities).
Another fashionable headdress was a caul or cap of net-work lined in silk attached to a band, which covered the pinned up hair, which had been seen in Germany in the first half of the century.
In this period, women began to wear hats similar to those worn by men, usually over a caul or coif. This fashion was deplored by Puritan commentator Philip Stubbes in his Anatomie of Abuses 1583 (although a tall hat would become a characteristic of Puritan women's costume in the 1590s and for half a century thereafter, contributing to the popular notion of "Pilgrim" dress).

Fashion Continuty from 1500 - 1550.

1500-1550 in fashion

Portrait of the family of Sir Thomas More shows English fashions of the later 1520s
Fashion in the period 1500-1550 in Western Europe is marked by voluminous clothing worn in an abundance of layers (one reaction to the cooling temperatures of the Little Ice Age, especially in Northern Europe and the British Isles). Contrasting fabrics, slashes, embroidery, applied trims, and other forms of surface ornamentation became prominent. The tall, narrow lines of the late Medieval period were replaced with a wide silhouette, conical for women with breadth at the hips and broadly square for men with width at the shoulders. Sleeves were a center of attention, and were puffed, slashed, cuffed, and turned back to reveal contrasting linings.

General trends

Regional styles :

A gown of black-on-black floral silk is trimmed with bands of black velvet and fur at the cuffs. Kirtle, cap, chemise and belt are all embroidered or jewelled, Germany, c. 1530s.
European fashion in the earlier decades of the sixteenth century was dominated by the great rivalry between Henry VIII of England (ruled 1509-1547) and Francis I of France (ruled 1515-1547) to host the most glittering renaissance court, culminating in the festivities around the Field of Cloth of Gold (1520).[1] But the rising power was Charles V, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily from 1516, heir to the style as well as the riches of Burgundy, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1530. The inflow of gold and silver from the New World into recently united Spain changed the dynamics of trade throughout Western Europe, ushering in a period of increased opulence in clothing that was tempered by the Spanish taste for sombre richness of dress that would dominate the second half of the century.[2], [3]
Regional variations in fashionable clothing that arose in the fifteenth century became more pronounced in the sixteenth. In particular, the clothing of the Low Countries, German states, and Scandinavia developed in a different direction than that of England, France, and Italy, although all absorbed the sobering and formal influence of Spanish dress after the mid-1520s.

Fabrics, furs, and trims:

Black and red embroidery on a child's shirt, Ambrosius Holbein, 1516.
Linen shirts and chemises or smocks had full sleeves and often full bodies, pleated or gathered closely at neck and wrist. The resulting small frill gradually became a wide ruffle, presaging the ruff of the latter half of the century. These garments were often decorated with embroidery in black or red silk. Small geometric patterns appeared early in the period and, in England, evolved into the elaborate patterns associated with the flowering of blackwork embroidery. German shirts and chemises were decorated with wide bands of gold trim at the neckline, which was uniformly low early in the period and grew higher by midcentury.
Silk brocades and velvets in bold floral patterns based on pomegranate and thistle or artichoke motifs remained fashionable for those who could afford them, although they were often restricted to kirtles, undersleeves and doublets revealed beneath gowns of solid-coloured fabrics or monochromatic figured silks. Yellow and red were fashionable colors.[5]
Elaborate slashing remained popular, especially in Germany, where a fashion arose for assembling garments in alternating bands of contrasting fabrics. Elsewhere, slashing was more restrained, but bands of contrasting fabric called guards, whether in color or texture, were common as trim on skirts, sleeves, and necklines. These were often decorated with bands of embroidery or applied passementerie. Bobbin lace arose from passementerie in this period, probably in Flanders[6], and was used both as an edging and as applied trim; it is called passamayne in English inventories. The most fashionable furs were the silvery winter coat of the lynx and dark brown (almost black) sable.

Women's fashion
Overview:

Anne of Brittany,Queen of France, and her ladies wear round hoods over linen caps. Anne's gown is open at the front to reveal a figured silk kirtle beneath. The gowns have wide sleeves with turned-back cuffs lined in fur, 1508

Women's fashions of the earlier sixteenth century consisted of a long gown, usually with sleeves, worn over a kirtle or undergown, with a linen chemise or smock worn next to the skin.
The high-waisted gown of the late medieval period evolved in several directions in different parts of Europe. In the German states and Bohemia, gowns remained short-waisted, tight-laced but without corsets. The open-fronted gown laced over the kirtle or a stomacher or plackard. Sleeves were puffed and slashed, or elaborately cuffed.
In France, England, and Flanders, the high waistline gradually descended to the natural waist in front (following Spanish fashion) and then to a V-shaped point. Cuffs grew larger and were elaborately trimmed.
Hoop skirts or farthingales had appeared in Spain at the very end of the fifteenth century, and spread to England and France over the next few decades. Corsets (called a pair of bodies) also appeared during this period.
A variety of hats, caps, hoods, hair nets, and other headresses were worn, with strong regional variations.
Shoes were flat, with broad square toes.

German fashion

Anne Stafford wears a black fur-lined gown with turned-back sleeves over a dark kirtle[9] She wears a soft sash at her waist and a sheer partlet over a square-necked chemise, c. 1535.

In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, German dress varied widely from the costume worn in other parts of Europe. Skirts were cut separately from bodices, though often sewn together, and the open-fronted gown laced over a kirtle with a wide band of rich fabric, often jeweled and embroidered, across the bust. Partlets (called in German gollers or collars) were worn with the low-cut bodice to cover the neck and shoulders, and were made in a variety of styles. The most popular goller was a round shoulder-capelet, frequently of black velvet lined in silk or fur, with a standing neckband; this goller would remain in use in some parts of Germany into the seventeenth century and became part of national dress in some areas.
Narrow sleeves were worn in the earliest years of the century, and were later decorated with bands of contrasting fabric and rows of small panes or strips over puffed linings. Skirts were trimmed with bands of contrasting fabric, but were closed all around. They would be worn draped up to display an underskirt.
From 1530, elements of Spanish dress were rapidly adopted in fashionable Germany under the influence of the imperial court of Charles V.

English or French fashion of 1545: the trumpet-sleeved "French" or "Tudor gown", worn over a farthingale and false undersleeves with a matching forepart. The turned-back cuffs are lined with fur.

Gowns
Dress in Holland, Belgium, and Flanders, now part of the Empire, retained a high, belted waistline longest. Italian gowns were fitted to the waist, with full skirts below.
The French gown of the first part of the century was loosely fitted to the body and flared from the hips, with a train. The neckline was square and might reveal the kirtle and chemise beneath. Cuffed sleeves were wide at the wrist and grew wider, displaying a decorated undersleeve attached to the kirtle. The gown fastened in front early, sometimes lacing over the kirtle or a stomacher, and the skirt might be slit in front or the train tucked up in back to display the skirt of the kirtle.
As a fitted style emerged under Spanish influence, the gown was made as a separate bodice and skirt; this bodice usually fastened
at the side or the side-back with hooks and eyes or lacing.
From the 1530s, French and English fashions featured an open, square-necked gown with long sleeves fitted smoothly over a tight corset or pair of bodies and a farthingale. With the smooth, conical line of the skirt, the front of the kirtle or petticoat was displayed, and a decorated panel called a forepart, heavily embroidered and sometimes jeweled, was pinned to the petticoat or directly to the farthingale.
The earlier cuffed sleeves evolved into trumpet sleeves, tight on the upper arm and flared below, with wide, turned back cuffs (often lined with fur) worn over full undersleeves that might match the decorated forepart. At the very end of the period, full round sleeves (perhaps derived from Italian fashions) began to replace the flaring trumpet sleeves, which disappeared by the later 1550s.
Fabric or chain girdles were worn at the waist and hung down to roughly knee length; a tassel or small prayer book or purse might be suspended from the girdle.
The low neckline of the gown could be filled with a partlet. Black velvet partlets lined in white with a high, flared neckline were worn pinned over the gown. Partlets of the same rich fabric as the bodice of the gown give the appearance of a high-necked gown. Sheer or opaque linen partlets were worn over the chemise or smock, and high-necked smocks began to appear; toward 1550 these might have a small standing collar with a ruffle, which would become the pleated ruff of the next period.