Revolutionary and empirical fashion

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The revolutionary and the Empire fashion are the successors to the Rococo and include a third style, the Directoire . These clothing epochs were, like the politics of that time, exceptionally short and fast-paced, did not flow into one another and sometimes ended abruptly from one year to another. The revolutionary fashion lasted from 1789 to 1795, the Directoire covered the period from 1796 to 1804 and was then replaced by the Empire fashion , which ended in 1820.

The revolutionary fashion

When the French Revolution broke out in France in 1789, it brought with it an abrupt change in fashion - from 1790 at the latest, anything that reminded of the Rococo period and thus of royalty , the Ancien Régime , was frowned upon . This went so far in 1793 that both men and women with powdered wigs had to risk being charged as royalists and beheaded.

The women's fashion

Madame Seriziat, 1795

Women's fashion showed only minor revolutionary excesses and mainly took over the lines of English fashion. A larger hood became fashionable again, protecting the head and face with a shield. They also wore floor-length skirts and a coat with double or triple lapels , the new “riding coat”, which in France was called “rédingote”. Politically committed women (not least for possible women's rights in the new form of government ) matched their men's wardrobe with vests and jackets , which also had lapels and cockades .

The surrounding countries, which were still largely monarchical, also increasingly adopted the simple English fashion, however less to support the Republic of France, but because the French fashion magazines simply stayed away.

The men's fashion

The knee breeches - the so-called culottes - which had shaped fashion since the beginning of the early modern period, were replaced by long trousers , which is why the straps were also called " sans-culottes " ("without knee breeches "). This met with general outrage, both among the upper class, who viewed these long trousers as an “insult to good taste”, as well as among many revolutionaries themselves. But very soon the critical voices fell silent and the era of long men's trousers, which continues to this day, began. In addition, one usually wore a vest and a red cap, the " Jacobin cap ", which reminded of the slaves on the galleys and was a symbol of solidarity.

At that time, the simple, black “ kerchief ” was used as a symbol of the people , which was now even made an “honor dress” according to the political situation. It can be called the most important item of clothing for men during the revolution and was usually decorated with sashes , cockades and bows in the national colors of red, white and blue. The same colors could also be combined with a skirt in blue with red lapels and a white vest.

The Directoire

After the stormy years of the Revolution were over and with it the " Time of the Great Terror " (1793), the hard-fought Republic of France had a largely democratic form of government , headed by the Directory - with which the era of the Directoire began.

The search for new traditions and models for democratic culture went back to ancient times . According to the opinion of the time, this was considered particularly pure, free and just. Art , architecture and fashion were now shaped by Greco-Roman influences. Incroyables et merveilleuses were a fashionable escapade of that time .

The women's fashion

Madame de Verniac, 1799

The fashion of women changed fundamentally, as she ignored the previous patterns and now relied on the soft clothes of antiquity . One tried to imagine this time as the ideal and purest form of being, with young girls who sat in light robes on babbling rivers and lived in harmony with fauna and flora . According to this idea, women's fashion was first freed from all constraints: no corset , no hoop skirt , no wig or hood . Instead, in accordance with fashion à la grecque , people wore simple, sleeveless and partly transparent robes made of white muslin , with shoes laced with ribbons around the calves and loosely pinned up hair.

The men's fashion

Men, too, now wore their waists more and more, with the waistband reaching far over the stomach and being further emphasized by cutting the jacket away at the front - an early form of today's tailcoat . The high collar , which had grown steadily since the 1770s and now reached to the ears, was remarkable . The shoes were rather uncomfortable, as you almost exclusively wore (calf-high) boots , into which you then tucked your tight pants . The real novelty, however, was an extraordinarily wide and long black scarf , which at first even represented a sign of prosperity, the tie . The wig was finally banned from the male fashion world and from now on the men only showed their unpowdered natural hair.

The empire fashion

The Directoire was its simplicity until the early 19th century keep, but when Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804 even put on the crown and thus France to the Empire, the Empire was, as it ended with the Republic of the fashion of the time.

The shape of dresses and suits, however, remained largely unchanged: high waists for women and men. But quality, patterns and fabrics made new characteristics clear. The light pastel tones of the robes were replaced by heavy and stiff costumes in bright, dark colors. The delicate muslin either gave way to expensive velvet or was decorated with elaborate embroidery . Everything shifted from democratic and simple to imperial and ostentatious.

Empirical fashion took up the first styles of Biedermeier as early as 1810 and finally merged with them in 1820.

The women's fashion

Merry-Joseph Blondel : Family Portrait (1813).
Typical hairstyle of the Empire

The women's skirts became a little shorter over the years until they finally formed a conical "A" silhouette around 1820. The clothes of women became generally more conservative and one tried more and more to hide the female body . In this way, the once wide section moved steadily upwards until it finally disappeared completely and even formed small pointed collars that were supposed to cover the neck . The sleeves also regained length, from shoulder to wrist.

The men's fashion

The empirical fashion developed quite differently in the individual countries. The only thing they had in common in Europe was the cylinder , which had been imported from America as early as 1790, but was only now becoming popular. The most outstanding development of men's clothing took place in England , where not only a new style of clothing emerged, but also a new approach to life: that of the dandy . "Dandy" called themselves gentlemen who put their pride in being particularly flawlessly dressed. These gentlemen only wore the finest fabrics, such as dark cloth or tweed , which were processed by the best tailors to create a perfect fit. Underneath, you could usually see crisp white shirts , a tie or a scarf and other elegant, discreet accessories. In the meantime, the stand-up collar in Germany reached its highest and stiffest form, which is why it was popularly known as " parricide ".

See also

literature

  • Katell Le Bourhis (Ed.): The Age of Napoleon. Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789-1815 . Metropolitan Museum of Art / Harry N. Abrams, New York City 1989, ISBN 0810919001 ( full text ).
  • Martin Miersch: Mode, Kleid, in: Lexikon der Revolutionsikonographie in der Europäische Bildpublizistik (1789–1889), (Ed. Von Rolf Reichardt) Münster 2017, pp. 1476–1491.