Rheingrafenhose

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Caspar Netscher : A man in Rheingrafenmode , 1659

The so-called Rheingrafenhose (French Rhingrave , English Petticoat breeches ) was a kind of culottes for men that belonged to the clothing of the European nobility and partly also of the bourgeoisie in the middle of the 17th century between around 1650 and 1670.

The trousers consisted of a pleated, roughly knee-length 'skirt', underneath puffy bloomers that were tied with ribbons at the knees. This included the obligatory lush decorations with brightly colored silk ribbons and bows that sat on the knees, on the stomach and around the waist. The lower trousers could also be studded with points at the knees , just like the cuffs of the shirt and the collar .

In addition one was wearing a short, sometimes open at the front doublet under which peeped the bulky white, lace-trimmed shirt. In addition, silk stockings and high-heeled shoes. Also on the sleeves, shoulders and shoes, ribbons and bows - all of the same color, preferably red. A wide sleeveless coat (or cape) sometimes hung over the shoulders.

The new trouser fashion is said to have been introduced to Paris around 1660 by the Dutch ambassador Karl Florentin zu Salm , who carried the title of Rhine Count . The French court quickly picked up on the new fashion, and since the entire European nobility oriented itself towards the court of Louis XIV , the Rheingrafen trousers were soon also worn in England, Germany and Holland.

The trousers were mostly made of fine linen or silk . This colorful and bird-of-paradise presentation is often perceived as feminine, especially in modern times (19th to 21st centuries), although there was also no lack of contemporary critics and scoffers.

literature

  • Gertrud Lenning: Little costume studies. Berlin 1986: Schiele and Schön. P. 139ff.

Individual evidence

  1. Ludmila Kybalová, Olga Herbenová, Milena Lamarová: The great image lexicon of fashion - from antiquity to the present , translated by Joachim Wachtel, Bertelsmann, 1967/1977: p. 189 and p. 527-528.