Clothing styles before and after the French Revolution
Men's wear/clothes/clothing
Before the French Revolution, in Europe as a whole, when it comes to men's dress style and its typical elements, people first think of breeches. The crotch and thighs of breeches are very loose, but they gradually tighten below the knee and at the trouser legs.
Another typical style is a shawl trench coat. The hem is a big A-shaped hem, almost knee-deep. People inside will wear white linen shirts with lace on the collar as decoration. Then wear a triangular hat on your head. Because people wore wigs at that time, they would wear hats on wigs.
At that time, men's wear in Europe was basically like this.
Due to the French Revolution, many nobles were forced to flee to England. When they fled to England, many people fell in love with the British way of life and clothes. So when the French Revolution ended and the fleeing nobles returned to France again, they brought the British way of life back to France.
It's just like early China people studying abroad. In the early days of China, especially in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, many people studied abroad. The so-called open mind at that time was the cultural product brought back by these people after they went to Europe and the United States.
Go back to the book. The nobles who returned to France even brought back the way the English country gentry dressed.
Generally speaking, Europeans dress in a similar way. But in Britain at that time, first of all, their coats were not as wide as those of the French, and because they often needed to ride horses in the countryside, their coats were not that long. Secondly, their hats are not triangular hats worn by the French. Because the mouth of the triangle hat is very shallow, once the horse runs, it is very easy to fall. Therefore, the British hat body is usually very high and the brim is very narrow. In addition, people in rural England don't wear breeches, and pants are usually loose.
Therefore, these clothes with British characteristics were brought back to France by French nobles.
The clothes they brought back were welcomed by the French upper class and even became the current trend. In order to import English carriages, they even import English horses.
women's clothes
In terms of women's wear, the trend after the French Revolution returned to the simplicity and simplicity of Greek style, and regained the elegant, simple and practical wearing characteristics.
Almost from 1795 to 18 10, women's bodies were in a relatively free state. The reason for this is that before the French Revolution, women had to wear corsets. After the Great Revolution, women's costumes returned to the costumes of the classical Greek period. This skirt is characterized by a streamlined body and a high waistline (just under the chest). Women don't need to wear corsets when they wear them everyday, and their hair can be cut short. And they can expose their bodies at will, and they don't have to hide as before.
During this period, women are more open physically and psychologically. This is the characteristic of women's dress about 15 years before and after the French Revolution.
The change of Napoleon's style after his expedition to Egypt
Around 18 10, Napoleon went to Egypt and brought back the popular elements of the East.
Speaking of the East, by the way, the East here may be different from our previous concept. Often when we talk about the East, we are actually talking about China, or at most Japanese and Korean. However, in the context of Europe, the eastern countries should start from the Middle East. For them, it is the Near East, and further east, it is India. For them, China, Japan and South Korea are countries in the Far East. So for them, the Eastern Hemisphere belongs to the East.
In the world language family, the East has different connotations for different countries. Therefore, I don't quite agree to call China's aesthetics Oriental Aesthetics, because strictly speaking, if the West is the boundary, Oriental culture should also include Islamic culture and Indian culture.
Back to books, Napoleon made an expedition to Egypt and won, bringing some Egyptian lifestyles back to France and influencing French fashion.
For example, both Egyptians and Turks wear headscarves, and it was at this time that shawls became popular in Europe. In addition to the cloth, headdress and shawl brought back from Egypt, Napoleon also brought back the elements of military uniform to show his respect for the army. For example, women's necklaces and shoulder ornaments are all military elements. In addition, the headband is also transformed from the folk costumes in the Middle East.
The above is 18 10- 1820 women's clothing history. French men's wear was mainly influenced by British men's wear in this period.
France has always been good at women's wear, but men's wear is not their strong suit. There are some objective factors, one of which is the difference between male and female clothing fabrics.
The common suit fabric for men's wear is thick and hard fabric; French women's fabrics are soft fabrics (such as silk). The cutting and sewing methods of soft materials and hard materials, as well as the required skills, are different, so male and female tailors have always been separated. It is for this reason that China can be divided into local tailors and red tailors. Our tailors all cut in Chinese style, regardless of men's and women's clothes; The red tailor is a western tailor, divided into men's and women's clothes.
In a word, the difference between men's and women's clothing fabrics leads to the situation that French tailors are good at women's wear and British tailors are good at men's wear.