Figure 1.--This French image is from the French school, although we do not know who the specific artist was. One source dates it to about 176o. I believe it is in the Museum of Naples. It shows the developing new fashion trend for boys, including long pants rather than breeches. Note the popular Punch and Judy doll and hoop that he is illustrated with.

The fashion industry was important in France even in the 18th Century. Most of the attention was of course devoted to women's clothing. At the beginning of the century there were not even any specialized children's styles. Only in the late 18th century did French mothers begin see the need to buy clothing specially designed for children--especially boys. French boys through much of the 18th century dressed much as boys in other European countries. Little boys wore dresses like their sisters until they were breeched at about 5 or 6 years. The clothes they wore after breeching were much like their fathers, a jacket and knee breeches. The kind of clothes Americans assiociate with the colonial period. Depending on the wealth of the family, some of these outfits could be quite elaborate. French parents toward the end of the 18th century began to adopt fashions specifically for children. The idea of clothes espeially designed for children were undoubtedly influence by the writings of Rosseau and new ideas about child rearing. The trends began in the years before the French Revolution (1789), but became wide spread after the Revolution began. Dresses for young boys and girls were loose, comfortable unrestricted frocks. Comfortable open knecked blouses, often with ruffled collars were introduced. Long pants were introduced for boys several years before men wore them. Above the ankle-length trousers were worn as part of high waisted skeleton suits. Younger boys wore pantalettes that peaked out under the hem of their pants. The fashion became known as the directory style and soon spread to England and America.spread to England.

Early 18th Century 1700-40)

The fashion industry was important in France even in the 18th century. Most of the attention was of course devoted to women's clothing. At the beginning of the century there were not even any specialized children's styles. French boys through much of the 18th century dressed much as boys in other European countries. Little boys wore dresses like their sisters until they were breeched at about 5 or 6 years. The clothes they wore after breeching were much like their fathers, a jacket and knee breeches. The kind of clothes Americans assiociate with the colonial period. Depending on the wealth of the family, some of these outfits could be quite elaborate.

Mid 18th Century(1740-70)

We have not yet succeed in acquiring information on this period in France. At mid-century, howver, specialized children's styles do not appear to have developed.

Late 18th Century (1770-1800)

Only in the late 18th century did French mothers begin see the need to buy clothing specially designed for children--especially boys. French parents toward the end of the 18th century began to adopt fashions specifically for children. The idea of clothes espeially designed for children were undoubtedly influence by the writings of Rosseau and new ideas about child rearing. Thus the skeleton suit, the first distinctibe boys garment appeared in the 1870s, well before the Revolution. Even the clothing of the Dauphin were affected by the new style. It would be some time before specialized girls' clothes appeared. Benjamin Franklin took France by storm in the 1770s, helping to gain French support for the American Revolution against Britain. Franklin, an exceedingly urbane man, wore rustic clothing to affect a humble, frontier American image. This further affected attitudes toward the very elaborate, exagerated French styles of the time. It was the French Revolition (1789) that began the most significant fashion shift in European history. The trends began in the years before the Revolution, became wide spread after the Revolution began. The initially moderate Revolution of 1789 evolved into the Reign of Terror of the early 1790s. During The Terror, anything associated with the Ancien Régime and nobility was suspect. Nothing was more immediately apparent about an individual French man than the clothese that he wore. Powered wigs were not only unfashionable, but dangerous to wear. One might not only have his wigged puled off in public, but any one so foolish asto wear one might even have his head removed by the guilotine. The dress of the day was that of the Paris masses--the "sansculottes" meaning "without kneebreeches". Kneebreeches were the basic garment of any esablished gentlemen, including both the nobility and the middle class. The Paris poor wore long trousers like sailors and poor laborers. These long trousers had once been a symbol of poverty and lower class origins. The Paris sansculottes after 1789 began taking pride in dressing in a slovenly workman's style, includiung short jackets, wooden shoes and the red jacobine cap that was worn by galley-slaves. [HBC note: Galley slaves were criminals condemned to the galley, oarsmen in naval vessels. Some naval vessel as late as the 17th century were powerd by oar and sail. The oarsmen were condemnned criminals, not sailors.] The kneebreches thus became an anti-Revolutionary symbol because the nobility wore them. Bit it was not only the nobility that wore knebreeches. Many middle class Frebnch men and after the Terror Napoleon and French officicials and military officers wore kneebreeches. Strangely English fashions were popular, in part to the fact that French fashion magazines, which had catered primarily to the nobility, were out of business. Along with the nobility, some fashion designers spread to England. Nikolaus Innocentius Wilhelm Clemens von Heideloff (1761-1837), a German born youth working in Paris, for example, fled to London and began publishing the Gallery of Fashion--one of te most influential early English fashion mahazines. This and other Englkish fashin magazines wee extremly influential, in part because French fashion magazines were no longer available. Middle class French men dressed in simple, black woolen coats, enlivened with sashes, cocardes and bows in the colours of the Tricolore--but still knee breaches. French women adopted some male styles. They still wore floor-length dresses, breeches wre out of the question. (After all, Joan of Ark had been burned at the stake for wearing men's clothes.) Women fashions for the upper body were another question. Women began wearing vests (waistcoats), jackets with revers and the fashionable "rédingote"--a coat with double or triple collars based on the English riding-coat. It was not only France where fashion was affected. The rest of Europe did not fiollow France in establishing monarchies. Other European countries were still ruled by monrachies. Fashion in these countries was affected by thge changing French styles, if no quite so significantly. Nothing like the extremes pf the sansculottes occurred elsewhere in Europe, despite the fact that French armies were to conquer most of Western Europe. The austere fashion image of The Terror did not last long in France. Soon the French tired of both The Terror and austere fashion. A democractic Goverment headed by the Directory emerged in Republican France. Fashion as is often the case followed the political trends. A new aesthetic movementdeveloped which became knowbn as the Directoire. The important historic republics in European history were those of antiquity--Grece and Rome. Political scholars had been studying the political thought of the anchients for some time. Men like Cicero were highly influential in the construction of both the American and French republics. The search for a new democratic culture resulted in Greco-Roman influences not only in goverment, but also in architecture, art, and fashion. Here the impact was most obvious in women's dress. Frech women began wearing dresses adopting the style of the Greek chiton--simple, long short-sleeved dresses of white muslin. These dresses were worn with heel-less, cross-laced sandals, in contrast to the high heelsthat had been worn by both men and women. Hair stylkes became much more plain and shorter. Naturalism wa the order of te day. Any devices that deformed the body's natural appearance (stays, hoops, pads, etc. were out of style. Necklines fell as low as practicality permitted. The most obvious fashion inovation was the shift upward of the waistlinr to just under the bust. Men's fashions were also affected. Men's waistlines were also raised. The waistband of men's breeches were moved above the belly. Long trousers for adulr men were not yet fashionable, even in France. Breeches grew longer, in some cases vanishing into high boots popularized by Napoleon, Wellington, and their generals. [HBC note: This was the fashion inspiration for Wellington boots or wellies.] Men's high waists was emphasised by cutting away the lower front of the coat. This can be seen in te many famous portarits of Emperor Napoleon and other turn of te 19th century historical figures. These coats eventually evolved into the modern tailcoat. Collars began to grow taller, in some cases reaching to the ears and were often worn with large cravats. While adults were slow to chnge, most French and European bits by 1800 were wearing long pants, the most affluent stylish skeleton suits. Dresses for young boys and girls were loose, comfortable unrestricted frocks. Comfortable open knecked blouses, often with ruffled collars were introduced. Long pants were introduced for boys several years before men wore them. Above the ankle-length trousers were worn as part of high waisted skeleton suits. Younger boys wore pantalettes that peaked out under the hem of their pants. The fashion became known as the directory style and soon spread to England and America.

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Created: October 30, 1998
Last updated: October 24, 2002