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25. Out With the Elaborate Fancy Schmancy, in With the Simple and Staid
In Revolutionary France, the extravagant fashion and styles of the despised nobility came to be seen as expressions and symbols of counterrevolutionary intent. As such, the Revolution sought to suppress elements of dress associated with the aristocracy. Expensive silks, velvets, and other pricey items of clothing were prohibited, as the revolutionaries set out to create a new order marked by fraternity, rather than privilege. Thus, in the midst of the Reign of Terror, the workaday outfits of the sans culottes (“without breeches” – the common people of the lower classes) came to the fore.
The new and simpler styles were seen as symbols of revolutionary egalitarianism. The revolution in fashion was permanent. The Revolution itself went off track, and the revolutionary regime was replaced in turn by the Directory, the Consulate, the Empire, and finally, a restoration of the monarchy after Napoleon’s defeat. However, the extravagant fashions of the Ancien Regime did not return. Breeches did not make a comeback, and the elaborate powdered wigs and feathered hats for men were consigned to history.