The changes brought by the revolution affected all areas of French life including fashion. The middle class provided the firmest support for the Revolution and had the most to gain from the changes. Women were not excluded from interest in political ideas, but they were not considered equal, even by the philosophers of the time.
When the Sans Culottes first appeared in 1792, the costume consisted of a pair of trousers and a Carmagnole, a short jacket based on naval working dress. Suspenders were worn for the first time. The Sans Culottes wore also the red cap of shame symbolizing the new found liberty and freedom.
Robespierre (1758-1794) tried to introduce a national costume, but dress was not standardized until 1799: trousers worn with turned-down boots, blue or green coats, chin-tickling cravats, side whiskers and a tall hat.
Women’s dresses were very simple too. For traveling the lady would use a tall hat with wide brim, trimmed with blue, white and red ribbon and rosettes, shoulder-length veil, redingote buttoned from neck to waist, large muff trimmed with silk bow, hat with upturned brim and feather trim, powdered wig, double muslin scarf tied at the back, half redingote of striped satin with belt and silk underskirt.
During Napoleon’s time there was a return to simple designs. Women’s clothes had a high waist-line with an Athenian look (classic look). They were also extremely light, so much so that the body shape was revealed.
Fashion followed the example of society and went from complicated and impractical as the “grand habit de cour” to simple and certainly less pretentious than before.
Fashion was not just a fundamental part of French industry, but a way of life, therefore it is easy to see that fashion does indeed give us the opportunity to assess the evolution of a country and gives us the chance to understand the reasons behind certain trends as well as certain events.
Clothing evolves again in the next century (XIXth) sometimes trying to revive past fashion, but the sumptuousness and wealth of these two centuries was lost forever.