Title: Women's Fashions of the 1700s - Bellatory
Headings: Women's Fashions of the 1700s
Women's Fashions of the 1700s
The 18th-Century Fashion Revolution
At-a-Glance Fashion Changes
Textiles and Trade
Early 1700s
Madame Pompadour, 1756
The Mid-1700s
Late 18th Century
Undergarments
Makeup and Jewelry
Outerwear
Calash-style hood at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Footwear
For Further Reading
Questions & Answers
© 2017 Dolores Monet
Comments

Content: Simpler garments based on pastoral life came into vogue in England and moved into Europe. In the late 18th century, English influence relied on a sense of propriety rather than the decadent ornamentation of the elite. New technologies, materials, and communication offered the merchant class opportunity to wear stylish garments. By the mid-1760s, women's magazines offered even rural women glimpses of current styles. The introduction of cotton and faster production techniques gave women the ability to become fashion consumers. The beautiful gowns associated with the French aristocracy were worn at court as ceremonial dress. The more comfortable clothing worn at home called "undress" gradually replaced the cumbersome, very expensive look of court dress. Where once the hoi-polloi looked to the aristocracy for style, the elite began to lose their luster. At-a-Glance Fashion Changes
New technologies speed up textile production
France was greatest fashion influencer
Court attire and hair became extreme and flamboyant
Century ended with simple, neoclassical styles
Textiles and Trade
The clothing industry offered occupations in spinning, weaving, tailoring, dress making, glove making, lace making, for clothiers, and trade. Europe produced wool and linen textiles.