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Revolutionary Fashion in the 18th Century (and WCU Special Collections)  

By Allison Magerr 

Special Collections student worker Allison Magerr delves into fashion during the French Revolution, analyzing the evolution of styles and depictions of them in the Costume Plates of our WPA Collection. ~ Jenna Bossert

Title :  Ah ! Quelle antiquité ! ! ! _ Oh ! Quelle folie que la nouveauté..... : [estampe] / Chataignier inv. sc. 

Author :  Chataignier, Alexis (1772-1817). Graveur 

Publisher :  (A Paris) 

Publication date :  1797 

   Throughout much of the 18th century, the essentials of fashion remained the same. Of course, there were changes (a robe volante looks nothing like a robe à la polonaise), but there was a general look I’m sure we’re all familiar with: ¾ sleeves, sacque-backed gowns, lace, and ruffles, etc. Towards the end of the century though, fashion changed dramatically, with the French Revolution (1789-1799) playing a large part in this shift.  

   In the early 1780s, a major revolution in 18th-century fashion came about with Marie-Antoinette's chemise à la reine (contemporarily known as the robe en chemise) (fig. 2) [1]. Most commonly made of lightweight fabrics like muslin or gauze, the dress shocked the public, as it resembled a chemise, an undergarment. The dress is known for being very fluffy, with lots of gathered material and ruffles around the neckline and the hem. [2] Colorful sashes tied around the waist completed the look. [3] The chemise à la reine is a noteworthy dress, not only because of its shocking similarities to undergarments, but also its structure. Before this, most 18th century ensembles were put on in 2 pieces. First, on top of the foundation layers, you would put on the petticoat that is tied around the waist. Then you would put on the jacket, or bodice with an attached overskirt, secured in place with pins, or later, hooks, and eyes. [4] The chemise à la reine, however, was only one piece that you could easily slip on. It did not require bulky panniers (skirt hoops) underneath the skirts and was quite the departure from the highly structured clothing worn previously. [5] Though the gown was initially shocking to some, its relaxed look and lightweight fabric became popular and it remained fashionable for individuals to wear for the better part of a decade. [6] 

   During this period, a more natural body shape came into style; stays (corsets) went from being fully-boned to half-boned [7] and the bust area was given a “pigeon-breasted” look with strategically placed ruffles and/or fichus. [8] This silhouette was popular from the 1780s to the mid-1790s, until another shift began to occur. This change saw the waistline getting higher, until it rested under the bust. Because of this new position of the waist, the traditional, conical shape of stays (fig. 3) from the previous era did not work as well. The earlier style of stays compressed the breasts, but the new fashionable shape had them in a fuller and more natural position. [9] In response to this, a transitional style of stays appeared (figs. 4, 5).  

   This new style of stays features separate cups for the breasts and does not focus on shaping the stomach area, as that would be hidden under skirts. There are many different variations of these transitional stays. Figure 4 retains the tabs of the previous version and laces up the front and back, whereas Figure 5 loses the tabs, has no back lacing and the front fastens with lacing and buckles.  

   This period of fashion is called Directoire. It is named after the French Directory government, which lasted from 1795 to about 1800. [10] This look was completely different from anything else in the 18th century. While my focus here is more specific to France, this style was popular throughout Europe and America, with some regional variations. [11] Directoire clothing was known for being very drapey, with white dresses that had yards of fine fabric gathered up for the skirts. This era was all about rejecting the structured formal clothing and the brightly colored fabrics of the former aristocracy, instead of adopting lightweight, white dresses. [12]  

   This style was very inspired by the idea of what ancient Greek and Roman dress looked like, as can be seen in figure 6. Colorful shawls were a popular accessory [13], as well as reticules (little handbags), which replaced the pockets that had previously been tied around the waist in the previous decades. [14] Since these new skirts were much narrower and more sheer, and the waistline so raised, the old style of pockets simply did not work with the new silhouette.

   One interesting trend during this time period was the emphasis on maternity. Some women started padding their stomach area to give the illusion of pregnancy. [15] In a quote from 1794, a man remarked “When our grandmothers were pregnant they wore jumps [a supportive garment that could be worn in place of stays] to conceal it. Our modern ladies, who are not pregnant, wear pads to carry the semblance of it… Our grandmothers had shame, while their descendants had none.” [16] 

   Obviously, that man did not much care for the new fashions. That was by no means an unpopular opinion, as this new style was unlike anything seen before. The dresses were made of lightweight fabric and clung to women’s bodies and were often quite sheer. Some daring fashionistas in Paris left their shoulders bare, and ditched their petticoats and stays, leaving not much left for the imagination. [17] Though those extreme versions of this fashion were not universal, satirists drew many exaggerated caricatures to mock the new mode. [18] 

   In Special Collections, we have a collection of hand-painted fashion plates (figs. 7, 8), that artists created for the Work Projects Administration (WPA) Pennsylvania Extension. The WPA was created during the Great Depression to create more job opportunities [19]. These fashion plates are not the most historically accurate, especially in their little details, but they are a good illustration of the drastic change of silhouette over the course of around 6 years. (Please note that though the plates label the Directoire Period as 1789-1800, it started in 1795). 

  A 1797 satire by Alexis Chataigier is another great example of the silhouette change during this period. In it, a couple dressed in the Directoire style see a couple dressed in the old aristocratic fashions with panniers and wigs, and laugh at them, saying “Ah! Quelle antiquité!!!” (Ah! What antiquity!!!), while the aristocratic couple exclaimed about the new fashion in horror, “Oh! Quelle folie que la nouveauté…: (Oh! What folly is novelty…) [20]. This is also a good demonstration of the differing opinions on this style. 

   The last decades of the 1700s were quite literally a revolutionary time period. As such, the fashion of this time also followed this revolutionary trend. Starting with the chemise à la reine, and ending with the Directoire style, fashion became something, unlike anything 18th-century people had seen before. Though opinions on it were mixed, it was an important style that ultimately played a part in the evolution of fashion that led to what we wear today. 

Footnotes 

1. 1780-1789, FIT Fashion History Timeline, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu 

2. Le Costume, vol. 4- Louis XVI- Directoire by Jacques Ruppert, page 29 

3. 1780-1789, FIT Fashion History Timeline, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu 

4. The Writer’s Guide to Costume: 18th Century Gown Closures, mimicofmodes.com 

5. A Stitch in Time, season 1 episode 6 

6. The Chemise à la Reine, thefashionhistorian.com 

7. 500 Years of Women’s Corsets, Stays, and Bras: A Dress Historian Explains Bustlines and Necklines, by Abby Cox, YouTube 

8. Magasin des Modes Nouvelles Françaises et Anglaises, 11 février 1789 edition, page 58 

9. 500 Years of Women’s Corsets, Stays, and Bras: A Dress Historian Explains Bustlines and Necklines, by Abby Cox on YouTube 

10. Directory, Encyclopedia Britannica  

11. Parisian Milliner’s Advice in 1801 to a Visiting Lady: Regency Fashion, janeaustensworld.com 

12. Directoire Style Fashion of Women 1795-1800, hisour.com  

13. 1790-1799, FIT Fashion History Timeline, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu 

14. The History of Underclothes, by C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, page 74 

15. Directoire Style Fashion of Women 1795-1800, hisour.com 

16. The History of Underclothes, by C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, page 71 

17. Directoire Style Fashion of Women 1795-1800, hisour.com 

18. Parisian Milliner’s Advice in 1801 to a Visiting Lady: Regency Fashion, janeaustensworld.com 

19. Museum Extension Project Costume Plates, 1940-1943, Archives of American Art, aaa.si.edu 

20. 1790-1799, FIT Fashion History Timeline, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu 

For Museum Day, I decided to research Special Collection's Museum Collection. This collection includes many archeological artifacts, but we have little or no information on where they were collected, by whom, or under what circumstances.

The original core of the collection was from the Chester County Cabinet of the Natural Sciences, Chester County’s first natural sciences museum. So I started with what material we have about the Cabinet. However, I discovered that its contents only pertain to the herbariums and botanical specimens contributed to the Cabinet, rather than artifacts I'm researching.

Then I went to the student newspapers. Full-text searching the student newspapers is often a great way to pinpoint relevant information. In this case, unfortunately, the papers reported on so many student trips to other museums that I couldn’t pick out information about West Chester’s own museum.

In the course catalogs, I began finding scraps of information. Starting in 1879-1880, the museum collection was located in the Main Building in an addition that had been built in 1878-1879. When the Old Library was built in 1902, the collection was moved to its second floor. The mineral collection of the late Alfred Sharples was donated by his son F. F. Sharples in 1904-1905, and it seems that J. Preston Thomas’s collection of animal heads, horn, and Native American artifacts was made in 1906-1907. In 1909-910, over fifty Roman and Etruscan ceramic artifacts were donated by Dr. Edwin Barber, Director of the Pennsylvania Museum, and a collection of taxidermy birds and bird eggs, made by the late Frank Darlington, was added in 1915.

It seems that the attention and care given to the museum may have waned in the late 1920s. The museum was always given a paragraph description the course catalog up until 1927-1928, and in 1938-1939, it stops being mentioned at all. What does this mean? In 1939, the Old Library was renovated and perhaps the perennial problem of space in libraries led to the relocation or dissolution of the museum. Or maybe the staff responsible for the course catalog just decided not to devote space to the museum anymore. It’s hard to tell if the change in the course catalog provides anything meaningful.

We have an inventory of the museum collection from 1946. Esther Wolfe, who was probably a West Chester student, created an “Accession List of Recataloged Items” which consists of an inventory of a large number of Native American artifacts, as well as European Neolithic artifacts, some ancient Greek pottery, and random items ranging from a Turkish comb to Chilean spurs. In total, there are 684 items listed, according to the count at the end of the accession list. An inventory of the museum collection completed in 2012, however, consists of about 300 items. Wolfe notes at the end of the accession list that there is a card catalog for the collection “in Museum,” an indexed clipping file, and a collection of school loan articles filed in “old Herbarium Cabinets,” and that she also created a report in 1946. There is also a bibliography of books and museums consulted in doing all this work. Clearly, at some point we lost track of both records and artifacts.

Occasionally archival research yields useful information easily and quickly, but very often it doesn’t. I still don’t have any idea where I might find the provenance information I’m looking for, or a full picture of the history of the Museum Collection. Sometimes archival research is like that. 

Images: 

Top right image: Artifact to the left has a label reading "Pottery from Cliff dwelling ruins - 1000-2000 years before Spanish came" (Museum Collection, Box 1, 45-109). Artifact to the right has a label reading "Ancient Pueblo Pitcher 11-1200 A.D." (Museum Collection, Box 1, 45-129). Artifact in the middle is listed in the inventory as "ancient pueblo kettle with incised design" (Museum Collection, Box 1, 45-128). 

Middle image: Artifact to the left has a label reading "2 Handled Cup Greek 5th-4th cent. B.C." (Museum Collection, Box 8, container 3). Artifact to the right has a label reading "Etruscan Buchero Ware 5th-3rd cent. B.C." (Museum Collection, Box 8, container 3). 

Bottom image: Artifact to the left has a label reading "Cochiti Storage Bowl - Note design for four points of world, 1891" (Museum Collection Box 3, not listed in inventory.) 

References

Sturzebecker, Russell L. The Centennial History of West Chester State College. West Chester: Tinicum Press, 1971. 

West Chester University Course Catalog 1879-1880, pg 21. 

West Chester University Course Catalog 1904-1906, pg 41. 

West Chester University Course Catalog 1906-1907, pg 39. 

West Chester Course Catalog 1909-1910, pg 36-39. 

West Chester Course Catalog 1916-1917, pg 44. 

Wolfe, Esther. "Accession List of Recataloged Items."