Men's Fashion from the 18th Century Part 1

I have always been fascinated by men's suiting from the 18th Century. I can not wear any of it, since I am not a man and don't live in the 18th century, but I do love the look of it.

To me, the 18th century was really the last time that men could dress as beautifully as women. Men's clothing during the 18th century was ornate, elegant and embroidered just as much as women's were.

The suiting of the 18th century was what laid the ground work for the modern suiting of 20th/21 century, many of the elements that are found in a traditional men's suit are found in the suits of 300 years ago.

A man's suit in the 18th had many parts, here are a few that remained through out the 18th century (and man in some form or another through the 21st century)

For a man in the 18th century to be completely dressed, he would have to wear:

1. A shirt: This was today's undershirt and boxers. Men would would wear a shirt to under their suiting, but would also wear a shirt to sleep in. The shirt was either linnen or cotton and came down to a man's knees or atleast mid thigh.  Some shirts were very plain, and some shirts had intricate jabots and lacy cuffs.

Typical 18th Century Men's Shirt.

Antonio Vivaldi wearing a plain shirt unbuttoned at the collar.

 Next came breeches, short pants that buckled or buttoned at the knee. The fit of these depended on when about about the 18th century you are talking about.

Breeches, a shirt, a wig and stockings.

 Next came stockings. Stockings were made out of silk or wool. The came to just over the knee and were held up by garters

Men's 18th century stockings, the little designs on them are called "clocks"

 After stockings came the waist coat, the waist coat was one of the things that changed the most through the 18th century, and its one of the easiest ways to date a suit. Waist coats from up until the 1740s had sleeves.

Here's a light blue waist coat, probably from the late 18th century.

 And then finally the coat, sometimes called a top coat or justaucorps, depending on what country you country or decade of the 18th century, the coat is another way to tell what decade of the 18th century a suit is from.

A suit from the 1720'/30's, notice the full breeches and the full cuffs on the coat.

Top coats from the late 18th Century.

The next blog will cover accessories and outer clothing.