The effect of the Revolution and Napoleon of fashion

It is important for me to realise how much influence that military tailoring had on everyday fashion espeically during the napoleonic wars.The effects of the French Revolution were disastrous on France as a whole, as well as on the linen and textile trade. The country lacked leadership and was badly managed during the period of the Directory 1795 to 1799. Very few foreign countries supported the revolutionary regime and therefore the export trade almost disappeared. The linen and textile mills of Brittany and Languedoc stopped operating, and no lace was made in Valenciennes. Business in some towns was so bad that many of the tradesmen no longer found it worth while to open their shops.
When Napoleon Bonaparte was made Emperor in 1804, one of his first tasks was to restore the economy. France depended a good deal on rebuilding its textile industry, being a fashion conscious country. Spinning and weaving were still done by hand, whereas in England has the invention of the sewing machine. Napoleon banned the import of english textiles, and had eventually revived many factories as well as the lace industry of Valenciennes.


On formal occasions, generals, marshals and politicians were obliged to appear in white satin breeches and brightly coloured silk coats heavy with embroidery. During the day much more practical clothing was the norm. This can easily be relatable to the ways of Military uniform traditions from the napoleonic era. The elaborate styles of the uniforms were very influential on fashion. Breeches were still worn particularly with formal dress, however, pantaloons were now introduced. When worn with boots these could easily be mistaken for breeches,  as they were just as close fitting. They reached half way down the calf, rather than just below the knee. They were fastened with three plain buttons. The tight style of the pantaloons was made from knitted wool fabric. Early in the nineteenth Century the style became slightly looser and ankle length. these pantaloons were cut from kerseymere, a fine cloth, woven with diagonal ribbing that allowed ease.

The longer pantaloons were known as 'trowsers' often has straps under the feet. Another type of fabric that is mentioned is nankeen, a heavy Indian cotton cloth used for summer trowsers. Leather boots were the usualy wear for outdoors.


Boots were very fashionable in the first part of the century and were often named after famous people such as Wellington and Napoleon. These were of a military style made of black calfskin to knew height with a slightly lower back to allow the knee to bend. Spurs were worn by men of fashion on all occasions, even when not riding. Riding boots known as 'military long boots' were quite high at the front, but low at the back. Top boots were slightly lower ending below the knees and had, as their name implies, turned down tops, often in a lighter colour. Loops on each side facilitated pulling on the boots which could be held up by 'boot garters' attached to the back of the boot and fastened above the knees. these boots were usually worn with breeches and had low square heels and rounded toes.

Hessians, named after to boots of the soldiers of Hesse in Germany and still popular from the previous century were short riding boots, close fitting to just below the knees with the fronts slightly peaked and often decorated with a tassel. the toes where slightly squared.

Buskins or Hussar boots were similar, only shorter and did not have tassels at the points.they were also worn with pantaloons as were the Hessians.

I decided to do a little bit of research in to the fabric Kerseymere, and I came across this definition from the book "The Dictionary of Fashion History" by Valerie Cumming.

Kerseymere

Period: 18th and 19th centuries.

"A fine wollen cloth of a peculiar texture, one third of the warp always being above and two thirds below each shoot of the weft" was a 19th Century description. However, it's nature in the 18th century is uncertain. It seems to have introduced as a rival to the patented Cassimir, and was possibly very similar. Whether it was made of Spanish or English wool is also uncertain, but after 1820 the Saxony merino wool was replacing the Spanish and at the same time the names 'Kerseymere' and 'Cassimir' were being used interchangeably in fashion journals.

Nankeen 

Nankeen is a loomed fabric that is still produced by hand in some parts of China, nankeen has been around for a long time and has an illustrious history when it comes to making clothing for a number of occasions. It is named after Naking, the area within China known as Silk Road for its many fine fabrics. The demand for nankeen has not been effected a great deal with the invention of newer synthetic fibres, since nankeen can be easily produced at a very inexpensive rate using those contemporary methods. The advantages of nankeen is that it is an all cotton fabric, which makes it attractive to people who are not able to wear synthetic fibres, or who prefer to go with natural fibres only.