#14 - The Restoration (of England's Monarchy)

Charles II

In 1660 Charles II was declaired the rightful inheritor of the English crown and reinstated as King like the past 11 years of king-free government (and wars) had never happened.   Over the next 40 years England had two different kings, (Charles II, James II) a little revolution over whether or not England was going to be tolerant of multiple religions (they wern't), and then the dynamic duo of William and Mary.   William and Mary had no kids so Mary's sister Ann then became queen.

Meanwhile, in France, Louis XIV was king for 72 years and 110 days, dying of gangrene and outliving ALL of his family exept for a five year old grandson who became King Louis XV.





Here's a song about Charles II of the Restoration:

As you might imagine, when Charles hit town he kicked off some fashion changes.   In particular, fashion got flashier and more decadent.   Basically the cavalier style got even more voluminous and for men, the slops they were wearing became something known as petticoat breeches.  (The trousers in the video are NOT period. The wigs totally are.)  Here is an engraving of Charles II and his wife:

Technically, he is wearing pants.  Really REALLY big pants. Pants that are so full that  Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary: "And among other things, met with Mr. Townsend, who told of his mistake the other day to put both his legs through one of his Knees of his breeches, and so went all day." (April 1661)

This pleases me a lot because it's silly.  Here are some more petticoat breeches:

 The whole push was away from militarisim of the past (so no more thigh-high soldier boots) and forward to a more peaceful decadent lifestyle (where folks get to wear shoes and celebrate things like Oak Apple Day.)   So, what does the gentleman in ENORMOUS trousers wear in accompaniment?

He would wear a justacorps, a cravat (possibly in the Steinkirk style), a waistcoat, and a wig.  ALL of that was brought to England and into popularity by Charles II.  He had been in France and brought over all the fashion trends.   Before Charles II, men wore doublets.  By 1680, they wore justacorps.

So, what is a justacorps (or a juste-au-corps)?   Let's see:

"This red justacorps totally hides my enormous trousers!"

That, my friends, is a justacorps, that long full red coat.  Just-au-corps means "only for corps" which means "soldiers only."  So, that's interesting because it totally became the decadent fashion of everyone AND soldiers.  Our fellow here also has a wig on and a cravat tied into a cute little bow like a cat.  He also has red heels on his shoes which was what all the cool kids at court were wearing.   He may or may not have a waistcoat on under that thing but who cares because it's totally covered in gold embroidery!

These guys, however,

are totally wearing justacorps AND waistcoats like all well-dressed men should. (However, I feel like I need to mention that a man who wants to carry a fur muff around on his belt probably shouldn't pick his nose cause it's awfully hard to clean boogers off fur.) Charles II totally started the three piece suit trend in men's fashion which is still going strong today.  Party animal he might have been but not many people have singlehandedly started a fashion trend which lasted 353 years.

Anyway, the look progressed over time

with breeches become smaller and smaller and more fitted.  By the 1700s, this is what guys wore

which might look a bit like this

extremely popular style in 1776

but really should remind you of this:

Pirates!!!

Yup, that's right, the Restoration period is officially the beginning of pirate fashion.  I know you are excited.  Here's a picture of Blackbeard the pirate

Boring, huh?  Well, here's a considerably more exciting representation:

Look at those pants!  Huge!

Anyway, that's menswear.  Oh, and wigs were THE thing to wear but I still haven't even started on women's wear so go ahead and click the hyperlink on wigs and read up on it.  It's neat.  (Also, cravats are cool and the beginning of neckties so read that too.)

Women were wearing mostly the same thing for a couple of decades, (those decades being 1640 - 1680)  the only difference is that the corseting got tighter and the waistlines went down into that weird Queen Elizabeth point again. However, the shoulders didn't get pointy.  Instead the shoulder was usually exposed, with necklines being really wide.

If you will notice the lady in pink here, you can see that her dress is sewn in such a way as to expose her super fancy petticoat underneath it.  This to-show-or-not-to-show-my-petticoat thing will happen on and off now until the 1920's so it's good to watch for.

Of course, not everyone wore this style of dress.  In the colonies, for example, things went on pretty much as normal.

This fine lady of Boston who is loosely holding her rigid child is obviously very wealthy as she has an enormous amount of (handmade) lace on her collar, black and red ribbons on her sleeves, an exposed red petticoat with some lovely embroidery, and a pearl necklace.   To wear a pearl necklace was THE thing for a woman and the style contines to be fashionable for years and years.

Still is, actually...

Meanwhile in Spain, they did whatever they wanted.

And this is what they wanted

No one would wear panniers like this for 100 years, and they only started wearing them then because Spain sent some over to France to display.  To be 100 YEARS ahead of fashion is quite an accomplishment and a demonstration of utter distain for every other country there is.

So, that's all kind of a normal evolution but things changed in the 1680s when France invented the mantua or the manteau.  It was different than the gowns women had been wearing because for a long time everyone wore a skirt and a boned bodice.   The mantua was basically a long dress which opened in the front.  The front was pinned together over a stomacher and then the skirts of the mantua were pinned back to expose the petticoat.

This was considered easier than the old style of gown.

Though it's hard to see how...  I guess it was a lot less naked so probably that was a good thing since it's still pretty cold.

The other popular trend by the 1680s was the fontange.   Here is Queen Mary with one:

It's that wad of hair and lace over her forehead

The story is that when a mistress of Louis XIV (remember he's totally still alive) lost her hat while out riding, she tied up her hair with a bunch of ribbon (which everyone had in bundles all over their clothing.) It pleased the king and so it became her style. Then all the women in France thought it racy and sexy and exciting and adopted it, and it eventually came to England where EVERYONE (maids, ladies, the Queen) wore a pile of stuff on their foreheads. (Though the look was banned in the courts of France.  Probably because Louis thought it apropriate only for his courtesans.)

So, during fifty years of dramatic social and political change in England and absolutely no change at all in France, women's fashion went from horizontal and blousy (meaning "to blouse" i.e. "to hang or cause to hang loosely or fully") to vertical and rigid with fluff on the top of the head.  Weird, huh?

Anyway, here's your test:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VYygpu1f76qX-nx_f1ooZJUZXi38bynSoPmkrpkqmKY/viewform