Western European Dress Fashion And Society,1760-1800

Dress fashion is a material culture and a visual metaphor that implies the face of a society.As a style,it is updated in the change of order;as a commodity,it circulates in the consumer market;as a symbol of status,it has two sides;as a coat of morality,it is the object of debate among many forces.By studying the dress fashion and order in the second half of the 18 th century,mainly the order at the political level,it was found that the period of change in dress style and political order was close.From the perspective of its interactive relationship,political order guided the evolution of dress fashion style,and even influenced the development direction of dress fashion by powerful means.Dress fashion also showed the trends of national strength,government authority,and class mobility with its clear visual image.Around 1760,with the change of the political order in Britain and France,the status of the Western European fashion center began to change.In France's turbulent order of 1789,a dress such as a badge or headdress could serve as a political tool to maintain order for rulers.From an economic point of view,in addition to the self-sufficient dress sewn by families,the dress that participated in the market had the attributes of a commodity,and it was a consumer product.Based on the theories of macroeconomics,the data on the demand and supply of dress in Western Europe in the second half of the 18 th century were compiled to further understand the consumer society in Western Europe.At the level of demand,the population and per capita income of Western Europe during this period had increased compared to the previous period,and the level of urbanization had also increased.In addition,purchasing power for textiles is also increasing in major western European countries.By comparison,Britain had been more active in terms of dress demand.At the supply level,Compared with the first half of the 18 th century,Britain's achievements in agriculture,industry,transportation,and domestic and foreign trade in the second half of the 18 th century also attractedmore attention,providing effective support for its growing consumer demand.At the same time,the consumption of dress in Britain was more convenient and extensive.Through export,British-style dress fashion had also spread more rapidly internationally.Dress fashion also has a special attribute,expressing things about "who am I",that is,identity.On the one hand,as a visual symbol of status,the top-to-bottom transmission path of dress fashion furthered social differentiation;dress fashion also symbolized the wealth of property.In the second half of the 18 th century,silk and printed cotton were usually consumed by property owners;during this period,the gender difference between men and women's clothing was obvious.On the other hand,dress fashion could disguise its symbolic status.High-level people imitated lower-level people in dress for entertainment and other reasons.Lower-level people might wear dress that is higher-grade than their own range in order to enter the upper-class society;even the rich wanted to look poor,the poor wanted to look rich;meanwhile,there were also some vaguely gendered dress.In a word,all of these indicated that dress fashion can not accurately express identity,with a certain degree of indirection and camouflage.The new style of dress,while conforming to the emotions of some people,also bore other emotions of opposition.These different emotions towards dress fashion competed with each other in morality,and constantly improved and criticized people's ideas through competing for authority in dressing.Firstly,in the second half of the18 th century,the Enlightenment had become popular,and progressives called for wearing clean and dressing naturally as a reflection of civilized behavior;second,frivolous and tempting female dress easily became the object of criticism by moralists and even the masses.At the same time,women were also irreplaceable guides and practitioners in the field of fashion;third,different positions determine that luxury is not only morally criticized as the opposite of virtues such as frugality,but also maintained by defenders as a necessity for maintaining normal economic and social operations;finally,in the 1870 s,there was also a group of well-known young aristocrats in Britain,Macaroni,who was given luxury,extravagant,superficial,feminine,and unpatriotic moral evaluations due to their exaggerated performance in dressing.