page_title: 1795–1820 in Western fashion
section_title: Directoire (1795–1799)
hierarchical_section_title: 1795–1820 in Western fashion / Women's fashion / Directoire (1795–1799)
caption_attribution_description: English: A satirical 1796 contrast between old 16th-century and cutting-edge Directoire clothing styles: "TOO MUCH and TOO LITTLE, or Summer Cloathing for 1556 &amp; 1796", a caricature engraved by Isaac Cruikshank after a drawing by George M. Woodward, published February 8th 1796. For a smaller scan of an untinted version of this same print, see Image:Toomuch-1556_Toolittle-1796_caricature-unc.png. Scanned by H. Churchyard. In 1796, the strongly neoclassically-influenced styles satirized on the right were still very new in England. Notice the single vertical feather springing from the hair of the 1796 woman. The portraits on the wall behind the two ladies show corresponding male clothing styles for the two eras.
context_page_description: Fashion in the period 1795–1820 in European and European-influenced countries saw the final triumph of undress or informal styles over the brocades, lace, periwigs and powder of the earlier 18th century. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, no one wanted to appear to be a member of the French aristocracy, and people began using clothing more as a form of individual expression of the true self than as a pure indication of social status. As a result, the shifts that occurred in fashion at the turn of the 19th century granted the opportunity to present new public identities that also provided insights into their private selves. Katherine Aaslestad indicates how "fashion, embodying new social values, emerged as a key site of confrontation between tradition and change."
  For women's dress, the day to day outfit of the skirt and jacket style were practical and tactful, recalling the working-class woman. Women's fashions followed classical ideals, and tightly laced corsets were temporarily abandoned in favor of a high-waisted, natural figure. This natural figure was emphasized by being able to see the body beneath the clothing.
context_section_description: By the mid-1790s, neoclassical clothing had come into fashion in France. Several influences had combined to bring about this simplification in women's clothing: aspects of Englishwomen's practical country outdoor-wear leaked up into French high fashion, and there was a reaction in revolutionary France against the stiffly boned corsets and brightly colored satins and other heavy fabrics that were in style in the Ancien Régime (see 1750–1795 in fashion). But ultimately, Neo-classicism was adopted for its association with classical republican ideas [with reference to Greece, rather than republican Rome, which was now considered politically dangerous]. This renewed fascination of the classical past was encouraged by the recent discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and would likely have not been possible outside such a specific geographic and historical setting that allowed the idea of the past made present to become paramount.
  Along with the influences of the Pompeii and Herculaneum excavations, several other factors came together to popularize neoclassical dress. Starting in the early 1790s, Emma Hamilton began her performances of attitudes, something that was considered by contemporaries as entirely new. These attitudes were based loosely on the ancient practice of pantomime, though Emma's performances lacked masks and musical accompaniment. Her performances created a fusion between art and nature; art came alive and her body became a type of art. As an aid to her performances of tragic mythological and historical figures, Emma wore the clothing á la grecque that would become popular in mainstream France in the coming years. A simple light-colored chemise made from thin, flowing material was worn and gathered with a narrow ribbon under the breasts. Simple cashmere shawls were used as headdresses or to give more fullness to the drapery of the chemise. They also helped to prevent broken lines in the performance so that the outstretched arms were always connected with the body, escalating the effect of fluid movement, and oftentimes, a cape or a cloak was worn to emphasize the lines of the body in certain poses. This highlighted the continuity of surface of line and form in the body of the performer to emphasize the unity, simplicity, and continuously flowing movement from one part of the body to the next. The hair was worn in a natural, loose, and flowing fashion. All of these properties blended together to allow an extensive play of light and shadow to reveal and accent certain parts of the body during the performance while covering others. Emma was highly capable in her attitudes, and the influence of her dress spread from Naples to Paris as wealthy Parisians took the Grand Tour.
  There is also some evidence that the white muslin shift dress became popular after Thermidor through the influence of prison dress. Revolutionary women such as Madame Tallien portrayed themselves in this way because it was the only clothing they possessed during their time in prison. The chemise á la grecque also represented the struggle for representation of the self and the stripping down of past cultural values. Also, a simplification of the attire worn by preteen girls in the 1780s (who were no longer required to wear miniature versions of adult stays and panniers) probably paved the way for the simplification of the attire worn by teenage girls and adult women in the 1790s. Waistlines became somewhat high by 1795, but skirts were still rather full, and neoclassical influences were not yet dominant.
  It was during the second half of the 1790s that fashionable women in France began to adopt a thoroughgoing Classical style, based on an idealized version of ancient Greek and Roman dress (or what was thought at the time to be ancient Greek and Roman dress), with narrow clinging skirts. Some of the extreme Parisian versions of the neoclassical style (such as narrow straps which bared the shoulders, and diaphanous dresses without sufficient stays, petticoats, or shifts worn beneath) were not widely adopted elsewhere, but many features of the late-1
caption: A satirical 1796 contrast between old Elizabethan and Directoire clothing styles: Too Much and Too Little, reads the caption of this caricature by Isaac Cruikshank
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