The Politics of Costume

Social and political change can come slowly or sometimes all at once. For France, the Revolution of 1789 was a watershed moment that set into motion a series of events that ultimately led to the overthrow of the centuries-old monarchy. It then fell to the victors to reinvent society from the ground up, to fashion a world that embodied their values. While the necessity for change was clear, debates arose over how the ideals that had fueled the Revolution might be made manifest in the daily life of the French citizenry. One point of contention was dress. The sartorial signifiers associated with the crown, the aristocracy, and the church were suppressed. During the ancien régime, distinctions, if not inherited, were conferred by the king and therefore reinforced a state of subjection. For the fledgling republic, costumes would signify roles, not social privilege.