History of Fashion + Trousers + Napoleonic Germany

Individual Collage Images Courtesy of LACMA, Met Museum, and the Kyoto Costume Institute.

Men'south fashion changed very little during the nineteenth century, specially when compared to women's fashion of the same period. For this reason, I thought it improve to provide a full general overview of the century, looking at changes decade-by-decade as opposed to twelvemonth-past-year. In this manner, you can see the wearisome evolution of nineteenth century menswear, from the Regency dandyism of Boyfriend Brummell to the matched 3-piece suits of the late Victorian era. Changes were subtle, but significant, each of them moving men'southward fashion 1 stride closer to the elegant silhouettes still evidenced in fashionable menswear of today.

*Please note: This is a cursory, primarily visual, overview of men's fashion in the nineteenth century. For in-depth information on individual decades, please consult the recommended links.

1800

Entering the nineteenth century, men were no longer wearing the fancy fabrics and trimmings that characterized their clothing in the 1700s. Instead—under the influence of George Bryan "Boyfriend" Brummel—men's mode was gradually moving toward the restrained, conservative costumes that would set the tone for the rest of the century.

Extravaganza of Beau Brummell by Robert Dighton, 1805.

Brusque-fronted tailcoats and fitted waistcoats were worn over plain, white linen shirts. Tight-plumbing fixtures pantaloons replaced eighteenth century knee breeches, Hessian boots replaced buckled shoes, and intricately tied, white linen neck cloths became the marking of the true homo of fashion.

Cutaway Tail Coat, 1805-1810.
(Mint Museum)

Each vesture was impeccably made, tailored on simple lines and cut from dark or neutral fabrics. Much of the embellishment in this decade was saved for the waistcoat. Adding to this fashionable, yet understated, ensemble was a  alpine, beaver lid (similar to the one shown above) and diverse accessories such as canes, pocket watches, and quizzing glasses.

Menswear, 1806.

1810

Advancing into 1810, the style for simple, well-cut clothing—in the mode of Beau Brummell—had become very much the norm. Men of the upper-classes continued to clothing double-breasted dress coats of fine wool and light-coloured waistcoats over white linen shirts. Buckskin breeches and top-boots were de rigueur for the gentleman in the land (see beneath), while tight-fitting pantaloons and Hessians remained the style in town.

Portrait of Joseph-Antoine de Nogent by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1815.
( Harvard Fine art Museums/Fogg Museum)

For evening dress, gentlemen wore articulatio genus breeches of black or light-coloured satin or velvet with white stockings, a white waistcoat, and a dark tail-coat.

Full Dress of a Gentleman, Ackermann'south Plate, 1810.

In 1816, the frock coat was introduced. Unlike long-tailed apparel coats, frock coats had a waist seam and a full skirt which hung downward to the knees. Initially viewed every bit existence rather informal, the frock coat would eventually become a wardrobe staple.

1815 Wool Tailcoat.
(Met Museum)

1820 Frock Coat.
(LACMA)

1820

By the 1820s,  the silhouette of gentlemen's fashion was beginning to change. Coat sleeves began to puff at the shoulders, chests swelled out, and waistlines narrowed to an often extreme degree.  This hourglass silhouette—oft enhanced with padding and corsetry—would remain fashionable into the early 1830s.

Costume Parisien, 1826.

Meanwhile, trousers (or trowsers) were becoming stylish for twenty-four hour period vesture. Trousers more often than not had a fall forepart which buttoned at the waist and a strap at the foot to ensure that they brutal smoothly on the leg.

1820s Woollen Trousers with Figured Silk Waistcoat.
(Style Museum Bathroom)

Some gentlemen preferred loose-plumbing equipment Cossack trousers.  Inspired past the trousers worn by Cossack soldiers who visited London with Alexander I of Russia in 1814, Cossack trousers were pleated at the waist and total in the hips and thighs.

1820-1830 Cossack Trousers.
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

1830

Inbound the 1830s, trousers were fuller in the leg and frockcoats began to exist made in a variety of designs, suitable for every taste and every occasion.

1828-1830 Frock Glaze.
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

At the aforementioned fourth dimension, waistcoats became a flake more elaborate. They were made of rich fabrics like velvet and jacquard-woven silk and embellished with embroidery, patterns, and prints.

1830s Wool Tailcoat, Cotton Twill Trousers, and Cutting-Velvet Patterned Belong.
(Kyoto Costume Institute)

By the belatedly 1830s, elaborately tied white cravats and neck cloths had fallen from favor for mean solar day wear. In their place were blackness neckties,  knotted in a manner not too dissimilar from a bow tie.

1833 Blue Silk Coat.
(Met Museum)

1840

Moving into the 1840s, the Victorian era was well and truly underway. In her 2001 book Pantaloons and Power, fashion historian Gayle Fischer states that this was the decade when:

"Men gave up their claims to decoration, colors, and lace, and adopted a more uniform style of dress, thereby making way and all its accoutrements the sole province of women."

1845-1853 Trousers.
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

Trousers of the 1840s were fuller and, as the decade progressed, the strap at the pes disappeared and fall fronts were replaced by a fly front design.

L'Oriflamme des Modes, 1840.

The 1840s is also notable for being the decade that introduced the sack coat. Unlike a frock coat, the sack coat was short, single-breasted, unlined, and loose-plumbing fixtures. The sack coat was by and large worn for sporting or country pursuits. For all other occasions, men donned a frock coat or a tailcoat.

1845 Cotton and Linen Adapt.
(Museum at FIT)

1850

Advancing into the 1850s, the waistline of apron coats began to lower, eliminating the high-waisted look of before decades.

1852 Frock Coat and Trousers.
(LACMA)

Meanwhile, sack coats grew in popularity, with many of them existence made to match a admirer's trousers.  Apron coats and tailcoats were also occasionally made to lucifer, as illustrated by the black trousers and coat seen below.

1850 Blackness Wool Suit with Checkered Belong.
(Museum at FIT)

Despite the prevalence of matching coats and trousers in somber hues, some fashionable gentlemen favored patterned trousers. Through much of the 1850s and into the 1860s, gentlemen could be seen wearing striped or checked trousers, oftentimes in relatively bright colors. With the invention of aniline dye in 1856, these colors became even more vivid and—on occasion—rather garish.

Fifty'Elegant, 1853.

1860

Moving into the 1860s, frock coats were no longer as fashionable as they had been in previous decades. Instead, for informal occasions, almost gentlemen preferred the sack coat.

1865-1870 Wool Suit.
(Met Museum)

Trousers of the 1860s were creased, with many gentlemen continuing to opt for striped or plaid fabric. Dissimilar designs of checks or stripes were pop in different seasons. For case, the 1867 edition of the West-Finish Gazette of Gentlemen's Mode reports that for May of that twelvemonth:

"Trousering of large check designs are quite the rage among fashionable dressing men; the virtually favourite design is a check formed of 3 or four lines of a subdued tint, with a big bank check of a fine line of blue or other bright color intermingled."

1860-1870 Wool Plaid Accommodate.
(LACMA)

The 1860s is notable for being the decade when the iii-piece suit began to emerge. Made in matched black, brown, or other dark hues, three-slice suits were by and large worn with white shirts and nighttime-coloured cravats.

1867-1868 Black Wool Three-Piece Suit.
(Met Museum)

1870

Entering 1870, the Gentleman's Magazine of Mode reports that coats were cut "a slight degree shorter" than in previous seasons. Coats were also straighter and cut closer to the shape, with longer waists and narrow sleeves.

1870-1800 Wool Twill Trousers.
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

Frock coats were still in fashion for formal day wear. Morning time coats, which were unmarried-breasted and cut away from the forepart, were also quite pop. For business dress or less formal day wearing apparel, the sack arrange dominated the decade.

Gentleman'due south Magazine of Fashion, 1876.

Waistcoats continued to be worn, but were commonly hidden behind high-buttoned coats. They were more often than not made to match coats and trousers. Equally for trousers themselves, they changed very little in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. During the 1870s, they were cutting a bit fuller for twenty-four hour period clothing, with the knee measuring the same width as at the ankle. For evening wear, trousers were slightly narrower.

1870-1880 Wool Trousers.
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

1880

Advancing into 1880, nigh gentlemen of fashion owned several styles of glaze, including a apron coat, tailcoat, cutaway coat, and sack glaze.

1880 Morning Coat and Vets.
(LACMA)

The sack coat was initially the least formal selection, however, toward the finish of the decade, a dressier version of the blackness sack coat was introduced in Tuxedo, New York. This tuxedo jacket—or dinner jacket equally it was known outside of the Us—would become a mainstay of men'south evening wear for decades to come.

1885 Evening Suit with Dinner Jacket.
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

Matched 3-piece suits in blacks, browns, and tweeds continued to exist quite stylish. Trousers patterned in bright plaids or checks were also rather popular, especially when paired with night coats.

1885 Wedding Arrange with Cutaway Coat.
(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

1890

Moving into the 1890s, the morning coat began to rival the apron glaze for formal day wear. For informal occasions, the sack coat remained popular.

1894 J.B. Johnstone Wool Morning Suit.
(Met Museum)

Trousers were narrow and—cheers to the invention of the trouser press—were frequently creased downward the front and the back. As for men'due south shirts, the 1894 edition of the Clothier and Furnisher reports that:

"…colored starched shirts, with cuffs to lucifer and white collars, are all the go."

1897 Fock Coat, Belong, and Striped Wool Trousers.
(Philadelphia Museum of Art)

By the 1890s, most men were wearing either neckties or bow ties. For 24-hour interval wear, these ties could exist solid or patterned. For evening wear, they were white.

The Sartorial Art Journal, 1894.

A Few Last Words…

I promise the above overview has given you a full general idea of the changes in men's fashion during the nineteenth century. Once more, I remind yous that this is just a brief, primarily visual guide. If y'all would like to larn more virtually nineteenth century men's manner, including details on men's hats, shoes, and accessories,  I encourage you to consult a reliable reference book.  The following links may provide a starting betoken:

Nineteenth Century Fashion in Item by Lucy Johnston

Manner: The Definitive History of Costumeand Style by DK Publishing

L'Elegant, 1857.

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Sources

Blanco, José.  Vesture and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe.  Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2015.

The Clothier and Furnisher, Vol. 23. New York: Masson Publishing, 1894.

Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Way. New York: DK Publishing, 2001.

Fischer, Gayle V. Pantaloons & Ability: A Nineteenth-century Dress Reform in the U.s.. Kent: Kent State University Printing, 2001.

The Gentleman's Magazine of Manner. London: Louis Devere & Co., 1870.

The Gentleman's Mag of Fashion. London: Louis Devere & Co., 1871.

Johnson, Lucy.Nineteenth Century Fashion in Item. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2009.

Norris, Herbert and Curtis, Oswald. Nineteenth-century Costume and Fashion, Volume half-dozen. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1998.

Nunn, Joan. Fashion in Costume, 1200-2000. Chicago: New Amsterdam Books, 2000.

The W-Cease Gazette of Gentlemens' Fashions. London: Kent and Co., 1867.

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