Some revolutions take place in the realm of social life and culture rather than politics. One of the most striking of these social and cultural revolutions was the wearing of trousers. Before the French Revolution of 1789, men of the middle classes and nobility wore knee breeches, stockings, and buckled shoes, as can be seen in the colored engraving from 1778. Trousers (long pants) were worn only by working-class men, who needed them to protect themselves on the job and from the mud in the streets.

From Napoleon onward, a shift toward trousers took place across Europe, not all at once but slowly and surely. Napoleon himself wore close-fitting pantaloons (from which the word pants is derived) until he became too fat and reverted back to knee breeches. The colored engraving of a middle-class couple in 1830 shows how long pants had become the fashion for men. In line with political changes that installed equality under the law and careers open to merit rather than birth, men began to dress more alike; all men wore trousers. Taking a closer look at the men in both pictures, do you see any other changes in style and accessories that might reflect a less class-conscious society?

Women’s dress, in contrast, maintained and even underlined social distinctions after the Revolution. In the nineteenth century, middle- and upper-class women continued to wear dresses with such long and full skirts that they could not possibly be imagined working. Working women wore simpler blouses and skirts that allowed the movements necessary to labor at home or in manufacturing.

Questions to Consider