France

French robe avaFrench costume museums are among those places where you can find hundreds of authentic historical outfits from the 18th and 19th centuries. Also, France is famous for the French lace, elaborate underwear pieces worn by the royals and court ladies, exquisite embroidery patterns on court dresses, and huge varieties of regal accessories. France was the trendsetter in fashion long before Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Coco Chanel, and Pierre Cardin. So, here’s a list of costume and folk museums where you can find French national clothing and various vintage fashionable outfits.

Bib avaSince the invention of lace, people love it and widely use it to decorate their clothing. The French lace appeared at the end of the 17th century and is still popular today. The antique outfits adorned with lace look beautiful – sophisticated and charming. But vintage lace baby bibs are even more adorable. And we have a few examples to share with you. Just imagine how women used them on their infants – such delicate garments with such a messy function!

sans culottes avaSometimes, clothing plays a very important role in our life. And we’re not talking about being a fashionista or icon of style, we’re talking about historical non-military uniforms that helped people identify their fellow members from enemies. A good example of such usage of clothes are the sans-culottes movement in 18th-century France. Their style, garments, accessories, color palette, and other features of their outfits determine their unity and ideas. You could just take one look and know for sure who is the person in front of you.

Carolingian Renaissance avaThanks to the Carolingian Renaissance that existed in Dark Age Europe in the 9th-10th centuries, France got its reputation as the center of international fashion long before modern days. This period in European fashion history is important – it brought many changes, new trends, and surprising details to that era’s clothing. Various corners of Dark Age Europe – like France, Britain, or Scandinavia – had fashion rules and trends that differed much from each other. In this article, we’ll talk about ancient French clothing – the clothing of Carolingian Renaissance.

French hairdos avaFashion is often so ridiculous that we can’t understand how people can wear that or why do they do it? Here is a story of avant-garde hairdos that were popular in the 18th century. For modern people, these hairstyles may look like a total nightmare but, in that period, it was the norm. Unfortunately, a lot of ladies have suffered from the fashion of the 18th century. Though, today, it is exciting to look back and admire the strength, iron will, and stupidity of the women from Marie Antoinette’s age.

Beret avaA beret is an old mark of a French man. Locals manage to show their mood easily with a help of their beret. You can just look at how it is worn (where exactly on the head it sits, is it pulled up high or down low, etc.) and understand a lot about the wearer. Would you like to know how to read a man by his beret? With that knowledge, you’ll have a better grip on the French culture and unique way of thinking.

Jewels avaWhat do you know about Marie Antoinette’s expensive collection of jewels? Only part of them are known today (they are in museums or private collections), the rest are lost or re-made into new jewelry pieces. The French queen Marie Antoinette managed to keep at least some of her jewels safe by entrusting them to her friends or hiding them. And those adornments that we know of are magnificent. Let’s have a closer look at them.