was also better fitted. Stockings with garters, which had covered the bottoms of breeches in mid-century, now were covered by the breeches. In all these developments we have the antecedents of the nineteenth-century suit (1952, pp. 100-1).
Gorsline's discussion provides a useful point of departure for discussion of the principal change in men's clothing during the eighteenth century: the simplification of the male silhouette. To put it another way, when we look at the evolution of the silhouette in France, we are also looking at an evolution of French culture and comportment, at least as far as men's clothing is concerned.
The principal components of the men's silhouette were the various forms of coat, waistcoat, breeches, footwear, headware, and accessories. Neckwear, as we have seen above, was basically distinguished by its fabric. Hair dress, too, was a principal component of men's clothing throughout the century, and it, along with other elements of wardrobe, underwent dramatic change from first to last.
The most prevalent style of eighteenth-c
...