1650–1700 in Western fashion

Style gallery 1650s

• 
  1 – 1650
• 
  2 – 1652
• 
  3 – 1652
• 
  4 – 1653
• 
  5 - 1655
• 
  6 – 1658
• 
  7 – 1658
• 
  8 – 1659

1. German fashion of 1650 shows a smooth, tight, conical satin bodice with a dropped shoulder. Slashed sleeves are caught with jeweled clasps over voluminous chemise sleeves.
2. Margareta Maria de Roodere wears a salmon-colored gown. A sheer scarf is knotted into a collar around her shoulders, and her white sleeve linings are fastened back with a covered button, 1652.
3. Mary, Princess of Orange wears a satin gown with a long pointed bodice and a satin petticoat. The many tiny pleats that gather in her skirt can be seen, 1652.
4. Maria Theresa of Spain wears the guardainfante, which, in Spain, was adapted late and retained it long after it had disappeared elsewhere. The Infanta's hairstyle is also typical of the Spanish court, 1653.
5. The Swedish countess Beata Elisabet von Königsmarck wears a white silk gown with a long tight bodice, flat skirt, wide double puffed sleeves, bare shoulders and a deep cleavage. The dress is decorated with blue ribbons and a blue shawl draped around the breasts. She has pearls, and her hair is braided in a knot in the back, but is worn in loose curls over her ears.
6. Young Dutch girl wears a rose jacket-bodice and a plain pink petticoat. Her hair is worn in a wound braid with small curls over her ears. 1658–60.
7. Details of Dutch fashion of 1658 include a string of pearls tied with a black ribbon, a jack-bodice with matching skirt, pleated sleeves, and dropped shoulder.
8. The Infanta Margarita of Spain is shown, when eight years old, wearing the guardainfante, 1659.

Style gallery 1660–1680

• 
  1 - 1660s
• 
  2 – c.1660
• 
  3 – 1662
• 
  4 – 1663
• 
  5 – 1663
• 
  6 - 1665
• 
  7 – 1666
• 
  8 – 1670
• 
  9 – 1670
• 
  10 – 1671–74
• 
  11 – 1670s

1. English court dress from the 1660s, made of silver tissue and decorated with applied parchment lace.^[4] From the Fashion Museum, Bath.
2. Peter Lely portrays Two Ladies of the Lake Family wearing satin dresses over shifts or chemises with voluminous sleeves. Their hair is worn in masses of ringlets to the shoulders on either side, and both wear large pearl eardrops. The lack of a modesty piece at the chest is characteristic of the romantic style. It was at this period that women exposed their breasts for the first time.
3. Dutch lacemaker's jacket-bodice has a dropped shoulder line and full, three-quarter length sleeves cartridge-pleated at shoulder and cuff. Her indoor cap has a circular back and hood is embroidered. Her shoes have thick heels and square toes, now somewhat old-fashioned.
4. viola de gamba
   . The sleeve is pleated into the dropped shoulder and into the cuff.
5. Young woman with elaborate 1663 hairstyle. Corkscrew curls frame her head and cascade onto her shoulders.
6. Inés de Zúñiga, Countess of Monterrey is a beautiful example of typical court fashion in Spain.
7. The Infanta Margarita of Spain is shown here wearing a mourning dress of unrelieved black with long sleeves, cloak and hood. She wears her hair parted to one side and severely bound in braids, 1666.
8. Two English ladies wear dresses with short sleeves over chemise sleeves gathered into three puffs. The long bodice front with curving bands of vertical trim is characteristic of 1670.
9. Maria Theresa of Spain wears enormous sleeves, bare shoulders, large pearls, a large feather, and has a mass of loose waves.
10. Lingering Puritan influence appears in this portrait of a Boston matron: she wears a lace-trimmed linen collar that covers her from the neck down with the fashionable short string of pearls, and she covers her hair with hood-like cap, 1671–74.
11. Empress Eleonore of Pfalz-Neuburg wears a brocade dress with a very low waist and elbow-length sleeves gathered in puffs as was typical of court fashions during the 1670s.

Style gallery 1680s–1690s

• 
  1 – 1680
• 
  2 – 1680s–90s
• 
  3 – 1688
• 
  4 – c.1690
• 
  5 – c.1690
• 
  6 – 1685–90
• 
  7 – 1690s
• 
  8 – 1698
• 
  9 - 1690s

1. Mary of Modena, second wife of James II of England, wears a dress fastened with jeweled clasps over a simple chemise, 1680. Her hair curls over either temple, and long curls hang on her shoulders. This style of undress was common in portraits, but likely not so common in everyday wear.
2. Dorothy Mason, Lady Brownlow in fashionable undress. Her dress is casually unfastened at the breast, and her chemise sleeves are caught up in puffs, probably with drawstrings.
3. opera-length gloves
   , and pearls.
4. Spanish court fashion of c. 1690 shows a long, rigidly corseted line with a broad neckline and long sleeves.
5. Mary II of England. By 1690, hair was dressed high over her forehead with curls dangling behind.
6. Contemporary French fashion plate of a manteau or mantua, 1685–90.
7. The Electress Palatine (Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici) in hunting dress, probably mid-to-late 1690s. She wears a long, mannish coat with wide cuffs and a matching petticoat over a high-necked bodice (Pepys calls it a doublet) with long tight sleeves. She wears a lace-trimmed cravat and a tricorne hat with ostrich plumes.
8. Comtesse de Mailly, 1698, wears court fashion: Her mantua has elbow-length cuffed sleeves over the lace-ruffled sleeves of her chemise. The trained skirt is looped back to reveal a petticoat. She wears elbow-length gloves and a cap with a high lace fontange. She has a fur muff on her right wrist, trimmed with a ribbon bow, and carries a fan. She wears the short string of pearls that remained fashionable throughout this period.
9. The mantua from Kimberly Hall is of fine striped woolen fabric with silver-gilt embroidery, ca. 1690–1700.

Men's fashion

Overview

With the end of the Thirty Years' War, the fashions of the 1650s and early 1660s imitated the new peaceful and more relaxed feeling in Europe. The military boots gave way to shoes, and a mania for baggy breeches, short doublets, and hundreds of yards of ribbon set the style. The breeches (see Petticoat breeches) became so baggy that Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary: "And among other things, met with Mr. Townsend, who told of his mistake the other day to put both his legs through one of his Knees of his breeches, and so went all day." (April 1661) The wide breeches that made such an error possible were soon being gathered at the knee: Pepys noted, 19 April 1663 "this day put on my close-kneed coloured suit, which, with new stockings of the colour, with belt, and new gilt-handled sword, is very handsome." This era was also one of great variation and transition.

In 1666,

A longer and rather baggy coat (still with sleeves rarely going below the elbow) made an appearance in the early 1660s and as the decade progressed became the most popular coat. The coat would eventually replace the doublet. By the late 1660s, an upturned cuff became popular although the sleeves had still remained above the elbows. By the 1670s, a vest or waistcoat was worn under the coat. It was usually made of contrasting, often luxurious, fabric, and might have a plain back since that was not seen under the coat. It was a long garment which by the 1680s reached just above the knees. With the end of the 1670s the sleeves became longer and the coat more fitted. The 1680s saw larger upturned cuffs and the waist of the coat became much wider. The coat could have lapels or none. This coat is known as the justacorps. The pockets on both sides of the coats were arranged horizontally or vertically (especially the mid to late 1680s) until the 1690s when the pockets were usually always arranged horizontally. The waistcoat could be sleeveless or have long sleeves. Typically, a long-sleeved waistcoat was worn in winter for added warmth. By the mid-1680s, ribbons were reduced to one side of the shoulder until by the 1690s, they were gone.

Shirt, collar and cravat

The ruffled long-sleeved white shirt remained the only constant throughout the period, although less of it was seen with the advent of the waistcoat.

During the early to mid-1650s, a rather small falling collar was in fashion. This increased in size and encompassed much of the shoulders by 1660. Cravats and jabots around the neck started to be worn during the early 1660s. By the mid-1660s, the collar had disappeared with just the cravat remaining, sometimes tied with a small bow of ribbon. Red was the most common color for the bow, although pink, blue, and other colors were also used. By the 1670s, the bow of ribbons had increased in size and in the 1680s, the bow of ribbons became very large and intricate with many loops of ribbon. By the mid-1690s, the very large bow of ribbons was discarded. Also, a new style of cravat made its appearance in the 1690s, the Steinkerk (named after the Battle of Steenkerque in 1692). Before, the cravat was always worn flowing down the chest; the Steinkerk cravat looped through a buttonhole of the coat.

Breeches and stockings

The previous decade saw Spanish breeches as the most popular. These were stiff breeches which fell above or just below the knee and were rather moderately fitted. By the mid-1650s, in Western Europe, much looser, uncollected breeches, called petticoat breeches became the most popular. As the 1650s progressed, they became larger and looser, very much giving the impression of a lady's petticoat. They were usually decorated with many yards of ribbon around the waist and around the ungathered knee on the outside of the leg. Alongside the petticoat breeches, a collected but still loose fitted breeches called rhinegraves, were also worn. By the early 1660s, their popularity surpassed petticoat breeches. They could be worn with an overskirt over them, in this case the rhinegraves would be white. The overskirt was heavily decorated with ribbon on the waist and the bottom of the skirt. Its length was usually just above the knee, but could also extend past the knee so that the rhinegraves underneath could not be seen and only the bottom of the stocking-tops was visible.

With the rising popularity of the longer coat and waistcoat, the large collected rhinegraves and overskirt were abandoned in favor of more close fitting breeches. By the late 1670s, close fitted breeches were worn with the stockings worn over them and on or above the knee, often being gartered with a garter below the knee. With the long waistcoat and stockings worn over the knee, very little of the breeches could be seen. A possible reason that the stockings were worn over the knee, was to give the impression of longer legs since the waist coat fell very low, just above the knee. The breeches tended to be of the same material as the coat. The stockings varied in color.

Footwear and accessories

Shoes again became the most popular footwear during the 1650s, although boots remained in use for riding and outdoor pursuits. Boothose, originally of linen with lace cuffs and worn over the fine silk stockings to protect them from wear, remained in fashion even when boots lost their popularity. Boothose lasted well in the mid-1660s, attached right under where the rhinegraves were gathered below the knee, or fashionably slouched and unfastened. Shoes from the 1650s through the 1670s tended to be square toed and slightly long in appearance. Usually the shoes were tied with ribbon and decorated with bows. By the 1680s, the shoe became a bit more fitted; the heel increased in height (with red heels being very popular, especially for attendance at court), and only a small ribbon if any remained.

The baldric (a sword hanger worn across one shoulder) was worn until the mid-1680s, when it was replaced by the sword belt (a sword hanger worn across the hips).

Hairstyles

Throughout the period, men wore their hair long with curls well past the shoulders. The bangs (fringe) were usually combed forward and allowed to flow over the forehead a bit. Although men had worn