V year of the rooster, and 2017, according to the Chinese calendar, will be held under the sign of this bright bird, it's time to remember the baroque costume.


Baroque is the brightest, most magnificent, most elegant style both in the history of art and in the history of costume. Never before and never since has fashion been so complex and incredibly beautiful at the same time. Never before in the Baroque style has a man's suit been as elegant and well-dressed as a woman's.


The French Baroque style (there was also Spanish fashion in the Baroque style costume, especially in the first half of the 17th century) is the style of an eternal holiday. The suit includes pleats and puffs, cascades of ribbons, ruffles, frills and bows. In French, bow is galant, hence another name for this time - the gallant era.

The favorite metal of the Baroque style is gold. And in France in the 17th century it was believed that there is never too much gold. Gilded frames of paintings and mirrors, gold chandeliers, gold thread embroidery. And with gold, it is best to wear diamonds. Diamonds were sewn on clothes, diamonds were used as buttons in men's suits.

The Baroque style in France is associated with the name of King Louis XIV. Louis XIV was called “the sun king”, and he himself said to himself “France is me”. Under Louis XIV, Versailles was built - the country residence of the French king in the Baroque style.

Louis stayed at Versailles almost all the time, and with him his court. From the second half of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century, all fashion in Europe depended on Versailles. What was worn by the courtiers of Louis XIV and himself soon became fashionable throughout Europe.


The man's suit was very smart. Men wore undershirts, necessarily lace, shirts, over which a vest and a justocor were worn. The vest has always been shorter by 10-15 cm of outerwear - justocor.

Justocor was originally considered a military dress, but from the second half of the 17th century it will be worn by the court aristocrats of Louis XIV, and then aristocrats all over Europe.


Justocor is a knee-length garment of an adjacent silhouette, extending downward. Mandatory with a wide belt. Justocor was decorated with elegant buttons, including they could be diamond. The Justocor also had two front pockets and three slits - two on the sides and one in the back.

The incisions were made for the convenience of riding. The justocor was also decorated with embroidery. From under the sleeves of the justocor, the lace cuffs of the lower shirt must have been visible.


A white neckerchief, the prototype of a modern tie, was also worn with the Justocor. It is believed that the French aristocrats borrowed this scarf from mercenary soldiers from Croatia. So Croatia can be considered the homeland of the tie.


There was also a version of the Justocor that could only be worn by members of the royal family. This was spelled out in the decree of Louis XIV, adopted in the 1660s. Such a Justocore was called "Justocore by Privilege." It looked like this - blue on a red lining, embroidered with gold and silver.


With the Justocor, men in French Baroque fashion wore tight short, knee-length pants called culottes and long white silk stockings, as well as shoes, often decorated with a bow.


A wig was an indispensable element of a 17th century man's court costume.In those days, men wore long powdered (gray-colored) wigs, curled with large curls.

According to legend, either Louis XIV, or even his father Louis XIII, turned gray early, so there was a fashion for white, like “gray” wigs. There was a joke among the townspeople in those days that aristocrats now consume flour not only inside, but also sprinkle it on their heads.


Make-up was also no stranger to men in the 17th century. Aristocrats, regardless of gender, whitened their faces and blushed their cheeks brightly.


The women's costume of the French Baroque was as complex and well-dressed as the men's. Women wore formal dresses with puffy skirts on the frame. At the same time, the bottom of the dresses of the second half of the 17th century consisted of three skirts.

The lowest skirt was called "mystery." The middle skirt of the dress was called fripon, which meant "minx." Such a skirt was most often made from lighter fabrics, for example, taffeta or moire. The lower part of the middle fringe skirt was visible from under the upper skirt and therefore was decorated with rows of lace, fringe, tassels, frills, flounces.


The upper skirt was called modest, which meant "modest." It was sewn from heavy and monochromatic fabrics. For example, satin, brocade, velvet. By the way, the colors of both women's and men's baroque suits were most often dark and rich. The colors dark red and dark blue were especially popular.

The modest top skirt was slit and lifted at the sides, revealing a mid-fringe skirt and its own lining. At the same time, it was attached to the bodice of the dress with the help of beads or elegant laces.


The bodice of the dress was decorated with rows of lace or bows. The sleeves were elbow-length and decorated with lace frills. In 17th century France there was a fashion for deep necklines. The fashion for practically indecent necklines, so deep they were, was introduced by one of the favorites of King Louis XIV, Madame de Montespan.


Fashion in a woman's suit was most often dictated by the king's favorites. And in the last years of Louis XIV's life, when the pious Marquise de Maintenon became his favorite, the fashion for open neckline dresses is a thing of the past. Lavish decorations also disappear. The dresses of the ladies of the court of the last years of the reign of Louis XIV, as a whole, become more modest and less elegant.


A corset was also an obligatory element of a 17th century women's costume. The purpose of the corset, which was made from whalebone, was to make a woman's waist as narrow as possible.

The corset was sometimes tightened to such an extent that it was difficult to breathe in a stuffy room and women often fainted. Therefore, the ladies of the 17th century always carried snuff with them. The use of a corset in a women's wardrobe also negatively affected the health of women of that time, since deformations of internal organs occurred due to prolonged wearing of the corset.


17th century women's hairstyles most often they were high. For example, the fountain hairstyle, named after another favorite of Louis XIV, Angelica de Fontanges, is in vogue. This hairstyle consisted of a series of fluffed hair, ribbons and lace, arranged on a high wire frame.




In addition to the fact that women of the 17th century whitewashed and blushed their faces, they also wore flies - artificial moles made of black silk. Flies could be attached above the upper lip, in the corner of the eye, on the forehead, on the neck and on the chest.



The fabrics of dresses in the Baroque style were necessarily decorated with ornaments and drawings - pomegranate fruits, decorative flowers, curls, grapes. The trellis pattern was very popular - a diamond-shaped mesh with rosettes.


But not only formal dresses were worn by the ladies of the 17th century. There is also a fashion for home clothes. For example, it was during the Baroque style that such an element of women's costume as desabille appeared - a simple home dress made of light fabric. In a desabille or a transparent peignoir and thin silk stockings, the ladies of the 17th century could well afford to receive guests in their own boudoir in the morning.

Do not forget about the baroque style fashion and modern designers. So, many baroque motifs can always be found in the collections of the Dolce & Gabbana brand. The collection of the season was no exception. spring-summer 2017... Lots of decor, black and white combinations, rich bright colors. Everything worth wearing in the year of the rooster.