Rococo style in clothes and interiors

The Rococo style in the second half of the 18th century became the main style in European art, both in architecture, painting, and fashion. The Rococo style comes after the Baroque, becomes its kind of continuation, but with its own peculiarities peculiar only to it. Like the Baroque, the Rococo style is a palace style, fashion is still dictated by Versailles.

The word "rococo" comes from the French "rocaille" - crushed stone, decorative shell, shell. The term "rocaille" itself was originally used to characterize the way grottoes, fountains, gazebos, terraces were decorated with various fossils imitating natural formations. The most common Rococo style was in interior design.

In the 18th century, what we today call Rococo was called "picturesque taste", but soon Rococo was criticized, it began to be called "twisted" and "tortured", and even "spoiled taste".

The first critics of Rococo were encyclopedists, French enlighteners, among whom, for example, were such famous personalities as Denis Diderot, Voltaire. Encyclopedists criticized Rococo for the lack of a "rational principle" in it, because for them the main thing was precisely the mind and, of course, the rationality and practicality arising from it in everything.

Baroque and Rococo. Baroque - was a magnificent style, somewhat cumbersome, the style of balls and ceremonial halls, a style where everything was "too much." Rococo will become a more comfortable, more homely style, it is not for nothing that the main area of ​​application of the Rococo style will be not architecture, but interior design.

The same is in fashion, during the Baroque era, bright colors were in fashion, and makeup made all women older in age, looking at the women of the Baroque era, one could safely say that they are all well over thirty and all of them are incredibly important, significant ladies. Rococo, on the contrary, focuses on gentle, light, pastel colors - pale blue, pale yellow, pink, gray-blue. And in makeup, all women look exclusively twenty-year-old, young girls, blush and powder help them in this. However, makeup becomes so abundant that sometimes husbands did not recognize their wives in the make-up, the face turns into a young, but completely lifeless mask.

Valued in the era of Rococo and perfumery, fragrances are actively used, perfumes are widespread among women - violet root, neroli, patchouli, rose water.

And the Rococo era is rightfully called the "female age". It is in the Rococo style that a man's suit approaches a woman's, men in clothes also follow fashion, like ladies, they also dress up, they also follow it. Moreover, men's fashion is as close as possible to women's.

Rococo era male costume.

Men wear justocor. Justocor is a long men's caftan, which is most often sewn according to the figure. For the first time, the Justocor appears in France in the 60s of the 17th century. In the Rococo era, the floors of the Justocor become wider, now they seem to stick out in different directions.

In the Rococo era, men wore a camisole under the justocor. A camisole is a type of men's clothing, sewn to the waist and knee-length, sometimes it was sewn without sleeves, it was often, especially in winter, worn under a caftan. By the 19th century, the camisole will turn into a vest. In the Rococo era, a “skirt with hoops” is formed in a men's suit from a fold camisole, because men's fashion strives to imitate women's fashion in everything.

Men also wore crisp white shirts with lace frills and scarves.

The fabrics, both in womens and mens suits, were soft, pastel colors. The men's suit, like the women's one, was abundantly decorated with flounces, buttons, ribbons, and lace.

Men also wore knee-length pants that complemented white stockings.

However, hairstyles, in contrast to the baroque, are becoming simpler and flatter.Hair curls into curls, framing the face, and later - gather in braids. Powdered wigs with curled curls on the sides, as well as a pigtail and a bow at the back, remain in fashion. The headdress is a cocked hat.

Rococo era women's costume

Women still wear fluffy skirts - panniers, which hold on to the frame, as well as corsets. At the beginning of the Rococo era, the skirt decreases slightly, but then expands again to the maximum possible limit. Hairstyles also initially become less lush - a sleek, small hairstyle with rows of flowing curls is in fashion. But then the hairstyles again increase, reaching a complete absurdity - still lifes of flowers, ribbons, decorative hairpins and feathers, and even whole decorative boats with sails appear on the heads of the court ladies.

Huge skirts are no longer even round, but oval. The bodice of the dress is pulled down, below the waist, in the form of a triangle, it also has a fairly deep cut. In the dress, this contrast becomes especially noticeable - a large fluffy skirt and a small, completely not voluminous, in comparison with her bodice. The sleeves of the dress taper to the elbow, they are abundantly decorated with ribbons and cascades of lace.

Ribbons are becoming a favorite adornment of the Rococo era. In addition to ribbons, flowers were also actively used, both natural and artificial. It was in the Rococo era that artificial flowers first began to be used to decorate an outfit, before that they served only to decorate temples and were made in monasteries.

Satin and satin are the most popular fabrics. These fabrics, soft to the touch, allow for the many folds that were so necessary in the Rococo era, plus the shiny satin was in perfect harmony with the matte lace.

Outerwear in the Rococo era was a cloak - a loose cloak that falls from the shoulders. Great importance is attached to additional elements such as a muff, gloves, a fan, with which the ladies gave special signs to their gentlemen. Flies also served the secret language of lovers - silk black plasters of various shapes.

The Rococo style pays much attention to underwear, because in dresses that largely expose the body, which was typical of dresses of the Rococo era, underwear appears for all to see. Women, like men, begin to wear stockings, like men - white, but sometimes motley. The underwear is made of silk and is abundantly decorated with embroidery, lace trim, gold and silver. After all, the neckline now allows you to see the undershirt, and the underskirt becomes visible when walking. Now the underskirt is decorated, like the upper one, with lace, flounces, ribbons.

The shoes are soft and low. They were made from a fairly simple material, but were often richly decorated - ribbons, embroidery, buckles, precious stones.

The owners of a wasp waist, narrow hips, fragile shoulders and a round face were considered the ideal of female beauty. Ideal woman - a fragile and slender mince. The ideal man is a court dandy.

Rococo fashion in all its splendor can be seen in the paintings of the artists of that era - Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, Fragonard.