COLOUR BLOCKING IN PARIS- FEATURING CULOTTES
Verney Burge
Country Road Navy and White Scarf Culottes
Zara Red Tie Front Culottes
Hey everyone!
Here's two outfits I wore out and about while I was in Paris. Both outfits (unintentionally patriotic) featured culottes and very silhouetted cut tops. If you know me, you'll know that yes- I love culottes and yes- I own a lot of different culottes. Not sure were my obsession came from but after a bit of digging on the inter-webs I have actually discovered there is a deep and rich history behind my dear friend the culotte. Adding onto this discovery there is actually a very strong tie to France (and more specifically Paris) and the culotte.
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So where did it all start for the culotte? It actually started way back in the Renaissance ear, where upper class men wore breeches, or French liked to say 'culottes'. Back then they were more fitted, came just below the knee and were fastened by a buckle. By the time the French Revolution came around (1789 - 1799), culottes had actually became one of the defining factors in ones socio-economic status. They had become so synonymous with the upper class, that the revolutionaries were coined sans culottes, or “without culottes”: a term which separated them from their upper class counterparts and their aristocratic ideals. The sans culottes wore trousers instead, creating a stark visual divide between these groups of people, as well as their values.
It wasn't until the the Victorian era (1837 - 1901), we saw a re-emergence of the culotte, where it became more of a feminist garment. Women had began breaking from their restrictive lifestyles and needed a functional way to do this. This is were the culotte came back into the picture, and subsequently gave them a new found freedom. They were described as the “split skirt” and were used for activities like tennis, horseback riding and bicycling.
Culottes would eventually proved to be a turning point for women’s fashion in the 1930s. Elsa Schiaparelli was responsible for this, and featured culottes in her 1931 collection. Many critics dubbed the culottes as “manly, with hints of lesbianism” and some reporters even suggested Schiaparelli should be beaten for introducing this design. As bad as that sounds by today's standards, whats even more shocking is that women were even being arrested in Paris for wearing the culottes in public!
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If you managed to get through my little fashion history lesson- bravo to you! If you want to read more about culottes I have inserted some great links below:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/06/are-culottes-ugly-on-purpose-or-what.html
http://costumesociety.org.uk/blog/post/culottes-a-brief-history
https://startupfashion.com/category/fashion-business-advice-and-tips/
Anyway enough about culottes for now (I know I'm going to bring them up again in another blog so stay tunned- haha!!) and I hope you guys found this information as interesting as I did!
Vernbird
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