Overview
For much of the 18th century France led women’s fashion — the sacque gown, panniers and powdered hair — while England’s contribution moved increasingly to men’s tailoring and cloth.
Key garments and style
Women wore the mantua and later the wide-hipped hooped gown; the mid-century “macaroni” marked male foppery. From the 1790s the high-waisted muslin neoclassical (Regency) gown took over, and Beau Brummell’s plain, impeccably cut dark coat, breeches and linen set the template for the modern suit — dandyism as restraint, not display.
Transition
The Victorian era brought the crinoline, the corseted hourglass and mass-produced cloth.