What would rich and poor people wear in the 1700's?

Answer 1

Poor women wore simple grey or brown dresses or jackets and skirts. Men would have worn jackets and trousers in grey or brown.

Rich women wore ornately embroidered elaborate dresses or jackets and skirts, in any color. Men wore jackets, trousers, shirts and waistcoats.

Fashions changed greatly throughout the eighteenth century, and the rich had many different types of clothes for various situations, such as riding habits, court gowns, evening gowns and everyday gowns.

Main types of rich women's dresses: robe a la anglaise (a dress that closes up the back), robe a la francaise (a dress closed by a "stomacher" up the front, with a "sack back"), robe a la polonaise (dress folded up into itself so as to create a pouff at the back), chemise a la reine (white dress held by ribbon around the waist), empire line dresses, robe volante (loose dress from the early eighteenth century), mantua (a dress folded back at the waist over a skirt, worn in the early eighteenth century, or sometimes later at court) ,riding habit (skirt an jacket worn for horseriding).

Main types of women's jackets: caraco, brunswick jacket, pet en lair, pierrot jacket, casaquin. These would have been worn over petticoats, which were often quilted.

Other items: banyan (a sort of robe).