Justaucorps

Jackets

Majestic cuffs
In 1666, Charles II of England wanted to completely change men's fashion. He introduced the waistcoat, ment to be worn in combination with shorts and justaucorps: the three-piece suit was born! The justaucorps is an open, collarless coat that was worn in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The term means 'close to the body' in French: the jacket is therefore fitted, flares from the waist and falls to the knee. Characteristic are the large cuffs and the flared skirt. During the course of the eighteenth century, the justaucorps changed so much that it increasingly resembled the English riding coat. These versions of the justaucorps were then called redingote. The original justaucorps fell out of fashion around 1780, with the arrival of the frak.

Image: France, 1730-1740. © Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, photogaphy Jean Tholance.

 

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