Progress, deception, temptation, practicality.
Fashion in French Enlightenment thought

Abazeva Margarita Stanislavovna ORCID: 0009-0000-0021-7697 Lecturer; Faculty of History; Lomonosov Moscow State University applicant; Faculty of History; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Lomonosovsky ave., 27, building 4 abazieva@gmail.com

Introduction

In the 18th century, Paris finally established itself as a fashionable capital on the European map. The cost and size of wardrobes have increased, and fashion trends have reached an increasingly wide audience. The weight of fashion in the public consciousness has also increased.: The minds of the educated public were now occupied not only by new finishes, colors and accessories, but also by fashion as a phenomenon, its nature, mechanisms and role in human life. The first works on the history of fashion appear in Europe, magazines and newspapers write about it, and authors dedicate essays, plays, and novels to it. What did those whose thought had a huge impact on the society of that time, becoming an intellectual catalyst for social and cultural changes in European life, think about fashion? What did French educators write about fashion? The article is devoted to the answer to this question.

Despite the fact that interest in studying the history of fashion first arose back then, in the age of Enlightenment, for a long time afterwards it remained on the periphery of historical knowledge. The major shifts that turned fashion history into an independent and sought-after research field began in the 1980s. It was then that the first major works appeared on the history of fashion as a socio-cultural phenomenon that goes beyond the history of costume. For example, the French historians D. Roche and F. Perrault discovered a new history of Paris, the center of clothing production ^{[1; 2]}. D. Roche showed how the production and trading system began to form, which later became the Paris fashion industry. At the same time, the book "Parisian Fashion" by the outstanding fashion theorist and pioneer of fashion studies V. Steele was first published, since then it has been republished twice – the last time with all relevant clarifications in 2020 ^[3]. Is Paris still the fashion capital of the world? She poses such a global question for herself. And by answering it, it shows the evolution of the Parisian style in its inseparable connection with urban space.

Later, sociologist A. Rocamora ^[4] studied this topic through the prism of media culture, namely the fashion press, which celebrates this city and supports its status as the capital of fashion. However, this book is almost entirely devoted to the 19th and 20th centuries in the history of French fashion.

Over the past twenty years, fashion studies have been actively developing, and scientific papers have appeared that shed light on the history of fashion, including in the 18th century. For example, one of the world's leading fashion researchers, E. Ribeiro, in her book "Fashion and Morality" ^[5], examined clothing through the prism of its relationship with social norms. She showed that in the age of Enlightenment, when moderation and sanity were extolled, the fervor of moral reproaches against fashion and fashionistas did not subside. Professor S. Vincent of York University studied how different generations modeled the body using clothes. Her work "The Anatomy of fashion: the way to dress from the Renaissance to the present day" ^[6] introduces the reader to the cultural history of wigs, corsets, powder and other attributes, without which it is difficult to imagine fashion of the XVIII century.

There was a disregard for the history of fashion in the Soviet academic environment. It was considered appropriate for art historians to address this topic as the history of costume. M.N. Mertsalova, the author of the four-volume book "Costume of Different Times and Peoples", devoted her life to her study ^[7]. The fourth volume of the publication tells about the trends of world fashion in the XVIII century. Another major researcher of the history of costume in Russia, R.M. Kirsanova, was engaged in Russian decorative and applied arts and costume of the XVIII-XX centuries ^[8].

There are no separate works devoted directly to French fashion of the XVIII century in Russian historiography. It is considered mainly in connection with fashion in the Russian Empire. For example, K. Borderiu in the work "The Dress of the Empress. Catherine II and the European costume in the Russian Empire" ^[9] shows how Parisian fashion inspired ideas and filled Russian fashion with new trends, which was formed precisely then, in the XVIII century.

So, despite the fact that interest in fashion studies is high today, the works devoted to fashion in the XVIII century leave gaps for its further study. One of them is the plot that interests us. And although fashion historians use the works of educators as sources, answering their own research questions, none of them tried to consider the educational discourse on fashion in isolation.

The cultural historiography of the Enlightenment is truly vast, but even here we can hardly find a study that aims to analyze the development of educational thought about fashion. It is probably significant that the large historical dictionary "The World of Enlightenment" ^[10], edited by the already mentioned D. Roche, which combined under its cover the results of the work of various historiographical schools dealing with Enlightenment issues over the past couple of centuries, contains only isolated mentions of fashion.

The culture of the French Enlightenment, as is well known, is characterized by the phenomenon of the organic unity of philosophy and literature, expressed in the fact that the greatest French philosophers of this era were simultaneously outstanding writers ^{[11, p. 94]}. Therefore, the main sources for the article are the works of enlightenment thinkers: the dialogues of D. Diderot "Regrets about my old robe", "Rameau's Nephew", the novels "Persian Letters" by S. Montesquieu, "Julia, or the New Heloise", "Emile, or on education" by J.-J. Rousseau, the play "Ancient and Modern, or Madame de Pompadour's toilet" by Voltaire, works "On Man", "On the Mind" by K.A. Helvetius. Among them, the series of essays by L.S. Mercier "Paintings of Paris" and his utopian novel "The Year two thousand four hundred and fortieth" stand apart in their authenticity and vastness. The list of sources can undoubtedly be expanded, however, being limited by the scope of the study, the author focused on the writings of key thinkers of the French Enlightenment. By choosing those that can shed the most light on the "fashion issue" that interests us.

Based on these sources, we will examine the main features of the fashion-related literary and philosophical discourse of French Enlightenment thinkers. Let's show what distinguished him and what issues he raised.

Fashion and luxury in the 18th century

"Fashion is a custom, a habit, a way of dressing up, dressing up, in a word, everything that serves for decoration and luxury." This definition is offered by the "Encyclopedia" of Diderot and D'Alembert, the most famous body of knowledge of the XVIII century ^{[12, p. 598]}. It is precisely this modern enlightenment and their formulated understanding of fashion that we will keep in mind in the following discussion.

"Fashion can be viewed from a philosophical and political point of view," says Louis de Jaucourt, one of the most prolific compilers of Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopedia, in the article "Fashion". If we look at it through the eyes of a philosopher, we will see that fashion is born of the frivolity of the human mind, and it was established in society by nothing more than a desire to please. At the same time, from a political point of view, it is an important item, thanks to the luxury of which the state can infinitely expand the branches of its trade ^{[12, p. 598]}.

The author of the article clearly connects modern fashion with luxury and offers us one of the points of view of the "luxury dispute" that has occupied French society since the 1720s. This dispute is considered by the historian Philippe Perrault in his eponymous work on luxury ^[13]. We are interested in it because the fashion of the XVIII century, expensive, changeable, tending to excess, was indeed directly related to luxury. And in many ways, it was the enlightener's position on the "question of luxury" that determined his attitude to fashion.

It is known that in the middle of the century, Voltaire was the main apologist of "luxury" among enlightenment thinkers, and J.J. was its key opponent. Rousseau. Let's look at the idea of fashion formed by these two intellectual poles.

Educators-proponents of luxury about fashion

In 1765, Voltaire's play "Ancient and Modern, or the toilet of Madame de Pompadour" was released. In this small ironic work, the thinker uses his imagination to make Cicero's daughter Tullia a guest of the Marquise de Pompadour. Using this artistic device, Voltaire did not want to explore fashion or costume at all, but progress in art and science. However, the play attracts the attention of a fashion historian from the very first lines: after meeting, two women from different eras first of all start talking about clothes. "Ah, madame, you are not wearing stockings," the Marquise exclaims, "your legs are bare" ^{[14, p. 452]}. Roman recognizes stockings as a wonderful invention of the future and promises to tell her contemporaries about it. She listens to Marchioness's stories about how a magnifying glass works and prints are printed, enjoys unfamiliar music, treats herself to coffee and chocolate. And finally, he recognizes that the people of the new century have surpassed the people of the ancients in everything. This is how Voltaire fits fashion into the canvas of material progress, which, like luxury, from his point of view, is necessary for the prosperity and well-being of the nation. This interpretation of the fashion process as progress proved persistent and was later reflected in the works of other fashion writers. We will find it, for example, in G.F.R. Molay in his essay on the history of fashion, which was one of the first of its kind ^[15], and also in the works of the famous writer and educator L.S. Mercier ^{[16, 17]}.

Montesquieu distinguishes a more nuanced attitude to luxury. He examines the unequal distribution of benefits under various forms of government and concludes that "luxury is necessary for monarchical states, since the unequal distribution of wealth stems from the very structure of the monarchy." "If the rich spend little, the poor will have to starve to death," says Montesquieu ^{[18, p. 92]}.

This position of the philosopher determines his attitude to fashion. In the Persian Letters, we find arguments similar to those set out in the Encyclopedia: French fashion of the 18th century is fickle, frivolous, but at the same time it offers people those desirable excesses that make the economy of the state work effectively, and the sovereign is allowed to wield power over his subjects. "The capital invested in the land," writes Montesquieu, "brings the owner only a twentieth of its value, and the artist, having spent paints on one pistol, will paint a picture that will bring him fifty pistoles. The same can be said about goldsmiths, about craftsmen making woolen fabrics, and about all artisans in general" ^{[19, p. 174]}.

At the same time, in Montesquieu, we find the image of fashion as a force fooling the French, captivating them to such an extent that everything else ceased to matter to them. "They readily admit that other nations are wiser," writes the philosopher on behalf of one of the authors of the Persian Letters, "as long as everyone recognizes that the French are best dressed. They agree to obey the laws of a rival nation, but on condition that French hairdressers will be everywhere legislators regarding wigs. They are absolutely delighted that the tastes of their chefs reign from north to south and that the prescriptions of their maids apply to boudoirs all over Europe" ^{[19, p. 163]}. The philosopher complains that common sense comes to the French from the outside and they have borrowed from their neighbors everything related to political and civil administration, but they don't care about it, because fashion overshadows their minds.

Helvetius shared Montesquieu's views on fashion and luxury. He notes that luxury is a "palliative" in a state with an extremely uneven distribution of national wealth, because "the lavish lifestyle of the grandees infuses money and life into the lower class of citizens" ^{[20, p. 334]}. The philosopher considers the attacks of moralists on luxury and debauchery in such a state to be meaningless and gives a curious example of a woman of easy virtue. "The desire to please," he writes, "leads such a woman to a merchant of ribbons, fabrics and fashionable things, and thereby forces her not only to pull a lot of workers out of poverty, into which compliance with luxury laws would plunge her, but also inspires her with acts of the most enlightened charity" ^{[21, p. 261]}.

Luxury and the associated fashion and debauchery, according to Helvetius, are an inevitable "useful evil" in such a state. The views of the people and their mores can only be changed by improving legislation, educating citizens and changing the form of government that follows from them. At the same time, fashion, according to the thinker, also captures the human mind from the lack of enlightenment in society. From his point of view, the fashionista is selfish and ignorant: he thinks primarily about his own well-being and prefers fashionable jargon to the language of common sense ^{[20, p. 496]}.

In contrast to Montesquieu and Helvetius de Jaucourt, the already mentioned article from the Encyclopedia urges to admire the fickleness of frivolity of people who consistently attach value to completely opposite things, and not to condemn fashion, which allows them to satisfy the need to like each other. He warns against one thing: subordination to fashion in matters of health, conscience, spirit and knowledge ^{[12, p. 598]}.

Enlighteners-opponents of luxury about fashion

In the writings of the enlightenment opponents of luxury - D. Diderot, J.–J. Rousseau, L.-S. Mercier – a more coherent and consistent discourse on fashion has been formed. In them, it appears as a tempting and corrupting force that harms man and society. It is no coincidence that the hero of Diderot's dialogue of the same name, Rameau's nephew, is the embodiment of the worst features of modern society for the author, tirelessly talks about fashion, demonstrating how well he understands the intricacies of the subject. Rameau judges people by their costume and is convinced that dressing luxuriously is a natural human need that he will always strive to satisfy ^{[22, p. 183]}.

A remarkable scene is the seduction of a young girl, to whom Rameau, who was successful in pimping, promises first of all lace of all kinds, beautiful diamond earrings, blush, flies, and a train supported by a page. And all this is for a vicious relationship with a gentleman in a gold–embroidered caftan who "hasn't been drinking or sleeping since he saw her."

The theme of the "fall" of a woman associated with fashion finds an interesting development in Mercier's work. The writer believes that it was women who played a crucial role in the fact that the nobility left the ancient castles and settled at the royal court, turning their inherited wealth into diamonds and lace. According to Mercier, women willingly abandoned household chores and began to shine at the throne, satisfying their "innate vanity." They "became trendsetters of fashion and entertainment and looked on indifferently at the humiliations to which their fathers, husbands and sons were subjected." "They turned empty ideas into matters of the utmost importance: they created toilets, etiquette, fashion, jewelry." The men, led by them, had no choice but to hunt for favors and money ^{[16, p. 22]}.

Strictly speaking, criticism of fashion as a corrupting force is by no means new, it has always come from the church, which has been in a hurry to condemn hairstyles, jewelry, bodice cutouts and other more or less harmless fashion fads. Mercier, with all the irony inherent in his writing talent, tells us about an elegant and blooming charity collector, whose charm the church uses to "arouse generosity in the souls of believers" and collect more money from parishioners. "In the morning, the pastor smashes women's outfits in his sermon, calling everything, even the lightest jewelry, which emphasizes the attractiveness of women, the most terrible debauchery, and in the evening he expects a more abundant harvest from the pretty collector, from her graceful appearance and pretty face," writes Mercier ^{[16, p. 155]}.

And his train of thought clearly shows that educational criticism of fashion is far from directly religious ideas about the sinful attractiveness of women's outfits. From the point of view of the enlighteners, fashion is depraved because, distracting a woman with trinkets, forcing her to ruin her husband by buying new dresses, powdering and snuffing, having fun, "turning day into night," messing with ridiculous little dogs, does not allow her to take the place in society that the enlighteners reserved for her. This is the place of the mother, the keeper of the hearth and the wise educator of children, who, if she cares about her external beauty, then only about her natural one.

In their discussions about fashion, French anti-luxury educators come to the question of practicality. And from their point of view, fashion is impractical in itself, since it is based on the idea of continuously updating the wardrobe in accordance with new, constantly changing trends. Fashion is momentary and ruinous in its transience. "The laws of fashion are fickle and ruinous," writes J.J. Rousseau in the novel "Julia, or the New Heloise" ^{[23, p. 473]}. The thinker also notes that fashion items are often sold "at an exorbitant price" just because they are new-fangled. This makes their purchase contrary to common sense and all practicality.

Just as fashion itself is impractical, so, according to the enlightenment thinkers, a fashionable suit that is modern to them is impractical. It is incongruous with the living conditions of the XVIII century, inconvenient, aesthetically ridiculous and unhealthy – this is the verdict that thinkers give it.

L.S. Mercier portrays a Parisian who "in a multi-story wig, white stockings and a lace-trimmed dress jumps over a dirty stream, and then runs on tiptoe through wet streets, with streams of water pouring from rain pipes onto his silk umbrella." "Mountains of mud," Mercier continues, "slippery pavement, greasy carriage axles–how many obstacles... at every street corner he calls a cleaner and gets off with just a few spots on his stockings." "By what miracle did he manage to get off so easily and cross the dirtiest city in the world from end to end? How could he walk through the muddy mud in thin shoes? Oh! This is a special secret of Parisians, and I advise no one to try to imitate them," the author says ironically. "Why not dress appropriately for dirt and dust? Why, walking, put on a dress that is suitable only for someone who travels in carriages?", asks Mercier ^{[16, p. 56]}.

Educators find modern fashions not only inconvenient, but harmful and dangerous to their health. Elaborate high hairstyles made from fake hair "borrowed from dead heads," a huge pillow stuffed with horsehair, lots of hairpins, and an incredible amount of powder and lipstick cause eye, skin, and ear diseases, lice, frequent fluxes, and toothaches. This is reported to us by Mercier, who devoted an entire chapter to the harm of fashionable hairstyles in his "Paintings of Paris" ^{[17, p. 204]}.

The dangerous hairstyle is complemented by an equally harmful suit, in which "the arms and shoulders are clenched, the body is compressed, the chest is tightened to the point that it is simply impossible to breathe," garters and knee pads impede blood circulation, and the legs and hips of men are exposed to the outside in any bad weather, both in winter and summer ^{[24, p. 14]}. In the novel-treatise "Emile, or on education" years earlier, Rousseau argued that these shy and uncomfortable clothes are especially harmful to children, who, as is known, were dressed like adults from a very young age. Rousseau writes a lot about how adult clothing literally mutilates children's bodies. And the ability to understand expensive and fashionable fabrics, instilled from childhood, morally corrupts a person and makes him a slave to luxury from an early age ^{[25, p. 138]}.

Mercier also finds the modern fashion look ridiculous and unattractive from an aesthetic point of view. For example, he describes a man's hairstyle.: an arrogant pomaded pyramid, gaudy wings lying on both sides of the face, clumsy curls that have nothing to do with freely flowing curls and give a person a stupid, pouty and ungracious appearance ^{[24, p. 15]}.

But while rejecting fashion as a phenomenon and disapproving of the fashion trends of the middle of the century, the enlightenment nevertheless does not call for neglecting appearance or abandoning concern for the beauty of appearance. They offer their own vision of these issues.

Thus, Rousseau contrasts good taste with fashion. "As much as the laws of fashion are fickle and ruinous, the laws of good taste are economical and stable," he writes ^{[23, p. 473]}. A man with taste, according to Rousseau, loves to create and is able to value things himself, he knows how to make a valuable environment and an attractive outfit out of inexpensive items. Rousseau's heroine Julia chooses a fabric for a dress based primarily on whether it will go well with her face, rather than worrying about whether this fabric is fashionable or not.

"After all, there is a big difference between the virtues that fashion gives to things and their real value," writes Rousseau, "and Julia values this latter alone." What constitutes this real value of things? "Grace, modest simplicity, harmonious combination, pleasantness and convenience,– Rousseau replies, "these are the unchangeable and reliable rules that remain in force when the fashion for one thing or another has long passed" ^{[23, p. 473]}.

L.S. Mercier, whom ideological opponents even disparagingly dubbed "the Rousseau of the square" for his ardent commitment to the ideals of the philosopher, develops these ideas in his writings.

His utopian novel The Year Two Thousand Four Hundred and Forty is particularly interesting in this regard, in which the author picturesquely depicts the improved society of the future and its transformed way of life. The writer invites us to a used dress shop, where he dresses according to new trends. At the same time, the author is happy to contrast the shop itself with the shops of merchants of the past: a comfortable chair on which, thanks to a screw in its design, the customer could spin in all directions, light and comfort in interaction with the seller, who kept himself simple and "never mentioned either his honor or his conscience" ^{[24, p. 15]}. The very fact that in the new society, buying a suit at a second-hand dress shop is not considered the lot of the poorest segments of the population, but is a normal, apparently widespread practice, tells us that prudent, economical consumption is the most valuable thing here, in the language of today.

Practical, comfortable, modest and pleasant to look at – this is how Mercier himself characterizes the ideal costume of the new Parisian. The headdress in it is a cleverly described prototype of a modern cap: "only the crown has been preserved from hats, deep enough to hold on to the head, bordered by something like a roller made of the same fabric, when unfolded, this roller formed a kind of visor protecting the face from the sun and rain." A shawl was wrapped around his neck, appropriate to the time of the year. The sleeves were moderately wide and gave full freedom of movement to the hands. The body was covered with a kind of doublet, over which a wide cloak was thrown, capable of protecting from bad weather. The long scarf hugged her hips as well, giving warmth to her entire body. The feet were dressed in comfortable ankle boots, which, in contrast to the thin shoes of the past, could protect them from bad weather ^{[24, p. 14-15]}.

And if Rousseau talks a lot about taste and the ability to give things value, about the elegance of appearance, then Mercier, one might say, goes further: in the society of two thousand four hundred and forty, they no longer judge people by their appearance at all. Here, a man who is famous for his skill in some business does not need rich clothes, luxurious furnishings, or even attempts to recreate such from simple things by the power of taste. The only vestigial insignia of the illustrious man is a hat with an embroidered name, which he receives from the hands of the emperor himself ^{[24, p. 19]}. This is the world of Mercier's utopia.

In fact, Diderot's famous dialogue "Regrets about my old Robe", from the point of view of a fashion researcher, is also nothing more than an ode to the practicality and simplicity of a person's appearance and the interior surrounding him. Under the cover of his old dressing gown, the philosopher was not afraid of "neither the awkwardness of a servant, nor his own, nor a spark of fire, nor a stream of water." "I was the complete master of my old robe and became the slave of the new one," Diderot writes with regret, but not without irony. The irony of the thinker lies in the fact that he colorfully describes how seductive fashion is, how sweetly it tempts and draws a person into its net, subjugating him. "Cursed be the one who invented the art of giving value to ordinary fabric by dyeing it purple, cursed be the dress I reverence!" exclaims Diderot ^{[22, pp. 53-54]}.

Curiously, Mercier, whose generous criticism of fashion we discussed above, brings us back to where we started the story: to the idea of progress. And, following Voltaire, although not sharing his views on other issues, he also fits fashion into the process of progress in the arts and sciences. "Now they sing better, they dance better, and they also make stews tastier. <Medicine has become less deadly, surgery is doing wonders, and chemistry is astounding with its discoveries. We are finally starting to understand good music and introduce it to ourselves. Our dresses are less shy – they are simpler, fresher, more comfortable," says Mercier in Paintings of Paris, published in 1782 ^{[16, p. 119]}.

In 1783, the artist Elizabeth Viger-Lebrun captured Marie Antoinette, and this portrait so angered the public that it was removed from the Salon. "The Queen is not dressed, the queen ordered her portrait in a shirt," critics were indignant ^{[26, p. 66]}. We have no evidence of how Mercier found the "scandalous image" of the queen. Nevertheless, we can say with confidence that her light muslin chemise, which contrasted so sharply with the ornate, body-shackling dresses of the courtiers, and her simple, only slightly powdered hairstyle of her own hair fully corresponded to the tastes of enlightenment opponents of luxury and, in particular, Mercier.

Thus, fashion researchers Danielle Roche and Valerie Steele rightly argue that the revolution did not revolutionize fashion. For example, a white chemise dress became fashionable even before the capture of the Bastille ^{[3, p. 39]}. That is, the Sartorial ^[1] revolution really began before 1789. However, it was preceded by ideological training, which unfolded, among other things, on the pages of the works of French enlighteners.

Conclusions

The enlightenment pen has not bypassed fashion. The French thinkers of the 18th century, as we have seen, were interested in fashion, and their works have preserved a wealth of material that offers the fashion researcher a wide field for reflection.

Summarizing all of the above, we note that the great debate of the XVIII century about luxury can be considered a kind of watershed between the enlighteners in their attitude to fashion. Those of them who supported luxury and considered it an incentive for the development of the country's economy also favored fashion, since the fashion of that time was, of course, directly related to luxury and conspicuous consumption. And yet, favoring fashion for economic reasons, they considered it a fickle and frivolous element.

Others, ardent opponents of luxury, such as Rousseau, Diderot, and Mercier, strongly disapproved of modern fashion because of its short–term, wasteful, and impractical nature. In their works we will find the image of fashion as a tempting, seducing force. They contrast fashion with the concept of good taste, practicality, simplicity, harmonious combination, pleasantness and convenience of things. These ideas of philosophers, one might say, became part of the ideological doctrine of the future Sartorial revolution, which began to change the face of the French even before the collapse of the Old Order.

What role did the enlightenment thinkers play in the preparation of this revolution, and what place did they occupy in the fashion processes on the eve of the revolution? Were they themselves the ideologists of changes in fashion, or did they only respond to fashion trends as contemporaries? These questions naturally arise before us and set the direction for further research with the expansion of the source base. After all, to understand the fashionable context, the works of enlighteners alone are not enough: they need to be supplemented with sources of personal origin, which are so rich in the era – memoirs, diaries, letters – and the fashionable press, which was gaining momentum at that time.

In conclusion, we note how modern some of the opinions of educators sound today, in the era of the prevailing fast fashion, where for years there has been talk about fatigue from the endless "fashion race", dangerous for both consumers and employees of the fashion industry, about overproduction, environmental, social and other problems hidden behind the facade. a vibrant and brilliant fashion world.

The idea that clothes should be comfortable, practical and suitable for their wearer, especially if it is a child, who primarily colors him, regardless of fashion trends, which are so natural and understandable to us today, was formulated by educators almost three centuries ago, at the dawn of fashion, in its "pre–industrial phase".

^[1] Sartorial (from Latin. sartor – tailor; sarcire – to repair, alter) – related to the manufacture of clothing, in the general sense of the word – to clothing in general.