A pelisse was originally a short fur-trimmed jacket which hussar light-cavalry soldiers from the 17th century onwards usually wore hanging loose over the left shoulder, ostensibly to prevent sword cuts. The name also came to refer to a fashionable style of woman's coat-like garment worn in the early-19th century.
The style of uniform incorporating the pelisse originated with the hussar mercenaries of Hungary in the 17th century. As this type of light cavalry unit became popular in Western Europe, so too did their dress. In the 19th century pelisses were in use throughout most armies in Europe, and even some in North and South America.
In appearance the pelisse was characteristically a very short and extremely tight fitting (when worn) jacket, the cuffs and collar of which were trimmed with fur. The jacket was further decorated with patterns sewn in bullion lace, often in a pattern matching that of the dolman worn beneath it. The front of the jacket was distinctive and typically featured several rows of parallel froggings and loops, and either three or five vertical lines of buttons. For officers of the British Hussars this frogging, regimentally differentiated, was generally of gold or silver bullion lace, to match either gold (gilt) or silver buttons. Other ranks had either yellow lace with brass buttons or white lace with "white-metal" (nickel) buttons. Lacing varied from unit to unit and country to country. It was held in place by a lanyard. In cold weather the pelisse could be worn over the dolman.
The prevalence of this style began to wane towards the end of the 19th century, but it was still in use by some cavalry regiments in the Imperial German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies up until World War I. In the Prussian Army the pelisse had been abolished in 1853 but between 1865 and 1913 it was reintroduced for ceremonial wear by nine hussar regiments and the Life-Guard Hussar Regiment, usually at the request of the regimental Colonel-in-Chief. [1] The two hussar regiments of the Spanish Army retained pelisses until 1931. The Danish Garderhusarregimentet are the only modern military unit to retain this distinctive item of dress, as part of their mounted full-dress uniform. [2]
Through the 18th and 19th centuries, the term pelisse was used in western women’s fashionable dress to refer to both an outer coat-like garment (pelisse, pellicle, pelisse-mantle, pelisson, curricle pelisse), and also a dress (pelisse robe) worn as daywear. [3]
Pelisse of the 18th century resembled a hooded cloak, whereas those of the early 19th century, as both a coat-like garment and a dress, were more fitted to the body, reflecting the Empire line of the period. [3] Pelisse could be made from any number of different fabrics, from lightweight cotton muslins to heavier woollens. [4]
In early 19th-century Europe, when military clothing was often used as inspiration for fashionable ladies' garments, the Regency-era initially imitated the Hussars' fur and braid. [5] Though pelisse soon lost these initial associations, being made entirely of fabrics such as silk, the womenswear garment did, however, tend to retain traces of their military inspiration with frog fastenings and braid trim. [5] Many pelisse had small capes, the curricle pelisse of the 1820s being particularly notable, as it featured three. [3]
The pelisse robe, a day dress with similar styling to coat-like pelisse, had similar features to the pelisse, such as front fastenings, [3] and was often intricately decorated with such applications as ribbons and embroidery. [6] In the 1840s, the pelisse robe became more commonly referred to as a redingote. [3]
Depending on the season and use of the pelisse, the garment could be made of cotton, silk, taffeta, or wool, and trimmed - usually on the collar, center front edges, cuffs, and hem – with fur, swansdown, lace, velvet, fringe, or silk plush.
Pelisse finally lost any resemblance to their origins in men’s military dress as skirts and sleeves widened in the 1830s, and the increasingly large crinoline skirts of the 1840s and 1850s caused fashionable women to turn to loose mantles, cloaks, and shawls (especially those of Paisley design) instead. The term pelisse did however continue to be used, with the pelisse-mantle of c.1838-1845, a long cloak with fitted back, and pelisse-robe of c.1817-1850 contributing to the garment’s longevity. [3]
A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a belt, or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars, shoulder straps, and hoods.
The attila is an elaborately braided Hungarian shell-jacket or short coat, decorated with lace and knots. Historically it was part of the uniform of the Hungarian cavalry known as hussars. It was a part of the everyday wear of rural men as well as members of the nobility and officials.
Mess dress uniform is the most formal type of evening-wear uniform used by military personnel, police personnel, and other uniformed services members. It frequently consists of a mess jacket, trousers, white dress shirt and a black bow tie, along with orders and medals insignia. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In modern Western dress codes, mess dress uniform is the supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian black tie for evening wear. Mess dress uniforms are typically less formal than full dress uniform, but more formal than service dress uniform.
1830s fashion in Western and Western-influenced fashion is characterized by an emphasis on breadth, initially at the shoulder and later in the hips, in contrast to the narrower silhouettes that had predominated between 1800 and 1820.
A frock coat is a formal men's coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back and some features unusual in post-Victorian dress. These include the reverse collar and lapels, where the outer edge of the lapel is often cut from a separate piece of cloth from the main body and also a high degree of waist suppression around the waistcoat, where the coat's diameter round the waist is less than round the chest. This is achieved by a high horizontal waist seam with side bodies, which are extra panels of fabric above the waist used to pull in the naturally cylindrical drape. As was usual with all coats in the 19th century, shoulder padding was rare or minimal.
1850s fashion in Western and Western-influenced clothing is characterized by an increase in the width of women's skirts supported by crinolines or hoops, the mass production of sewing machines, and the beginnings of dress reform. Masculine styles began to originate more in London, while female fashions originated almost exclusively in Paris.
A dolman is either a military shirt, or a jacket decorated with braiding, first worn by Hungarian hussars. The word is of Turkish origin, and after being adopted into Hungarian, has propagated to other languages. The garment was worn by peasants from the 16th century onward and eventually spread throughout the country, mainly within wealthy peasant circles. It reached people living in the poorest conditions only at the end of the 19th century.
Fashion in the period 1550–1600 in European clothing was characterized by increased opulence. Contrasting fabrics, slashes, embroidery, applied trims, and other forms of surface ornamentation remained prominent. The wide silhouette, conical for women with breadth at the hips and broadly square for men with width at the shoulders had reached its peak in the 1530s, and by mid-century a tall, narrow line with a V-lined waist was back in fashion. Sleeves and women's skirts then began to widen again, with emphasis at the shoulder that would continue into the next century. The characteristic garment of the period was the ruff, which began as a modest ruffle attached to the neckband of a shirt or smock and grew into a separate garment of fine linen, trimmed with lace, cutwork or embroidery, and shaped into crisp, precise folds with starch and heated irons.
A riding habit is women's clothing for horseback riding.
Fashion in the years 1750–1775 in European countries and the colonial Americas was characterised by greater abundance, elaboration and intricacy in clothing designs, loved by the Rococo artistic trends of the period. The French and English styles of fashion were very different from one another. French style was defined by elaborate court dress, colourful and rich in decoration, worn by such iconic fashion figures as Marie Antoinette.
Court uniform and dress were required to be worn by those in attendance at the royal court in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Fashion in the period 1795–1820 in European and European-influenced countries saw the final triumph of undress or informal styles over the brocades, lace, periwigs and powder of the earlier 18th century. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, no one wanted to appear to be a member of the French aristocracy, and people began using clothing more as a form of individual expression of the true self than as a pure indication of social status. As a result, the shifts that occurred in fashion at the turn of the 19th century granted the opportunity to present new public identities that also provided insights into their private selves. Katherine Aaslestad indicates how "fashion, embodying new social values, emerged as a key site of confrontation between tradition and change."
The robe à la polonaise or polonaise is a woman's garment of the later 1770s and 1780s or a similar revival style of the 1870s inspired by Polish national costume, consisting of a gown with a cutaway, draped and swagged overskirt, worn over an underskirt or petticoat. From the late 19th century, the term polonaise also described a fitted overdress which extended into long panels over the underskirt, but was not necessarily draped or swagged.
Fashion in the period 1700–1750 in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by a widening silhouette for both men and women following the tall, narrow look of the 1680s and 90s. This era is defined as late Baroque/Rococo style. The new fashion trends introduced during this era had a greater impact on society, affecting not only royalty and aristocrats, but also middle and even lower classes. Clothing during this time can be characterized by soft pastels, light, airy, and asymmetrical designs, and playful styles. Wigs remained essential for men and women of substance, and were often white; natural hair was powdered to achieve the fashionable look. The costume of the eighteenth century, if lacking in the refinement and grace of earlier times, was distinctly quaint and picturesque.
The uniforms of La Grande Armée, the army of Napoleon I, are described in this article.
The Medieval period in England is usually classified as the time between the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance, roughly the years AD 410–1485. For various peoples living in England, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Danes, Normans and Britons, clothing in the medieval era differed widely for men and women as well as for different classes in the social hierarchy. The general styles of Early medieval European dress were shared in England. In the later part of the period, men's clothing changed much more rapidly than women's styles. Clothes were very expensive and both the men and women of lower social classes continued also divided social classes by regulating the colors and styles these various ranks were permitted to wear. In the early Middle Ages, clothing was typically simple and, particularly in the case of lower-class peoples, served only basic utilitarian functions such as modesty and protection from the elements. As time went on the advent of more advanced textile techniques and increased international relations, clothing gradually got more and more intricate and elegant, even with those under the wealthy classes, up into the renaissance.
Fashion in the twenty years between 1775 and 1795 in Western culture became simpler and less elaborate. These changes were a result of emerging modern ideals of selfhood, the declining fashionability of highly elaborate Rococo styles, and the widespread embrace of the rationalistic or "classical" ideals of Enlightenment philosophes.
A kandys, plural kandyes, also called candys, kantuš or Median robe, is a type of three-quarter-length Persian coat. It originally described a leather cloak with sleeves worn by men, but evolved into a garment worn by Athenian women. The kandys is sometimes compared to the much later 17th-19th century military pelisse as worn by Hussars, in the sense that it was a sleeved jacket or coat worn cloak-style.
A witzchoura was a type of mantle, pelisse, or sleeved cloak, with a large collar and, sometimes, a hood, that was particularly fashionable in the early 19th century. The term derives from the Polish word wilczura, meaning 'wolf fur coat'. It was inspired by Polish styles, hence sometimes being described as a la Polonaise, although it is not the same as the gown called a polonaise. Like the original hussar's pelisse, it was typically lined with fur.
Life Guards of Horse was a Swedish Army cavalry regiment, first raised in 1770. It saw service for two centuries, before being amalgamated with the Life Regiment Dragoons to form the Life Regiment of Horse in 1928.
