Clothing continued to function as a social sign in the 18th century. Many European countries regulated ostentation in dress by law, thereby maintaining distinctions between the dress of the aristocracy and that of the bourgeoisie (middle class). In France these so-called sumptuary laws also were intended to limit the import of costly fabrics. Yet as the middle class grew and its members became wealthier through trade, they began to demand equality with the upper classes in politics and dress. The French Revolution (1789-1799) had a great impact on fashion—far more than did the American Revolution (1775-1783). The French Revolution marked the end of the old system and the beginning of a new freedom of dress.
Styles in North America during the 18th century generally lagged behind those of Europe. Both England and France influenced Canadian fashions, but new fashions generally reached Canada a year or so after their introduction in Europe. English-influenced dress in Upper Canada (now Ontario) was typically more conservative than dress in Québec and other French-influenced areas of Canada.
Women’s Fashions
In the early 18th century the primary style for women was a rather loose, flowing gown with pleats at shoulder level in back. It was known as a sack dress (in England) or sacque (in France) and was sometimes called the Watteau gown, after French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau, who portrayed it in his works. This dress developed into the much fuller robe à la française, which was worn over hooped petticoats. These petticoats were called paniers after baskets that donkeys carried, which they resembled. Eventually, they became so wide that women had to move sideways through doorways. In the robe à la française, a tight bodice and a wide overskirt were joined together, and the overskirt opened in front to reveal an underskirt or petticoat beneath. Beneath the bodice was a stomacher or filling decorated with bows, lace, or embroidery. Another style for women, which came from England, was the one-piece robe à l'anglaise. 
In the 1780s fashionable women in England and France began to wear simpler dresses that differed significantly from the stiff and highly decorated dresses of the mid-1700s. Necklines were cut lower, and a neckerchief filled in the open area. Bustles and hoops disappeared. Pale, pastel colors came into favor. Some women wore a more masculine dress that resembled a man’s riding coat. Fashionable people in France began to follow English styles, especially those worn for hunting and other country pursuits.
A renewed interest in the styles of classical Greece and Rome began in the last half of the 18th century. This revival of classicism had a tremendous influence, transforming not only fashion but also architecture and the decorative arts in Europe and North America. The simpler clothing of ancient Greece and Rome inspired women’s fashions. For example, a dress called a chemise was adopted to give women a supposedly natural look and to replace the ostentatious and ornate styles that preceded the French Revolution.
The chemise—named after an undergarment it resembled—was made of white muslin, had a high waist just under the bosom, and hung fairly straight to resemble a classical column. No petticoats or hoops were worn underneath it, and many fashionable women stopped wearing corsets as well. Over time, the chemise revealed more and more of a woman’s body. Today this style of dress is commonly known as the Empire style because it was especially popular during the Consulate and empire of Napoleon I of France, which began in 1799.
Men’s Fashions
Men's fashion remained luxurious during the 18th century, featuring velvets, satins, and silks in bright and light colors, including pink. Fabrics were embroidered in silk or trimmed in lace. Men of the ruling class vied with one another in the costliness and ornamentation of their wardrobes. A man’s garb served as an indication of his status and his wealth. 
In the late 1700s this ostentatious manner of dress slowly lost favor, a pattern that continued through the 1800s. European and American menswear became more sober and uniform. Fashion historians have called this change “the great masculine renunciation.” The reasons for this change are complicated, but two primary causes can be identified.
The gradual democratization of Western society was the first cause of change. The French and American revolutions helped promote the idea that all men were equal, and their clothing changed to reflect this equality. Prior to these revolutions, the clothing worn by aristocrats differed dramatically from that worn by commoners, and sumptuary laws regulated clothing and other ornamentation to maintain the distinction. Aristocrats tended to monopolize the most colorful and luxurious clothing. Commoners, no matter how rich, wore more sober clothing. During the French Revolution, sumptuary laws were abolished in France.
After the French Revolution, clothing in France served as a powerful symbol of equality rather than as a sign of status. Male volunteers in the revolutionary army, who generally came from the lower classes, were known as sans-culottes (without breeches) because they wore trousers of homespun fabric rather than the elegant knee breeches of the aristocracy. Their pantelons (trousers) became a symbol of the forces for democracy. By the early 19th century, ankle-length trousers had replaced knee breeches as the standard male garment, and the plain dark suit had become increasingly prevalent. Other items of apparel frowned upon after the French Revolution were powdered wigs, high-heeled shoes (worn by men and women), embroidered waistcoats, and other aristocratic fashions of the earlier 18th century.
Another reason for the change in men’s fashions was the growing economic and cultural influence of England. By the 1770s, even before the French and American revolutions, plainer, simpler men’s clothing was perceived in England as more democratic and more natural. The outline narrowed, sleeves became longer and less full, and colors were generally less vivid.
Social life in England centered less on the royal court than it did in France, and royalty thus had less influence on English fashions. Neither gaudy nor ostentatious, the English suit had an air of elegance, the result of its beautiful tailoring. Foreigners observed that Englishmen usually wore plain dark suits. This observation held true both for the rising middle class and for significant segments of the English aristocracy, especially country gentlemen. A spirit of cultural nationalism led many English people to regard their clothing as functionally and morally superior to styles on the European continent. A division developed between Paris, which continued to dominate women's fashion until well into the 20th century, and London, which became the center of men's fashion.
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