As it turns out, there was such a thing as Culturally/Politically Topical Embroidery on Men’s Waistcoats. It started post-1783, but, for obvious reasons, gained steam post-1789. Some had a bust of Rousseau (or Voltaire, depending on which side in that particular argumentative fandom one took) embroidered on theirs, some had scenes from the theatrical comedies they liked, some had symbols of the unity of three estates of the nation against the royal despotism, such as the episcopal crook, the sword, and the spade bundled together in a sheaf.

Some just went for slogans, such as “vaincre ou mourir” (victory or death).

The decline and fall of this fashion craze came in about 1792, when the Journal de la mode et du goût reported men's waistcoats had become almost universally red ("gilets presque tous rouges"), and that the journal had virtually stopped describing men's fashion because it had ceased to change.

Rating: Cute!

MEANWHILE NEY:

I just discovered that this existed and I had to do it, I couldn't resist

me but with philip ii of spain:

And it’s not just a painting!! She actually wore men’s attire to hunts and everyone was horrified!!! And furthermore this wasn’t even the FIRST painting of her like this!!!! This painting was done by Louise-Auguste Brun in ~1781; however there was an earlier painting of Marie on horseback in men’s attire that she commissioned in 1771 which has since been lost and I will FOREVER BE MAD ABOUT THIS-

*deep breath*

Writing in Queen of Fashion, she compares it to this painting of Louis XIV:

Quoting Weber:

At a time when her [Antoinette’s] failure to conceive an heir was causing speculation, Marie Antoinette scandalized many courtiers by dressing in trousers and riding astride ‘like a man.’ This form of rebellion may have been inspired by her ancestor Louis XIV…who had used equestrian finery to enhance his own authority.

(I wanted to do something creative with this one)