Consumption and freedom: Anglomania on the eve of French Revolution

This paper analyzes the formation of a consumer culture in France, in the 1770s and 1780s, emphasizing the contribution of Anglomania to this process. In the studied decades, France found strong inspiration in England, both in the political and cultural fields, through the emulation of English habits and clothing. We also see that the costumes of the period, according to Daniel Roche, created a culture of appearances that delimited hierarchies, defining the belonging and demarcations of social groups. For that matter, Aileen Ribeiro argues that a new cyclical understanding of fashion allowed clothing trends, increasingly popular and easily accessible, to be established. This altered dramatically the basis of the culture of appearances, which was necessary for the maintenance of the practices and representations of the Ancien Regime. We argue that the enthusiasm of Anglomania was present not only in dressing as a tendency to be followed, but also influenced the understanding of society and politics. Comfortable sportswear, suitable for outdoor activities, was combined with questions about court society and the absolutist monarchy. Along with dressing practices came the exaltation of naturalness, spontaneity, and freedom, in contrast to with the control of body and feelings. The bourgeois model brought from England, furthermore, strengthened and expanded a consumer culture that was already flourishing in Paris. In this way, we aim to demonstrate how the relationship England-France, in the final decades of the 18th century in the socio-cultural field, was connected to revolutionary ideals.