deries [on cravat ties] and ruffles [on blouses] of a Versailles courtier" (Laver, 1961, p. 8). Barsis says that townsfolk's cravats by the end of the century were "white, often decorated with embroidery or a woven design. The peasant's cravat was usually red or black" (Barsis, 1973, p. 346). In general, cravats were linen or muslin and were tied in knots with flowing ends; in the upper classes, the ends were lined with lace. Cunnington explains the various uses to which fabric intended for the neck was put:
The cravat . . . went out of fashion in the 1740s. From 1785 the cravat came back into fashion in the form of a length of muslin wound three times round the neck and tied in a knot under the chin.
The stock came into fashion about 1730 and lasted all through the century. It was a high neckband of linen or cambric, often stiffened with pasteboard and buckled behind.
A black military stock was often worn by sporting young men (Cunnington, 1970, p. 75).
In the latter part of the century, men's dress materials shifted-from elegant brocades to plainer textiles, as the use of neckwear indicates. One would expect peasants and other members of the lower classes to use broadcloth and wool; indeed, Barsis cites a Bordeaux shepherd costume made up of a woolen cape, with breeches or culottes made of linen, either unbleached or comprising white and red or blue stripes. Throughout the century, the lower classes' basic textile cloth was linen and their basic colors earthtones and blues (Barsis, 1973, pp. 346, 348, passim). Gorsline sums up the tendencies in textiles throughout the century in this way:
Decorated fabrics and other ornamentation gradually decreased throughout the 1700s, and after the 1780s plain tailored cloth was usually seen. However, as ruffled lines were slanted backward, breeches became more important. Culotes, or breeches... were cut on the bias at the top to improve their fit, and the lower leg ...