Bastille Day Perfect For French Costumes

Americans have just finished celebrating their Independence Day, and a mere ten days later it's time for France to celebrate its liberation. Bastille Day is a summertime celebration that commemorates the end of the constitutional monarchy and beginning of the democratic republic of France. On July, 14th 1789, the French middle and lower-class masses led an uprising of discontent against the government and stormed on the Bastille prison, a symbol of power and corruption across the land. Today, the holiday is known as "Fete de la Federation" in France and is celebrated with parades on the Champs Elysees, festivals of the arts and wild merriment.

Bastille Day Perfect For French Costumes

Bastille Day Perfect For French Costumes

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Bastille Day Perfect For French Costumes

Bastille Day Perfect For French Costumes

Celebrate Bastille Day yourself with a historical reenactment, complete with French costumes inspired by this tumultuous period marked by the "haves" and "have nots." Women's French peasant costumes will be made of simple, tattered fabrics such as full skirts and pleated blouses with a white mop cap. A man might wear plain trousers rolled up, a billowy linen shirt and a red sash tied around the waist. Folks often like to dress up as French prisoners in black-and-white prison costumes accented with a red neck scarf, beret, and pencil thin mustache - not exactly the late 1700s look, but funny!

Of course, no Bastille Day celebration would be complete without a King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette costumes. After the ransacking peasants pillaged and burned down their chateaux, the royal couple took refuge at Versailles until they were eventually captured years later and executed by guillotine for treason. Elaborate French costumes made of rich fabrics and embellishments noted in the 18th century make the perfect aristocratic king costumes and queen costumes. A Marie Antoinette costume should be accessorized with a large pompadour wig, elaborate faux jewelry, a folding fan - and a court of ladies in waiting.

Bastille Day parties also feature every other sort of French costume that you could imagine --- anything that conjures up an image of this colorful country. From a sexy French maid costume and an impressionist painter holding a palette of colors to the stereo-typical Frenchie dressed in a beret and signature black-and-white-striped, boatneck shirt popularized by the low-ranking sailors who swabbed the decks centuries ago. Fun French costume ideas for couples include a larger-than-life bottle of wine paired with a big wedge of cheese! Viva la France!

Bastille Day Perfect For French Costumes