Robespierre with culotte and tights
In the past, the men carried knee pants or culottes and the worn stockings were fastened with a strap with buckles. In the course of the centuries, this garter band was decorated with stripes, chefs and frills and a beautiful buckle, sometimes decorated with rhinestone or gemstones. Where workmen wore practical long pants, noblemen and patricians, even with uniforms, wear stockings, tights and knee pants until the last quarter of the 18th century. Long trousers or "pantelons" may not be borne by the French court. In addition, no exception was made for officers and soldiers. The underlying reason for this court protocol was the protection of Lyon's silk industry that fabricated the stockings.
The French Revolution of 1789 brought a turnaround into the men's clothing. The fans of the revolution attracted long pants or "pantelons" while the nobility and the conservatives held it with the old culotte. Thus the nickname "sansculotte" originated for revolutionary. The most radical revolutionary leader, Maximilien de Robespierre, made an exception to this rule. He wore stockings, tights and knee pants.
In the United Kingdom, a precious garter band with the title "Hony Soit Qui Mal Y Pense" is a distinguishing sign of a high knight order, the Order of the Garter. This badge is also worn because the gentlemen still wear old-fashioned knee pants in the British court.
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