http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1127/p18s02-hfks.html
2/8/08
Food had to be prepared from scratch. That means, for instance, that you had to grow the wheat and grind it into flour (or buy it ground from the miller). Only then could you even mix it into a batter, knead dough, and bake bread in a fire-fueled oven. No food came in frozen packages or from fast-food restaurants. Every piece of clothing had to be made by hand and washed by hand in homemade soap. 
If you were rich, servants did all the housework for you. But even then, life was not as comfortable for anybody – even the French aristocrats – as it is for most Europeans (and other Westerners) now. 
Taking a bath (there were no showers then) was not considered good for people. Consequently, there was a real problem with lice and bugs infesting clothes. And, as you might imagine, the palace was really smelly! So, many of the beautiful artifacts in the show were made to hold a fragrant mixture of dried herbs and flowers called potpourri (pronounced poe-poo-REE). 
You can see pretty porcelain pots that are decorated with small, delicate flowers and tiny, perfectly painted landscapes. Also shown is a set of "firedogs" (also called andirons). It was made to hold potpourri or incense that would burn slowly in the fireplace to cover a multitude of unpleasant odors. 
Clothing from 17th- and 18th-century Europe looks really beautiful because it is made of fine silks, satins, lace, furs, and even jewels. (Among the rich, jewels were a must – even for men.) 
Even very small children wore fancy clothes. "The Infanta Margarita" is one of the greatest paintings in the art show. It was painted by the famous Spanish painter Diego Velásquez in 1654. Margarita, a 3-year-old princess, has great, sad eyes, golden hair, and a gorgeous satin and lace gown. 
Margarita is actually wearing a corset – an undergarment that cinches in the waist and can make it difficult to breathe. Corsets were worn not only to make the waist smaller but, because it was so tight and stiff, to make a woman's or girl's back straighter. Corsets were made from heavy cloth, whale bones, and laces that tied tightly down the back. 
Another portrait, "Child With A Top," by French painter Jean-Siméon Chardin, shows a 9-year-old boy with powdered hair (maybe a wig?). He's also wearing a fancy coat, vest, and shirt. And these are just regular, everyday clothes. The boy is standing before a desk that holds formidable-looking books, a quill pen, ink, and rolled-up paper. 
http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Costume_History/cavalier.htm
2/8/08
Cavalier Costume
The first ten years of this period witnessed the gradual change from the stiffness of the Elizabethan period to the relaxed, elegance and comfort of the Cavaliers and the Puritans.  The next change is to simplicity and excess went out of fashion.  Velvet and satin stayed soft and were arranged in natural folds.  It is important to realize Cavaliers and Puritans lived within the same society.  In different countries in different proportions.  England was heavily Puritan especially during the time of  Cromwell. France was heavily Cavalier.
When ruffs went out of style, men’s hair could then grow long again and did as the ruff lost its starch.  Cavaliers cherished their flowing locks where Roundheads cropped their hair.  Beards and mustaches were small and the mustache bristled out at the sides or curved upwards.  The beard of the period is what we call the Van Dyck.  The hat was large and had a stiff wide brim if the brim was larger the wearer left it soft and cocked up one of the sides or in the front or back.    Puritans left hat trimming to a buckle and a band while Cavaliers decorated  with jewels and feathers.  The men of this period wore Collars outside armor, cloaks and gowns.  They wore stiff unpadded doublets and jerkins for a utility jacket.  Wrists were finished with wide white cuffs and they wore stockings with boots frequently.
Women lost the high hair styles of the earlier period and cut their hair short on the sides, curled it to a frizz and tied the back into a bun.  Later ringlets took the place of the frizzy sides and the bun supported comes and fancy pearls.  Modish women ceased wearing caps and wore a disk, which was balanced by a veil and decorated by a feather.  The peasant woman continued to wear the white caps much like the caps of European regional costumes.    Women also gave up the high and starched collars of the earlier periods.  The collar became flat and was used to hide the neck and the bosom.  In this period it was the first time that a woman’s arms had been exposed since the Roman times.  Sleeves stopped right at the elbow and was decorated with ruffles.  The waist of the dresses got shorter and the ladies stopped wearing hoops and the skirt was only supported by many petticoats and slips. 
Colors of this period are dark rich hues like Burgundy, sapphire-blue, crimson, purple and brown and black.  The people were fond of velvet like previous eras.  White, sky-blue, almond-green, tan, rose and gray were fashionable for female garments and the contrast of dark and light occurred because of the white collar that accompanied many peoples clothing.
Notable Cavalier and Puritan Costume Elements
Falling Bands—A collar of fine white lawn edged with lace, later developed into the pleated rabat.  It is the wide collar spreading out over the shoulders that is seen in the later portraits by Anthony Van Dyck, and in this width is sometimes known as rabatine.
http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Costume_History/images/cavelier.jpg
Bertha Collar—Large feminine collar almost always made of lace.
Boot Hose—Hose of sheer white linen with wide lace frills at the top worn to protect the gentleman’s costly silk hose when worn with boots.  The lace top was usually allowed to fall down over the leather cuff of the boot.
Cavalier Hat—A wide brimmed hat often decorated with a large feather and one side either, front, back, left or right cocked up.
http://www.costumes.org/history/17thcent/womensfashplates/new/callot1625.jpg
http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Costume_History/images/cavhat.jpg
Peplum—Flared shirt-like panels or ruffles below the waist that would conceal the top of the skirt under the shirt.
Studied Negligence—To look as though you have spent no time on your appearance but in actuality there was great preparation to look unkempt.
Articulated Shoes—Shoes with heels.
http://expositions.bnf.fr/bosse/feuille/html/index_mode.htm
http://www.lerc.educ.ubc.ca/LERC/courses/489/worldlang/french/frenchcultandcomm.html
Rene Descartes, who lived in the 1600s, was one of the most influential philosophers in human history and is sometimes called the founder of modern philosophy. In his book, Discourse on Method, Descartes outlined his skepticism and his method for inquiring into the truth. He introduced his famous phrase, “Cogito Ergo Sum” (I think, therefore I am). He was a major inspiration for the Enlightenment of eighteenth century Europe. Later French philosophers include Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus. 
http://www.marquise.de/de/1600/howto/17manteau.shtml
Eigentlich ist "manteau" das französische Wort für Mantel, und spezieller für eine Kleidform, die wie ein Mantel getragen wird: Ein Teil von Schulter bis Boden, vorn offen. Auch die Robe à la française, à l'anglaise und à la polonaise gehören zu dieser Familie. Das Manteau im engeren Sinn ist eine Form der Robe, die in den frühen 1680ern zunächst als lässiges Hauskleid aufkam und ab 1710 allmählich ausstarb - außer in England, wo es in sich verändernden Formen weiterlebte, bis es um 1770 herum als Robe à l'anglaise auf das Festland zurückkehrte. Die Anglaise ist also eine direkte Nachfahrin des Manteaus, wie man am auf die Figur gefalteten Rücken erkennen kann. Die hohe Zeit des Manteaus fällt ziemlich genau mit der Zeit der Fontange zusammen, und tatsächlich wurde das Manteau fast immer mit Fontange getragen, und die Fontange mit dem Manteau. Zusammen mit einer langen Schleppe ergeben sie eine hohe, gelängte Linie, die in krassem Gegensatz zu den breiten barocken Formen des mittleren 17. Jh. und des folgenden 18. Jh. steht. Es ist Schade, daß diese hochelegante Kleidform so sehr in Vergessenheit geraten ist. 
http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/quotes.shtml
C'était une coiffure dans laquelle on introduisait les personnes ou les choses q'on préférait. Ainsi les portraits des ses enfants, de ses amis, l'image de son chien, de son serin, tout cela garni des cheveux de son père ou d'un amant de cœur. 
(It was a hairstyle into which one introduced persons or things one liked, such as portraits of one's children or friends, the picture of one's dog, of one's bird, all framed with one's father's or lover's hair. -Mme de Oberkirch about the French 1770s hairstyle "pouf à sentiment")