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[[File:1200px-A_Boyar_Wedding_Feast_(Konstantin_Makovsky,_1883)_Google_Cultural_Institute.jpg|thumbnail|275px|left| By Konstantin Makovsky, 1883 - Google Cultural Institute (original file link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44381235. The painting depicts two Boyar families at a wedding.]]As part of a mission to drag Russia into what he viewed as the modern world, Peter the Great issued a decree, in 1701, on modern clothing stating that upper-class men were to follow these guidelines concerning attire - “The upper dress shall be of French or Saxon cut, and the lower dress and underwear-[including] waistcoat, trousers, boots, shoes, and hats- shall be of the German type.” This replaced the previous style of floor-length caftans.
The pants mentioned in this decree were the knee-breeches popularized at the time by the French court. In forcing the Russian court to adopt Western styles, Peter I used clothing to highlight the larger societal change efforts he was putting into place within the country. <ref>"PETER'S DECREES ON WESTERN DRESS AND SHAVING, 1701 AND 1705," http://wayback.archive-it.org/6473/20160819151435/https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/6.PG/6.L/7.X.30.html.</ref>
The final victory for trousers over breeches in England and those that looked to England for fashion was the rise of the popularity of the menswear suit as known today, heavily influenced by Beau Brummell in the early 1800s. Brummell popularized a style characterized by simplicity and good tailoring, in contrast to previous decades' most flamboyant styles. Previous styles had featured tight-fitting knee-breeches and stockings along with heeled shoes, styles which showcased the wearers' high rank in that they were not practical for doing vigorous physical activity. <ref> C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington, <i>The history of underclothes</i> (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1992), 95. </ref>
