Has casual clothing existed throughout history, and how have its styles changed in different time periods? For example, what might Genghis Khan, Caesar, or Napoleon, have felt comfortable wearing at home on a quiet evening?

by TLDR_Meta_comment
madam1

I'm sure examples of casual clothing abound throughout history, but my favorite is that of Thomas Jefferson. When Senator William Plumer arrived to meet Jefferson at the President's House in Washington, D.C. on 1802, the president was "dressed, or rather undressed, with an old brown coat, red waist-coat, old corduroy small clothes, much soiled, wooled hose and slippers without heels." Imagine the uproar in contemporary media if a president conducted business dressed this way.

Source:

  1. Cliff Sloan and David McKean, The Great Decision Jefferson, Adams, Marshall, and the Battle for the Supreme Court (New York: Public Affairs, 2009).