Why were the long trousers of sans-culottes considered a political sign and not merely clothing?

They signalled distance from aristocratic fashion and equality of common people

The governing concept is that clothing can express social identity and political allegiance. Sans-culottes literally referred to people who did not wear the knee-breeches, or culottes, associated with aristocratic and wealthy fashion. Their long trousers identified them with artisans, workers, and ordinary citizens and publicly rejected the visual distinctions of the old privileged order. Thus option A is correct: the garment communicated equality and opposition to aristocratic culture. Option B is the opposite, because court dress was linked with elite fashion. Option C confuses clothing with taxation, and option D incorrectly treats a civilian revolutionary identity as a foreign military uniform. Dress therefore became a visible political language.

This is a Class 9 History question. Chapter: The French Revolution. Topic: France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic.