Every Single Robe à la Française

attempting to document every extant robe a la francaise

[fripperiesandfobs]

Robe volante ca. 1720-30

From the Abegg-Stiftung

[jewellery-box]

Robe à la française, 1750s.

Woven pink silk incorporating silver metal thread and silver metal strip.

Fashion Museum Bath Twitter

[fripperiesandfobs]

Robe à la française ca. 1750-60

From Cora Ginsburg

[costumeloverz71]

Wedding dress, 1763. Hand-painted silk taffeta, embroidered cotton sleeve ruffles.

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1770 - 1780 (weaving), 1775 - 1780 (sewing) 

This elegant gown of the late 1770s illustrates new developments in women’s fashion. Muslin, a very finely spun and woven cotton, began to rival silk in popularity as a dress fabric. This muslin has woven white stripes, alternating with tamboured (chain stitched with a hook instead of a needle) sprays of flowers in white silk thread. A pink silk lining added a delicate blush to the overall shade of the gown. The curvilinear arrangement of decoration seen in the 1760s was no longer fashionable when this gown was made, and the wide lengths of gathered net have been arranged in a straight line on either side of the gown opening

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1750s (embroidery), 1750s (sewing), 1780s (altered), 1870 - 1910 (altered)

A woman's sack and panel from the petticoat of blue ribbed silk, embroidered to shape in a tree-of-life pattern in shades of blue and white. The sack is open at the front with robings to the waist and elbow-length sleeves. The bodice has a half-stomacher each side of the front. The bodice back and sleeves are lined with blue striped linen; the bodice fronts with plain linen. The back of the bodice lining is open down the centre, with 17 worked eyelets either side and narrow linen-tape lacing. There are two double box pleats at the back, stitched at the back neck. The sack is made of 2 widths of silk with 2 partial panels and a triangular gore either side of the front. A waist seam runs from the front openings to the bodice side back seams. The skirts are flat pleated into the waist seam along the front, with pocket openings in the side seams. The right front of the skirt is faced with blue silk taffeta (this has been removed on the left front). The hem is faced with a deep band of linen. The skirts robings, wide at the hem and narrowing to the waist, are embroidered.

All that remains of the petticoat is the central panel, one width of silk with the tree-of-life embroidery arranged in a triangular shape.

The ensemble was probably made as a sack and petticoat in the 1750s. In the 1780s, the sack was updated in style. A waistseam was probably added, the skirts reconfigured, and sleeve ruffles removed. The half-stomachers were added at this time and the bodice fronts relined. The back lacing was reconfigured and more eyelets worked.

The ensemble was altered for fancy dress in the late 19th century. Hooks and eyes were added to the bodice stomacher fronts and machine-lace ruffles to the sleeves. The petticoat may have been unpicked at this point.

The petticoat was gathered onto a cotton band after acquisition for Museum display.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1755 (woven), 1755-1760 (sewing), 1760s (altered), 1870-1910 (altered) 

 This formal gown of the late 1750s illustrates the very decorative nature of women's dress at the height of the Rococo period. The silk itself is brocaded in a pattern of flowers with coloured and silver thread. The gown and petticoat have then been trimmed with silver bobbin lace, flowers made of ruched ribbons and beads, silk tassels and feathers. Such an elaborate ensemble would have been reserved for evening dress, dancing at the Assembly rooms, or attending the opera or theatre. The dress is said to have been worn by Mrs Craster. Before her marriage, she was a maid of honour to Queen Caroline (1683–1737), consort of George II.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1775-1780 (sewing), 1870 - 1910 (altered)

By the late 1770s, the sack and petticoat, like this example, were reserved for formal evening or court dress. The shape of the petticoat, requiring a wide square hoop, also indicates the formality of the ensemble. An arc of precise, wedge-shaped pleats illustrates how the gown was shaped to fit over such a hoop.

The plain fabric and restrained decoration are typical of the late 1770s. Broad and narrow strips of the white silk satin have been edged with silk fringe, gathered and applied to the gown in undulating lines. The fringe is made of looped and knotted floss silk and chenille thread. Lengths of this fringe form tassels which hang from the gown and would have swung and danced as the wearer moved.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1735-1760 (painting), 1760s (sewing) 

This elegant robe and petticoat are fine examples of women's formal day wear in the early 1760s. The sack was a popular style of dress, with the fabric at the back arranged in box pleats at the shoulders and falling loose to the floor with a slight train. The wide square hoop worn under the petticoat is slightly old-fashioned, but appropriate for formal occasions. In cut, fabric and design, the ensemble is a fine example of rococo design in fashion. The white silk painted in a variety of bright colours reflects the rococo palette, while the scalloped sleeve cuffs and gathered robings create a decorative surface pattern.

The silk was woven and hand-painted in China. The design of fanciful flowers shows the Western influence; the Chinese artists were using patterns send from Britain to make silks expressly for the European market. The outlines of the design was first printed on the reverse of the silk and the areas to be painted on the right side of the fabric covered with white lead paint. Pigments made from materials such as malachite (green), orpiment (yellow) and vermilion (red) delineate the floral pattern.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack 1735-1740 (embroidering), 1750-1759 (sewing), 1870 -1910 (altered)

A woman’s sack and petticoat of cream-coloured ribbed silk, embroidered with polychrome silks and silver-gilt thread in a large scale design of floral and gothic motifs, including architectural elements, such as castles, houses and pavilions. Large peonies sprout from the roof of a ruined abbey flanked by pine trees, dominating a landscape set with three different cottages, cedar trees replete with cones, a Chinoiserie fence, and a pavilion with a flag flying, alternating with a giant flowering creeper poised upon Chinoiserie hillocks.

The sack is open at the front with elbow-length sleeves and double sleeve ruffles. There are two, double box pleats at the back, stitched at the neck line. The bodice and sleeves are lined with linen. The bodice lining is open at the back, with whalebone on either side and lacing holes. The bodice lining fronts are edged with whalebone and lacing holes. The bodice is reinforced with four pieces of whalebone on either side.

Both sack and petticoat are heavily pieced from a previous embroidery; it is not clear whether another item of clothing or a furnishing textile - neither is entirely consistent with its current form. It was first remade in the 1750s, based on the width of the petticoat and sack skirts. The ensemble was worn for fancy dress, when the fringe, tassels, and spangle and purl medallions were added.

Conservation netting covers the sleeves and bodice.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1774-1775 (weaving), 1775 - 1780 (sewing), 1870 - 1910 (altered) 

 The sack or robe à la francaise had loose pleats at the back of the neck and an open front. It was a style that dominated women’s fashions during the 18th century. It developed from a loose negligee but by the 1770s it had become a more formal type of dress and would have been worn for attending assembly rooms, dinner parties, the theatre or the opera. This is a very rare example of the use of velvet in 18th-century women’s dress. Normally fabrics are printed after the weaving process. In the chiné technique, the warp threads are printed before, and during weaving the slight pulling of the threads gives the pattern a blurred effect, resembling a watercolour when finished. In this extraordinary example, the chiné process has been combined with velvet - a difficult technique that was produced only in a few places in France. The silk for this fabric is reputed to have cost 36 shillings a yard. With an average of 17 yards required for a sack and petticoat of this style, the fabric would today cost about £2,200.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1735 - 1740 (weaving), 1735-40 (sewing), 1760s (altered), 1870 - 1903 (altered)

A woman's sack and petticoat of ivory silk, brocaded in a pattern of large floral motifs in shades of green, purple, maroon and pink. The sack is open at the front, with robings to the waist and elbow length sleeves with double scalloped sleeve ruffles. The bodice is lined with linen, and the sleeves part lined with linen and white silk taffeta. The back has two double box pleats, with a waist seam extending from the pleats to the front openings. The sack is made of 4 widths of silk and a partial panel on each side of the front. These panels are lined with white silk taffeta and the hem faced with the same.

The petticoat is made of 4 widths of silk and a pieced back panel.

The ensemble was probably made as a mantua and petticoat in the late 1730s, and re-made in the 1760s. The two centre back panels forming the box pleats have been pieced. Panels from the petticoat were probably used to construct the sack. The sleeve ruffles were added at this time.

In the late 19th century, both were altered for fancy dress. The waist seam was probably reconfigured at this time, darts added to the fronts, and the front of the bodice linings removed. Loops and buttons were added to loop up the skirts. The back panel of the petticoat was pieced from flounces removed from the front. The waist was reconfigured and a waistband of linen added.

A calico stomacher with hooks & eyes was added to the sack front for museum display

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1740 - 1749 (embroidering), 1740 - 1749 (sewing), 1760 -1769 (altered) 

 Finely petalled rosettes punctuate the fringe adorning this 1760s sack. They are made of narrow strips of parchment, covered in silk and twisted into the shape of petals, a technique used in both embroidery and lace since the late 17th century. In addition to the rosettes, the fringe incorporates loops of silver thread with tufts of coloured floss silk. These knotted and highly decorative trims were a popular embellishment for women’s dress between the 1750s and early 1780s. The fringe compliments the embroidery of the gown executed in coloured silks, and silver-gilt threads. The pattern of large flowers and leaves is typical of the 1740s, but the the gown was altered in the 1760s for another wearer and updated in style with the addition of the fringe.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1775-1780 (embroidered), 1775 - 1780 (sewing), 1870 - 1910 (altered) 

This is an example of the most formal ensemble for a woman in the late 1770s, except for court dress. It is a robe à la française (sack), worn over square hoops and very elaborately decorated. Feathers, lace, raffia tassels and lengths of satin embellish an already embroidered satin. The pale colours, small floral motifs and light application of the decorations show that the influence of the Rococo style was beginning to wane.

x

[everysinglefrancaise]

Sack

1765 - 1770 (weaving), 1765 - 1770 (sewing), 1870 - 1910 (altered) 

 A woman's sack, petticoat and stomacher of cream silk with a figured and striped ground, brocaded with small floral sprigs in shades of green, blue, and pink. The sack is open at the front with elbow-length sleeves with double, scalloped sleeve ruffles. The bodice and sleeves are lined with bleached linen. The back has two, double box pleats stitched at the neckline; the skirts are pleated into the waist seam at the front of the sack. It is made of 6 widths of silk. The robings are trimmed with narrow ruching edged with a fringe of white silk gimp and coloured floss silk knots. A wide pleated strip of silk, edged with the same fringe, is arranged in a serpentine line on the skirt fronts. The sleeve ruffles are also edged with fringe.

The petticoat is made of five widths of silk, pleated at the waist and bound with linen tape ties. The sides of the petticoat are pleated to accommodate a square hoop. The front is decorated with a deep flounce of silk, edged and caught up with fringe, below which is a wide strip of pleated silk edged with fringe.

The stomacher is unlined and decorated with gathered and fringe-trimmed ruching and a bow of the same.

The sack was altered in the late 19th century for fancy dress. A ruffle of cotton gauze was machine-sewn to the neck and the robings unpicked

x

[history-of-fashion]

1770-1780 Robe à la française with a Watteau pleated back

silk damask, tissue, linen, cotton, bobbin lace

(Mode Museum Antwerpen)

[vivelareine]

Woman’s Dress and Petticoat (Robe à la française); constructed circa 1760. [credit: LACMA Collections]