In the mid–eighteenth, formal court dresses-called Robe à la française for their close association with the French court-presented a wide and flattened sihouette. Panniers, constructed of bent wands of willow or whalebone and covered in linen, were worn under the skirt to hold it out. Seen from the side, the skirt of this court dress was barely wider than the wearer’s body, but seen from the front or back, it extended nearly five feet.

Date: 1800

Origin: British

- chemise gown, only survivor of the Ancien Regime

- at the end of the Revolution, France lost a large sector of their industry, esp. silk, all that's left is cotton

David, Madame Recamier, 1800

- wears a chemise gown out of 2 layers of cotton and a fitted, narrow back

- very neoclassical

-THIS is the new fashion

1795-1800

English

Printed cotton

First bustle period: 1867-1874

Day Dress

1870, UK

Made:Silk

By 1870 the circumference of the skirt had reduced considerably from its proportions in the mid-1860s. Fullness remained at the back, where it was swathed over a bustle and tied with tapes on the inside to allow the skirt to drape in a becoming fashion.

The unfitted jacket and fairly loose-fitting skirt suggest that the ensemble might have been worn by an older woman.

Wedding Dress

British or French

1830

-1830s' primary characteristics: huge sleeves, small waist, fuller skirts

late 1830s

-sleeves reach their largest size across the shoulders in about 1830, but the fullness begins to slip down the arm so that it swelled out from the elbow.