1770s Polonaise Gown

A Polonaise Gown

c.1770s

These gowns are iconic to the 18th Century! So fashionable and distinct with their centre front meeting

bodice and ruched up skirts – it’s a classic Cinderella look, a fashionable milkmaid, a hard working servant or the belle of the ball! So much diversity!

This particular gown was made using a pattern taken from an original at the Hereford Museum, with the bodice being sewn down onto the pleats and the back section still in its all-in-one Anglais style form. The photo the Client provided was a deeply ruched skirt look – some just have simple ties to help create the polonaise but in the image you could tell it was a much more complicated design than that. The curator at Berrington Hall was then very kind in pulling out all of their Polonaise Gowns while we looked for one that had a multiple loop system and found one that matched perfectly!

Details:

– Classic early Polonaise – where the CB pleats are still part of the skirt.
– Plain ended Sleeves
– CF meeting – left plain and without fastenings as in the original
– The client was wanting Pin or Sewing method of closure
– Skirts to have ties for Polonaise but in multiple layers so 6 rings were sewn replicating another original gown.
– Hand finished seams such as the robings and back neck.
– Matching Petticoat.
– Fabric beautifully discovered by the client.

This is the original gown that we took the pattern from – it’s a beautiful dress and really fine in it’s detail. Obviously we’ve changed the sleeves as the style the client wanted was plain ended rather than the ruffles which the original has.