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c.1760s Green Night-gown

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made to measure 18th century costumes - HandBound Costumes
  • made to measure 18th century costumes - HandBound Costumes
  • Full Back view of 1760s night-gown

c.1760s Green Night-gown

£3,450.00

Details:

  • Robe a l’Anglais
  • Date c.1760s
  • Made to Measure
  • 100% Handsewn
  • Historically Accurate
  • Based on Original Garments
Category:

Product Description

c.1760s Green Stripe Night-gown

These gowns flourish in the 1760s – especially, it seems, with this type of neat trim!

With the trimming now in pleated form, and arranged in a far more straight and angular layout, these simpler looking gowns become a firm favourite in the wardrobe of the UK ladies.  This is probably the style of gown that the French fell in love with, around this same time!

This gown comes in 3 separate pieces – the main outer gown, the petticoat and the stomacher. It is all pinned together over the stays to create that smooth, taut look.

Some of it’s details are:

  • The sewn down pleated back that flows into the main back skirt
  • A furbelow decorated stomacher
  • The robings too are decorated with the pleated furbelows
  • Double ruffles at the sleeve edged with narrow furbelows
  • Matching Petticoat with Furbelows and flounces

The last 2 photos are examples of how this same gown can look in other fabrics.

So, how does this work?

This gown picture here, has been made up as a sample for you to see the trimming styles, the ruffles and all its design features in 3D form. Everything down from the pleat arrangements, the robings etc has been based on originals and this gown confirms what you will be receiving in a visual manner – though obviously it will be made up in a different size.

If and when you order, there will then be a discussion about your undergarments and your measurements with these various areas explained. We will then discuss fabric – ideally a good silk is best as the better quality your silk is, the better those ruffles and trim will stay fray free! But all of this will be discussed at the early stages. Don’t worry – we like to make sure the whole process is crystal clear and easy for our clients.

(Please note the gown does not come with any undergarments provided)

Our Research

So as already mentioned in the many pages of this site, the gowns are completely constructed using original techniques. There have been many years of research and study sessions, that have been gone through to truly understand 18th century sewing, and if you order a garment from us, you will get all that knowledge and learning bundled up in your gown!

Each gown is handsewn – and not just handsewn for the sake of saying it – but handsewn because we are using the original construction methods research on the originals. We want your dress to feel real when you wear it and to look like an original gown from the museums!

The Materials:

So the main fabric of the gown is not included in the price – and is pretty much up to you as to colour, pattern and style. 🙂

From our side it is MUCH easier to sew natural fibres such as silks and linens – and you, as the customer will get a better looking garment in a better fabric – but it is truly up to you. We will discuss the amount of fabric you may need to purchase in the build up emails to having your gown as depending on size, height, trimming requirements – as this may vary.

We happily provide the linens for the lining and the rest of the haby used on the gown, including lead weights if you wanted to have that option. 🙂

  

The History

The night-gown or Robe a l’Anglais as it was called by the French, seems to have sprung out from the same fashion explosion as the mantua and arrives in the 18th century from the late 1600s. The main difference between this gown and the mantua is that the night-gown has long, full skirts whereas the mantua has a train.

But however it started, it certainly flourishes in popularity in the 1730s, appearing in more and more portraiture and paintings, and remains in fashion right through to here at the 1760s. It becomes the deeply loved everyday gown of the British.
Essentially it’s main fashion details follow the French fashions so here we see the popular furbelows begin to be pleated rather than gathered. We also see a reducement to double ruffles from the previous three tier. This however seems to be in main fashion – Full dress appears to honour 3 ruffles for a tad longer. But the smaller and fewer ruffles also makes these gowns more practical, and this gown that you’re looking at here is the real day-to-day gown. It doesn’t appear that this gown would be worn to a ball at this time, during the 1760s. However, costly materials version can still be found today in the museums and this either means we are completely wrong! or that, though not worn to Balls, the gentility still requested their night-gowns to be made in expensive fabric.
The night-gown, once popoular with France suddenly races through a whole range of styles and fashionable adaptations during teh later 1770s and 1780s, and is still, really, the basis for many of the gown of the 1790s.

The Undergarments!
blue herringbone stays by handBound costumes

This tabs just gives you a brief over view of what kind of undergarments were worn under these dresses. And also what kind of undergarments are worn beneath the dress pictured!

A shift, a pair of stays, some form of hoop and under petticoats appear to be the bog standard undergarments for almost all of the 18th century. The hoop enters fashion in around 1710 and disappears from main stream fashion during the 1790s.
Stays too were generally always worn, though according to William Creech, writing in 1766, there was appears to have been a strange fashion amongst the bon ton of not wearing stays in the year 1766. He complains how ugly the ladies look – and how strange looking!

The undergarments that have been dressed under the sack featured in the photos, are the following:
– a shift
– a pair of hip pads
– 2 x under petticoats
– and a pair of stays dressed over the petticoats.

A much fuller shape will be achieved with either a small wide hoop or more layers of petticoats.

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