Gowns

The Polite Macaroni from the Lewis Wadpole Library.      Note above-ankle length quilted petticoat, ruching, and, on left, polonaised skirts. The gown on the right is pinned back.

There were several major styles of full-length gowns during the later half of the 18th century, the English gown, was also called Robe a L'anglaise. This "day dress" was worn by women of all classes and, like other garments, the social class decided what fabric it was made of, as well as if there was any ornamentation. Trim was usually made  with ruching, a form of pinking and     pleating self-fabric and then adding it along hemlines, neckline, or cuffs and sometimes  in decorative swirls along the body of the garment. The gown was constructed of a bodice and skirts. The bodice was usually secured using long straight pins.

 A  Robe a L'anglaise  gown from the Smithsonian National Museum     of     American History.  The sides of the skirt are gathered up, or polonaised.

JP Ryan's Woman's Basic Six,  with short gown as the upper garment.

The Short Gown

The Short Gown was a working class upper body garment similar to a jacket, or it could have been used as a form of undress to fancier ladies. The term itself was not really used during the period.  All gown types were called "gowns" and the only hint we have is sometimes a gown is called "short" but this appears to be more descriptive of it's length than describing a specific garment type.

It forms a T in shape and usually had pleats in the back to take in extra fabric.  There was no means to fasten as the garment was usually wrapped around the torso and then secured with either pins or the wearer's apron.   The sleeves were sometimes cuffed.

Most extant examples we have are from the Pennsylvania area, and it may be a regional fashion specific to the Mid-Atlantic area.   Since it was a working garment, the short gown was often repaired and patched.  It was sometimes lined, and could be made of linen, cotton, or a fustian cloth It should be noted that during the 18th century, jackets of different cuts, materials and lengths were worn by many different European cultures, including German and French. In America, a garment similar to the short gown was worn by women well into the 19th century.

Robe  a la Françoise

(Sacque=back Gown)

This was a popular gown from the 1750's to the 1770's.  The shorter version was the pet-en-lair jacket.  The gown was fitted at the torso and the back fell into graceful pleats from neckline down. The sleeves had several layers of flounces. A beautiful extant Robe a la Françoise can be seen here.

The Robe a la Françoise was popular as court dress, and many fine examples exist in museums. This example is from 1765 and is from the Met. It is either French or Austrian in origin and make with pale blue silk.  The gown is shown with the rectangular-shaped wide panniers or side hoops popular at the time.  The gown was also worn with a matching petticoat and stomacher.