18th Century Dress with Hem and Train Decorations : Studies from Reproduction

Abstract

Clothes reflect the social structure of the period and they have an especially close relationship with culture. Throughout history clothing styles have made many transitions. Of all the styles in the long history of the dress the 'robe a la francaise'is said to be the most exquisite and voluminous. This fashion flourished in France's 18th Century Court Culture, Rococo(1715-1789). It is very rare to see surviving dresses in perfect condition. This time, an original dress from around 1765 was chosen to be studied. There are three characteristic Rococo items which make up the dress-the robe, petticoat and stomacher and these were each remade to study the shape and physique of the woman, the sewing technique, and the wearing technique. For the reproduction of this dress, the pattern shown in 'DRESSSTUDY' Spring 1988, Vol. 13, p.19, was used as a base. The surface of the dress, with its extensive hem and train decorations, looks highly ornate and very beautiful. However, when we look at the underneath of the dress, it is sewn quite broadly. This may be due to the maker's tendency to concentrate only on what people can see and a tendency to neglect the parts which they cannot see. Alternatively, it may be that the maker wished to minimise the number of stitches for a specific purpose. This would allow easy re-making of the dress, which was often the case in this period. A further observation is the illusory effect of the dress when worn. The wearer's waist appears to be smaller and slimmer than the real measurements would suggest. Because a dress of this period could not be worn without a great deal of assistance it would seem that practicality and rationality in the wearing were not considered particularly important.