Women’s clothing

Apr 152011

Rococo women’s clothing at the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Stays, 1780-90, Britain
Linen, reinforced with whalebone

Woman’s Banyan, 1750-70, Britain
Silk damask (1740s, in the style of Anna Maria Garthwaite)

Woman’s embroidered gown. fabric c. 1740-60, made up c. 1780
The floral fabric is so finely embroidered that at first sight it could be mistaken for a printed design.

Chintz caraco and petticoat, c. 1770-80
Cotton, resist- and mordant dyed

Chintz gown, c. 1780
Cotton, resist- and mordant-dyed, overprinted with gold spots, fabric from South-east India, made in Holland. The printed gold spot pattern would have been applied to an adhesive, probably gum arabic, after the chintz fabric had been painted and dyed.
If you take a careful look at the front bodice portion, you will probably notice two things; first, the front is heavily pieced; and second, the tabs are missing on one side of the front waist.

Sack-back gown (Robe à la Francaise), 1774-5, Britain
Silk chiné velvet

Pink stays, waistcoat, stocking and shoes
(As all of these were so close to each other in this display, I thought it would be a good idea to leave them that way; nevertheless, I will give descriptions for each of them. The waistcoat and stocking are also displayed on the men’s clothing page.)

Pink silk stays, 1660-70
Watered silk, linen, whalebone and silk ribbons

Waistcoat, 1710-20
Silk damask lined with fustian and silk

Man’s linen stocking, 1660-1670
Linen embroidered with silk
You don’t even have to look too careful to see the grainline of the linen fabric in this stocking, which, obviously, is cut on the bias to allow stretching. Also note the triple lacings, of which only one is currently having a lacing cord inserted.

Three shoes:
Red shoe, 1670-1680; white slipper, 1660-1680, leather with silk, embroidered in silk; and green shoe, c. 1710

Woman’s riding jacket, 1750-60, Britain
Camlet (silk and camel hair) with silver braid

Court Mantua, 1775-85
Silk satin embroidered with chenille (French)
The man’s suit can be seen on the men’s clothing page, the other white-golden dress is on the Regency clothing page. Note that the floral patterns on this gown are all hand embroidered. Not two are the same.
I am sorry, as much as I wanted to, it was impossible for me to photograph the front of this mantua due to its placement.

Another Court Mantua

Mantua or Court dress, 1740-45
This mantua and petticoat represent the greatest style of court dress.
Silk embroidered with colored silk and silver thread