Images(5)

Gown

Dateca. 1756

OriginEngland

MediumSilk satin, linen bodice and sleeve linings.

DimensionsOL: 51 1/2" WAIST: 25 3/4"; Selvage to selvage: 21 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1985-117,1

DescriptionGown and matching stomacher of cream silk satin trimmed with pink self fabric ruffles. Bodice opens to reveal triangular stomacher (#2) overlaid with self fabric trim and bows. Bodice back has pleats sewn down and extending into skirt, the so-called English back. Elbow length sleeves end in double flounces. Skirt, pleated to bodice in large 1" pleats, is open at front to reveal petticoat (now missing). Lining on bodice thread count 64 x 64. Stomacher lining count 96 x 80.
Label TextGown
England, ca. 1756, remodeled from an earlier gown
Silk satin; linen lining; linen and silk sewing threads
1985-117, 1
This gown was fitted while the fabric was draped on the body. The bodice back was cut in one piece with the center back skirt and both were pleated directly on the figure. The pleats were sewn down to a linen bodice lining. The full pleated skirt consists of seven panels of 21 ¼ inch-wide satin. The open-front gown was worn with a separate stomacher, shown elsewhere in the exhibit. The gown was fitted over the corseted torso by using pleats and shaped seams, not the shaping darts seen in clothing of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Eighteenth century women's stays shaped their bodies by molding the torso into an inverted cone. Stays pushed the fullness of the breasts up and urged the shoulders back and down, creating erect posture. Women who were considered beautiful had slim arms, sloping shoulders, and a tapering line from midbust to waist.

Sleeve Seam Technique
Evidence from the stitching shows that the sleeve was fitted around the woman's arm and sewn from the outside. The sleeve and its lining were treated as one piece. One side of the lined sleeve was turned under and lapped over the area to be joined, then the underarm seam was sewn with backstitches through all layers close to the edge. This is an obvious way to construct the seam if one is working directly on the body, pinning or sewing from the outside.

Bodice Seam Technique
The seams that join the front bodice to the back were worked from the outside, another indication that the gown was fitted directly on the body. The seams were sewn as shown in the diagram. First, the lined front bodice pieces were folded back and lapped over the back bodice at the sides. The seams were then sewn from the top with backstitches that went through the two satin pieces and one of the linings. The other lining was left free to be turned under and neatly finished off later, thus hiding all the raw edges. This technique contrasts with modern sewing-machine construction, in which the right sides are put together, seamed, and turned right side out.

Alterations
Old stitch marks, folds, and piecing are evidence that this gown has been altered from an earlier example. The expense of hand-woven textiles dictated that cloth was reused whenever possible. Indeed, many gowns were made with remodeling in mind. Notice on the pattern that the material of this gown's skirt was folded back where the waist dips below the waistline at the front. Instead of cutting out the excess, the dressmaker preserved the full length of the textile for alteration later.

ProvenanceAccording to vendor, the gown was worn by Ursula Westof of Leicester, who married John Robinson of Hinkley, Sept.9, 1756; she died 1778.