Half robe
Category
Costume
Date
1790 - 1800
Materials
Linen, Silk, Silk damask
Measurements
490 mm (W)
Order this imageCollection
Snowshill Wade Costume Collection, Gloucestershire
NT 1348740
Summary
Jacket; Half robe - Silk damask with design of narrow stripes broken by flower sprays. Cambridge blue on cream ground. Bodice and sleeves lined bleached linen. High waisted with hip-length skirt. Bodice with wrapover front with ties from side-seam. Low neckline caught at corners with silk cord and self-covered button. Small haped back of 4 sections. skirt divided at sides, falling straight in front, pleated side back and centre back. Sleeves set in, fullness at head, one seam, elbow length, shaped at elbow. Silk and lining joined together before assembly. Lining separate from bodice from side to form an inner bodice. Silk cord trim round neck and sleeve edge. Sewn on self-fabric tie sides to front. Left-hand skirt front replaced with pale blue corded silk. Comments - Anne Buck - cut from a gown of abut 1780? Cf Janet Arnold 'Patterns of Fashion I' p44 (female) A Half Robe c.1795-1800 Snowshill Manor A half robe in slate blue striped brocade. This would have been worn over a white muslin round gown for morning occasions, as shown in a fashion plate in The Lady’s Monthly Museum of 1799. Small loops from the inside of the bodice fasten over buttons on the right side of the garment to give the neckline shape. This half robe has been altered from a gown of c.1780 and is interesting as an example of a transitional style. A small bustle pad would have been worn under the muslin gown at the back. Illustration and annotated pattern included. (The following extracts appear on the annotated pattern pieces). In slate blue striped brocade. The bodice is lined with white linen cut on the same grain. The slate blue silk dates from the late 1760’s and was remodelled once in the 1780’s and finally in c.1795-1800. (Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion I, pg 44 and 45)
References
Arnold 1977: Janet Arnold, Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen’s dresses and their construction c.1660-1860, Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1977, page 44 and 45