Opera Dress

Robe à la Française

1780s

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Dress

1780

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

"This separate bodice and ankle-length skirt stand out from within the first waves of radical change in fashion in the late 1770s, for the horizontal separation of parts and the exposure of the feet. Such practical thinking--with primary reference to peasant traditions, not to elite clothing--was still combined with panniers and a conical silhouette of past practice. But, most significantly, a dialogue has begun: clothing can be changed by real needs, even the desire of women to be active, to walk more in nature (as advocated by Rousseau) and stand less on ceremony. In the 1981-82 Costume Institute exhibition "The Eighteenth-Century Woman," this costume was worn with an enormous wig with a frigate atop it, in the manner of court celebrations of French naval victories. But this dress had already taken its own plebeian and pedestrian path and should not be mistaken with the last flourishes of court hegemony."

Dress

1780s

The Kyoto Costume Institute

"A dress of a blue and pale blue thin-striped pattern, along with a soft luster. In order to pull up the gown's hem, a cord is attached to it, which makes it possible to wear as robe à la Polonaise, as well. In the latter half of the 18th century, clothing went toward simplification in particular women's clothing advanced toward a functional direction without the formality. Even textiles for dress with a light texture entered the mainstream. Moreover, the preference to striped patterns that became the fashions that involve all the classes from this period also shows such a tendency."

Caraco and Petticoat

1770-1790, 1750-1790

MoMu Fashion Museum Province of Antwerp

Chemise à la Reine

1780s

Manchester City Galleries

Robe à l'Anglaise

1780s

Collection Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti

Robe à la Polonaise

1780s

The Kyoto Costume Institute

Redingote

1786

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Robe à la Polonaise

1780s

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two-piece dress

1750-1775

Amsterdam Museum

Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Still Life with Musette and Violin, 1725. Toledo Museum of Art (Ohio, USA).

Cape

last third 18th century

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

“Cloaks in one form or another were popular items of dress in the American colonies from the time of the early settlers. This particular type of cloak, called a “cardinal” because of its color, is made of a closely woven wool cut on the bias and left with a raw edge along the hem. The hooded cape is a variant of the capuchin, or monk’s habit. It is gathered in a circular shape at the back to stand high without crushing the mobcap or coiffure underneath. The vestee is a practical solution for keeping the upper torso warm while leaving the hands free. By the late eighteenth century cardinals could be bought ready-made in England; thus, it is possible that this cape was imported rather than made in the colonies.”

Gown: Late 1770s to early 1780s

Robe à l’Anglaise

1770s

Musée Galliera de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

Ballgown, 1780-85, France.

I always thought that “woman pulls something out of her cleavage” was really just sort of a cliche historically

But nope

I’m reading this incredibly niche book about the history of pockets, and there is a picture of a pair of stays from the 18th century that someone sewed a giant pocket inside of

It was apparently a big thing for women who wanted to keep their money safe or to steal it off of other people and hide it quickly

INCREDIBLE