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Collections

Woman’s Dress (Robe à l’anglaise)1785-1790

Not on view
Full-length 18th-century gown on a mannequin, shown from behind, made of bold lavender and ivory vertical-striped silk with a wide flared skirt and white embroidered fichu collar
18th-century silk robe à l'anglaise on a white mannequin, featuring purple and cream vertical stripes, fitted bodice, elbow-length sleeves with white ruffled cuffs, low square neckline with white fichu, and full gathered skirt.
Silk robe à la française, rear view, in alternating purple and cream vertical stripes; fitted bodice with center-back pleats flowing into a voluminous skirt, with white lace cuffs at the sleeves.
Title
Woman’s Dress (Robe à l’anglaise)
Place Made
France
Date Made
1785-1790
Medium
Silk twill and silk plain-weave stripes
Dimensions
Center back length: 62 in. (157.48 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by Suzanne A. Saperstein and Michael and Ellen Michelson, with additional funding from the Costume Council, the Edgerton Foundation, Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer, Maureen H. Shapiro, Grace Tsao, and Lenore and Richard Wayne
Accession Number
M.2007.211.931
Classification
Costumes
Collecting Area
Costume and Textiles
Curatorial Notes

By the 1780s, the robe à l’anglaise (English-style gown), with its closely fitted back, had replaced the flowing robe à la française (French-style gown) for all but the most formal occasions. This example has two narrow center-back panels that extend from the neckline to the hem without a waist seam, a tailoring technique known as en fourreau (“as a sheath”). The slim fit of the bodice is offset by a billowing skirt, which has been cartridge-pleated for maximum fullness, creating an elegant deep V at the back.

Selected Bibliography
  • Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Deux Siècles de Mode Européenne, 1700-1915. Paris: Arts Décoratifs; Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books-Prestel, 2013.
  • Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Delmonico Books/Prestel, 2010.
  • Takeda, Sharon Sadako and Kaye Durland Spilker. Fashioning Fashion: Europäische Moden, 1700-1915. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: Prestel, 2012.
  • Örmen, Catherine. L'Art de la Mode. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2015.
  • Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly. Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. New Haven: Yale Univesity Press, 2015.
  • Edwards, Lydia. How to Read a Dress: a Guide to Changing Fashion from the 16th to the 20th Century. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.
  • Reynolds, Anna. Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians. London: Royal Collection Trust, 2023.

Related Unframed

50 Works 50 Weeks: Robe à l’anglaise Ensemble
50 Works 50 Weeks: Robe à l’anglaise Ensemble
  • December 2, 2025
  • Costume and Textiles Department