Reproducing the ca. 1750 Robe à la Française

January 20, 2020...

It's taken me a few months to get to back to this blog subject, but one of my New Year's resolutions was to try to complete as much of my planned but unfinished work from 2019 (and previous years) as possible.   So here, finally, are some details of this 2019 project, from inception to finished ensemble. 

I think it was the fortuitous find of an almost-matching modern silk taffeta which prompted me to get this ensemble made at last, but it had been in my creative consciousness for some time.  In 2019 I decided to just get on with it! 

Background Notes to Making the Replica: 

The gown and petticoat are modeled as precisely as I could after an extant ca. 1750 to 1755 robe à la française (usually referred to in English at the time as a "sacque" or "sack" gown or dress) which was offered at a private sale a number of years ago (you may recognize the photos of the original).  The notes below give an overview of the project, and following these are details of the steps I took to complete the ensemble. 

Antique (extant) gown at left, my reproduction at right.

​There were some intriguing features of the extant gown that drew me to it, aside from the striking use of the striped textile: 
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(a)  First, and most noticeable were the exaggerated but beautifully decorated cuffs (see photo).  This style was referred to at the time as "manche à la raquette" (racquet-like sleeve) for obvious reasons, but was a very fleeting fashion.  The gown itself was transitional, just on the cusp between the more severe and simple modes of the two previous decades, and the explosion of ornamentation that followed in the 1760's and 1770's. 

Showing the shape of the "racquet-style" cuff, with its surface decoration.

The fact that the owner of this gown chose a sleeve type that was about to go completely out of style (in fact already a little "démodé"), is interesting in itself.  I toyed with the idea of making the more fashionable (by 1755) flounced cuffs for the sleeves, but in the end decided I'd replicate the gown exactly as it was, fashion warts and all.  ​

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