Mantua (clothing)

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Comtesee de Mailly in a Mantua
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Comtesee de Mailly in a Mantua

A Mantua (from the French Manteuil ) is an article of women's clothing worn in the late seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. Originally a loose gown, the later mantua was an overgown or robe typically worn over an underdress or stomacher and petticoat.

The mantua featured elbow-length, cuffed sleeves. In the earliest mantuas, the long trained skirt was looped up behind to reveal the petticoat beneath.

From this garment arose the term mantua-maker, an early term for a women's dressmaker.

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[edit] References

Janet Arnold: Patterns of Fashion 1 (cut and construction of women's clothing, 1660-1860) Wace 1964, Macmillan 1972. (ISBN 0-89676-026-X)

[edit] External references