Sack-back gown
The sack-back gown or robe à la française was a women's fashion of the 18th century. At the beginning of the century, the sack-back gown was a very informal style of dress. By the 1770s it was second only to court dress in its formality. This style of gown had fabric at the back arranged in box pleats which fell loose from the shoulder to the floor with a slight train. In front, the gown was open, showing off a decorative stomacher and petticoat. It would have been worn with a wide square hoop or panniers under the petticoat. Scalloped ruffles often trimmed elbow-length sleeves, which were worn with separate frills called engageantes.The Robe à la française or saque gown was also worn with Pannier Pocket hoops ,a smaller version of panniers.
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Bibliography
- Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen's dresses & their construction c. 1660–1860. Drama Publishers, 1977. ISBN 089676026X
- Burnston, Sharon Ann. Fitting and Proper: 18th Century Clothing from the Collection of the Chester County Historical Society. Scurlock Pub Co, 2000. ISBN 1880655101
- Hart, Avril, and Susan North. Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail. V&A Publishing, 2009. ISBN 1851775676
- Jackson, Anna (ed.) (2001). V&A: A Hundred Highlights. V&A Publications.
- Ribeiro, Aileen: The Art of Dress: Fashion in England and France 1750–1820, Yale University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-300-06287-7
- Ribeiro, Aileen: Dress in Eighteenth Century Europe 1715–1789, Yale University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-300-09151-6
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