Robe à l'Anglaise

An English style of gown

The robe à l’anglaise, or English-style gown, was fashionable both in England and across Europe in the 1770s and 1780s. The style is characterised by a close-fitting back, as opposed to the robe à la française, or French-style gown, which featured box pleats that fell loosely from the shoulders to the floor.

This robe à l’anglaise is made from panels of silk woven in Spitalfields, a district in London that was synonymous with silk weaving in the 17th and 18th centuries. The weavers of Spitalfields produced limited lengths of patterned fabrics to ensure exclusivity.  This silk, which is 19 inches in width, features tobine stripes and a flush pattern in the ground, and is brocaded with silk flowers in shades of brown, red, pink and green. The pattern indicates that the fabric was most probably designed and woven in the late 1750s.

Description

The fitted bodice is lined with linen and closes, edge to edge, at the centre front. The bodice originally featured six pairs of internal linen ties (4 pairs and a single tie remain). The back centre seam is supported by two 13 inch long stays. The bodice's neckline and elbow length sleeves are trimmed with a ruffle.

The skirt, which features slit pockets, is made from 4 full widths of fabric and two narrower front panels, which are trimmed with two rows of ruched fabric. The inside of the skirt features a linen cord and corresponding loop at each side so that the skirt can be raised to form poufs. The matching petticoat is decorated with two deep flounces, and a ruched band at the hem. The flounces and ruffle are trimmed with silk fringe-fly.

The hem of both the gown and petticoat is lined with a 9 inch wide band of fine cream silk. 

A gift from England

The gown is one of three 18th century garments gifted to the Dominion Museum by Mrs Bertha Vye of Ramsgate. They were gifted via Charles Lindsay, the museum's taxidermist who was married to Mrs Vye's niece. In 1951, Lindsay travelled to the United Kingdom, and while on holiday collected a number of items for the museum's collection.