Woman's gown, English, 1790-1795, cream figured silk brocaded with blue flowers, 1780-89, Spitalfields; trimmed with eau-de-nil silk gimp

A woman's gown of cream figured silk brocaded with blue roses and yellow and red floral motifs. The gown is open at the front, with a high waist and shaped, elbow-length sleeves. The gown is made of 4 widths of silk, with one flat pleat at each front, and 5 on either side of an inverted box pleat at centre back, all stitched down above the waist. The gown fronts are pleated into the shoulder seam at the back. Inside the gown fronts, are two overlapping bodice pieces of silk. Each bodice side and back is lined with bleached linen and stitched together at centre back. The bodice front linings are separate from the bodice pieces, with a linen-tape casing and drawstring at the top. The sleeves are lined with the same linen. There is a single-layer, two-piece, V-shaped collar at the back. The front edges of the gown, bodice pieces and collar are trimmed with eau-de-nil silk gimp. Six eau-de-nil silk covered buttons, each trimmed with braid in the same silk, adorn the back pleats and there is one on each bodice front, under the robings. A long loop of cream silk ribbon is sewn to the centre back waist on the inside.

The vendor found this gown with a number of other pieces of 1740s silk about to be placed upon a communal bonfire for the destruction of rubbish, in a farmer’s field in Hampshire. She recognised the historical nature of the materials and via the sister of David Judd in Learning & Interpretation, brought them to the V&A.

The style of the gown is too late for someone alive in 1722 as detailed in the inscription attached to the bodice lining, but may have belonged to one of the descendants listed.

Attribution note: T.11-2005 is a length of the same dress fabric, unused

Between 1794 and 1796, the waistlines of women’s dress rose dramatically from just above the natural level to underneath the bust. This is an example of a woman’s gown from the period 1795 to 1799. Open down the front with a narrow overlapping bodice, the gown would have been worn over a petticoat and with neckerchief. The silk dates from a decade earlier, 1780–90, although there is no indication of it being refashioned from an older garment. The length of the sleeves is somewhat old-fashioned, a longer sleeve having come into fashion in the 1780s. Such a combination of latest style waistline with an older fabric and sleeve length illustrates an intriguing mix of fashionable and conservative elements. These probably reflect the individual tastes and resources of the original wearer, rather than the fashion of the time.

T.10-2005