F, 1775-1780, white silk satin, British, with white passementerie trim, court dress, altered 1870-1910

A woman's sack and petticoat of white silk satin. The sack is open at the front with elbow-length sleeves. The bodice meets at centre front, with boning on each side. The bodice and sleeves are lined with bleached linen. There is an opening at the centre back lining, boned on each side with lacing holes for adjusting the bodice. There are two, double, box pleats at the back, stitched at the neckline. The sack is made of 7 widths of silk, with a waist seam from the front edges to the side-back seam. The skirts are shaped for a wide hoop. The hem is faced with a deep band of white silk taffeta. The skirt fronts are decorated with a wide ruching of satin, edged with white silk chenille fringe, gathered into puffs and arranged in at zig zag pattern, and passementerie tassels of white silk chenille. Narrower ruchings of silk and chenille are placed either side of it. The same narrow ruching adorns the neck.

The petticoat is made of 6 widths of silk and the hem faced with a band of linen. It is adorned with two bands of deep ruching and two of narrow ruching, with passementerie tassels.

The ensemble was altered in the late 19th century for fancy dress. Hooks and eyes were added to the bodice fronts, as well as hooks on the skirt and tapes at the inside waist, to loop up the skirts. The waist of the petticoat was unpicked and reconfigured.

At the time of acquisition, this sack and petticoat were reported to have been a wedding dress, although there are no details of provenance known.

By the late 1770s, the sack and petticoat, like this example, were reserved for formal evening or court dress. The shape of the petticoat, requiring a wide square hoop, also indicates the formality of the ensemble. An arc of precise, wedge-shaped pleats illustrates how the gown was shaped to fit over such a hoop.

The plain fabric and restrained decoration are typical of the late 1770s. Broad and narrow strips of the white silk satin have been edged with silk fringe, gathered and applied to the gown in undulating lines. The fringe is made of looped and knotted floss silk and chenille thread. Lengths of this fringe form tassels which hang from the gown and would have swung and danced as the wearer moved.

T.2-1947