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Shift

1740-1780 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

Woman’s shift of bleached linen, known as ‘fine holland’, 36¾ inches (93.0 cm) wide, with a thread count of 120 warp × 100 weft per inch, sewn with linen thread. The fronts were cut on the diagonal at each side and the backs as a rectangle with triangular gores attached. Square and deep, the necklines are bound with linen tape. The elbow-length sleeves retain their original pleating set with starch and ironed. The cuffs have a worked buttonhole at each end for fastening with sleeve buttons. .

Object details

Categories
Textiles
Clothing
Europeana Fashion Project
Object type
Shift
Materials and techniques
Linen, linen thread; hand-woven and hand-sewn
Linen (Material)
Linen Thread
Hand Weaving
Hand Sewing
Brief description
Woman's shift of linen, British, 1740-1780; pleated sleeves
Physical description
Woman’s shift of bleached linen, known as ‘fine holland’, 36¾ inches (93.0 cm) wide, with a thread count of 120 warp × 100 weft per inch, sewn with linen thread. The fronts were cut on the diagonal at each side and the backs as a rectangle with triangular gores attached. Square and deep, the necklines are bound with linen tape. The elbow-length sleeves retain their original pleating set with starch and ironed. The cuffs have a worked buttonhole at each end for fastening with sleeve buttons. .
Dimensions
  • Length: 111.5cm (approx)
  • Width: 101.0cm (approx)
Marks and inscriptions
4 / S H (Laundry mark embroidered in cross stitch with red silk below the neckline at centre front)
Gallery label
(2013-2015)
This is what a typical 18th-century fashionable woman would have worn as underwear. First, she would have put on a white linen shift to protect her body from coarse fabrics. Then her maid would have helped her into stays and side-hoops. Their purpose was to mould the torso to the fashionable shape and provide a rigid form on which the gown could be arranged and fastened.

The sleeves of this shift feature fine pleats, carefully ironed into them by the 18th-century laundress. Elaborately pressed linen like this was a mark of wealth.

Side hoop
Britain (London), 1778
Linen and cane
From the family of Mrs Deborah Carter, given by Mr. and Mrs. R.C. Carter
V&A: T.120-1969

Stays
Britain, 1780s
Wool backed with linen or canvas, with whalebone
Given by the family of the late Mrs Jane Robinson
V&A: T.192-1929

Shift
Britain, about 1750
Linen, with pressed pleats
V&A: T.25-1969
Object history
This shift and T.26-1969 was made from a layout of four, together with another shift, 1969.237 in the Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall, Manchester. All are made of the same linen and bear the same laundry mark. The V&A Museum purchased two shifts from Mrs M A Edmonds in 1969 and Platt Hall bought the remaining one from her in the same year.
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.25-1969

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O354888/shift-unknown/
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