Dark green velvet redingote over green silk satin open front. Lined with cotton shirting with a muslin under train trimmed with lace. Made by Howell and James Ltd, 89 Regent Street, London. British, about 1889

The teagown is cut in the style of a redingote. In the 1890s this name was applied to an outdoor coat with a fitted back and semi-fitted front. The fitted part of the gown is made of dark green plush velvet and is slightly trained. The loose front is open at the front and would have been worn over an underdress. There is an inbuilt bustle at the back to help give shape to the dress. The gown has two large lapels and a high collar fastened with hooks and eyes and trimmed with braid. The collar and cuffs are decorated with pleated silk satin. The two front ribbon ties are later additions and there is evidence of hooks and eyes at waist level which would have probably fastened some kind of belt to the front of the dress. The dress is lined with cotton shirting ane the train is lined with stiffened muslin trimmed with lace. The lining has been detached at some time for the purpose of cleaning. The waist tie has a label sewn into it with the manufacturers name. It is fastened with a metal buckle stamped with 'Paris'.

Given by Harriett and Charlotte Gibson.

Given by Harriett and Charlotte Gibson

Historical significance: Teagowns appeared in the early 1870s as a 'robe de chambre' in the Princess form. They were an important development as being loose, they allowed corsets to be omitted. They arose from the habit of ladies having tea in the hostess's boudoir and donning smart dressing-gowns. By the 1870s gentlemen were admitted so the dressing gowns were replaced with elegant garments of satin and silk. At first only married women were allowed to wear them as moralists were afraid that they were 'a sign of the degeneracy of the age and that this easy comfortable dress points to free and easy morals. Each season they become less like dressing gowns and more like fancy dress'. (1879). Teagowns became increasingly elaborate and by the 1880s they were made of rich deeply-coloured velvets, cashmere and satin with lavish trimmings in 'silver tinsel', muslin, moiré and white lace. By 1888 some were made as open robes or as Directoire redingote over an underdress. The 'Empire' teagown' with rounded yoke and sash, the sleeves hanging in points nearly to the hem appeared in 1889. It was now permissible for young ladies, whether married or not, to wear this garment.

The teagown also represents the fashions for aesthetic styles of dress and dress reform in the late 19th century. By the late 19th century fashionable dressmakers such as Liberty were producing clothes which gave the appearance of a looser-fitting gowns. Gradually this type of dress became popular as a more healthy alternative to the tight-waisted and corseted fashions. Many, like this example of a teagown, have features of more conventional fashion such as the built-in bustle and waist tie, but they were made to look as if they could be worn without a corset.

The gown is cut in the style of a moss green velvet redingote over a loose flowing front of green silk satin which is open down the centre. It is very similar to an illustration of a teagown on page 345 of 'Englishwomen's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century' by C.Willet Cunnington, Dover Publications, New York. It is also interesting as it has a small built -in bustle in the back, probably filled with straw.
This teagown resembles one worn by Ellen Terry in the collections of the Theatre Museum. Ellen Terry, thought fashion conscious, was unconventional and preferred the looser lines of clothes advocated by the Dress Reform Movement

T.407-2001