Ivory silk gown & petticoat, by unknown maker, 1780–85

This French hand-sewn silk gown demonstrates the fashionable styles in women’s formal dress of the 1780s. The hoop has changed from the square shape of earlier decades to a round profile. A stomacher is no longer needed, because the gown now meets in the front. The cream silk is adorned only at the edges with an embroidered band, ribbon and a stencilled fringe. This restraint in decoration illustrates the growing influence of the neo-classical style in textile design.

Museum no. T.98-1966