#sack back

Robe à la française ca. 1750-60

Sack

1775-1780 (sewing), 1870 - 1910 (altered)

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.

After the picnic everyone changed to get ready for the dinner and came back looking like candy! 

• Dress (Sack or sacque dress).

Date: 1755-1775

Robe à la française ca. 1750

Sack

1774-1775 (weaving), 1775 - 1780 (sewing), 1870 - 1910 (altered) 

 The sack or robe à la francaise had loose pleats at the back of the neck and an open front. It was a style that dominated women’s fashions during the 18th century. It developed from a loose negligee but by the 1770s it had become a more formal type of dress and would have been worn for attending assembly rooms, dinner parties, the theatre or the opera. This is a very rare example of the use of velvet in 18th-century women’s dress. Normally fabrics are printed after the weaving process. In the chiné technique, the warp threads are printed before, and during weaving the slight pulling of the threads gives the pattern a blurred effect, resembling a watercolour when finished. In this extraordinary example, the chiné process has been combined with velvet - a difficult technique that was produced only in a few places in France. The silk for this fabric is reputed to have cost 36 shillings a yard. With an average of 17 yards required for a sack and petticoat of this style, the fabric would today cost about £2,200.

Robe à la française ca. 1770-75