Luxurious Materials, Monumental Constructions

In yesterday's post we looked at fashion from the 1700s via art and portraits in particular. Let's continue the thread today by looking at one court dress from the 18th century featured in a display from the V&A's Fashion Gallery (Room 40).

The main focus of the display is a silk mantua gown (1755-1760) from England with an impressive construction: the wide hooped skirts of the mantua were already old fashioned in the 1750s, but aristocratic ladies were required to wear this cumbersome style to royal assemblies, ceremonies at court and balls.

The petticoat was indeed extremely wide with sloping sides and it was worn over a "fan-shaped" hoop that meant the wearer had to negotiate doorways and carriages while maintaining posture. While looking sumptuously cumbersome, this monumental dress also transformed the wearer into a living work of art.

The gown was also made with luxurious materials including expensive ivory silk brocade fabric, and it was woven and embroidered with gold thread that sparkled in candlelight with diamonds and expensive lace adding to the effect.

The display also shows silk fabric samples from the same period, a series of accessories such as a paper and mother-of-pearl fan hand-painted in watercolours with a couple courting, and a pair of silk woven shoes with metal thread (one with a silver and glass paste buckle).

The dress is accompanied by a doll that calls to mind Liotard's portrait of her daughter with a doll. Yet there is something special about this doll: the attire she is dressed in with all the accessories and underpinnings of a fashionable lady of the late 1750s – necklace, robe, two petticoats, stomacher, corset, under-petticoat, stockings, shoes, and fob watch – suggest this was no mere toy, but a proper fashion doll.

Dressed in extravagant and exclusive silk textiles, fashion dolls or "pandoras" were indeed used to spread information about the latest style, as you may also remember from previous posts.

Want to know more about 18th century dress? Check out this reading list paying particular attention to garment construction, fabrics and embroideries.