30/07/2025
1770s fashion simplified the earlier decades styles for both womenswear and menswear, leading to new fashions that exemplified the ‘casual’ aesthetic that had taken hold.
In this decade, the generously trimmed robe à la française, or sack, ceded its decades-long dominance to other styles and was primarily worn for formal wear .
At the same time, the hoop, which had given the robe à la française its distinctive shape, “disappeared except for court” and was replaced by “small paniers, or hip pads” .
The fitted gown, known in France as the robe à l’anglaise, had been worn in England throughout the century, alongside the sack as a more informal garment, and “in the 1770s, it had a new lease of life with a closed front opening” that obviated the need for a separate stomacher.
Initially, the back panels of this gown were stitched down as far as the waist and continued into the skirt; by the 1780s the bodice and skirt would be cut separately.
The oval-shaped sleeve ruffles accessorized with lace engageantes that had been standard since the 1740s were replaced by ruched cuffs, called “sabots” in French, of self-fabric, muslin, or gauze that fitted closely around the elbow .
Like the robe à la française, the robe à l’anglaise was worn over a matching or contrasting petticoat.
Dress
Model
Photo
