Two robes à la Française, front and back views, 1750–75 (MET)Woven linenpet-en-l'air with sack back, worn with a matching petticoat. France or England, c. 1770s. (LACMA) M.67.8.74
Thesack-back gown orrobe à la française was a women's fashion of 18th century Europe.[1] At the beginning of the century, the sack-back gown was a very informal style of dress. At its most informal, it was unfitted both front and back and called asacque,contouche, orrobe battante. By the 1770s the sack-back gown was second only to court dress in its formality. This style ofgown had fabric at the back arranged in boxpleats which fell loose from the shoulder to the floor with a slighttrain. In front, the gown was open, showing off a decorativestomacher and petticoat. It would have been worn with a wide squarehoop orpanniers under thepetticoat. Scallopedruffles often trimmed elbow-length sleeves, which were worn with separate frills calledengageantes.
Thecasaquin (popularly known from the 1740s onwards as apet-en-l'air) was an abbreviated version of the robe à la française worn as a jacket for informal wear with a matching or contrasting petticoat.[2][3] The skirt of the casaquin was knee-length but gradually shortened until by the 1780s it resembled apeplum.[3]
The loose box pleats which are a feature of this style are sometimes calledWatteau pleats from their appearance in the paintings ofAntoine Watteau.[4] The various Watteau terms, such asWatteau pleat,Watteau back,Watteau gown etc., date from the mid-19th century rather than reflecting authentic 18th century terminology, and normally describe 19th and 20th century revivals of the sack-back.[5]
A popular story, traced back to the correspondence ofÉlisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, Duchess d'Orléans, is that the earliest form of the sack-back gown, therobe battante, was invented asmaternity clothing in the 1670s byLouis XIV's mistress to conceal her clandestine pregnancies. However, people would comment: "Madame de Montespan has put on herrobe battante, therefore she must be pregnant."[6] A similar story is associated withMarie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans, Duchess of Berry, who during theFrench Regency of 1715–1723 was known for wearing this style of gown which showcased her bosom and face whilst, as with Madame de Montespan, disguising illicit pregnancies.[7]
Arnold, Janet.Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen's dresses & their construction c. 1660–1860. Drama Publishers, 1977.ISBN0-89676-026-X
Burnston, Sharon Ann.Fitting and Proper: 18th Century Clothing from the Collection of the Chester County Historical Society. Scurlock Pub Co, 2000.ISBN1-880655-10-1
Hart, Avril, and Susan North.Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail. V&A Publishing, 2009.ISBN1-85177-567-6
Jackson, Anna, ed. (2001).V&A: A Hundred Highlights. V&A Publications.
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