The Robe à la Française, or Sacque
The antecedent of the robe à la française was the robe volante, a form of negligée dress. Once the mantua became suitable for public dress, the wealthy required something else to wear while relaxing. The robe volante (or robe battante) was said to have been invented by Mme de Montespan, mistress of Louis XIV, in order to hide her pregnancies.
[Edit, 1/14/2013: Newcomers, you may want to see my tag for the sacque, which will show you all of the Galerie des Modes française/sacque plates I've translated so far. Paintings are great, but labeled fashion plates are even better.]
The robe volante was unfitted and loose, with pleats in front of and behind the shoulders that hid the wearer's shape. The front generally met or crossed-over without a stomacher, and when the gown was worn with a wide hoop it provided a good setting for textiles with a large pattern woven into them.
As the robe volante became worn more often, it also became more fitted - but only in the front. The addition of a more formal front with robings and a stomacher, and an open skirt that revealed a decorative petticoat, made it more acceptable to move out of the sphere of negligée clothing. At first, sleeves were worn cuffed, as in the mantua, but once the française developed as its own style (ca. 1735), it was much more common for sleeves to be decorated with ruffles of self-fabric, which were then filled in with delicate engageant ruffles sewn to the sleeve of the gown or shift.
The sacque was informal compared to the French court gown, but it was worn by the highest members of society in all situations that did not call for court dress. By that point, it had been exported from France and could also be found in Britain and America. A negligée type of the style still existed in the pet-en-l'air, a shorter version similar to a jacket that would only be worn in the home.
The robe à la française fell out of favor as Marie Antoinette's court began to prefer simpler styles to fit their idealized idea of country life. Where France went, the rest of the fashionable word followed, and by the end of the 1770s the sacque was seen no more.
Detail of Concert Champêtre, Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater, ca. 1734; MMA 37.27
[Edit, 1/14/2013: Newcomers, you may want to see my tag for the sacque, which will show you all of the Galerie des Modes française/sacque plates I've translated so far. Paintings are great, but labeled fashion plates are even better.]
The robe volante was unfitted and loose, with pleats in front of and behind the shoulders that hid the wearer's shape. The front generally met or crossed-over without a stomacher, and when the gown was worn with a wide hoop it provided a good setting for textiles with a large pattern woven into them.
The Declaration of Love, Jean-François de Troy, ca. 1731; Charlottenberg Palace
As the robe volante became worn more often, it also became more fitted - but only in the front. The addition of a more formal front with robings and a stomacher, and an open skirt that revealed a decorative petticoat, made it more acceptable to move out of the sphere of negligée clothing. At first, sleeves were worn cuffed, as in the mantua, but once the française developed as its own style (ca. 1735), it was much more common for sleeves to be decorated with ruffles of self-fabric, which were then filled in with delicate engageant ruffles sewn to the sleeve of the gown or shift.
Madame de Pompadour, François Boucher, 1756; Alte Pinakothek
The sacque was informal compared to the French court gown, but it was worn by the highest members of society in all situations that did not call for court dress. By that point, it had been exported from France and could also be found in Britain and America. A negligée type of the style still existed in the pet-en-l'air, a shorter version similar to a jacket that would only be worn in the home.
Detail of Tête à Tête, part of Marriage à la Mode, William Hogarth, 1743-1745; National Gallery NG114
The robe à la française fell out of favor as Marie Antoinette's court began to prefer simpler styles to fit their idealized idea of country life. Where France went, the rest of the fashionable word followed, and by the end of the 1770s the sacque was seen no more.
Wow! I love your blog! I feel like this is a gold mine, sort of like a few of those books I ordered! Thanks for commenting on my blog. I'll be catching up on reading your posts!
ReplyDeleteLaurie
Thank you so much!
ReplyDeletewhat is the difference between a mantua and a robe a la francaise? I'm trying to write an essay on the changing fashions but I still can't differentiate between the two! please help :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem! The française is characterized by those flowing pleats down the back that you can see on the robes volant in the pictures above. (Hmm, I didn't realize I had so few pictures of actual françaises here.) The front is fitted to the body like any other style of dress. Now, the mantua (here and here) is fitted to the waist all around. While the française was the standard style in France during its heyday, the mantua continued to be worn in conjunction with it in England, which caused the mantua to be called the robe a l'anglaise when it was picked up again in France.
ReplyDeleteI understand! Thank you so so much :)
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