Round gown

Unknown

ca. 1795 · silk, linen · Costume Institute

By the 1790s, the structure of clothing was undergoing dramatic change. This afternoon dress in the form of a round gown steadfastly keeps up appearances and can pass for eighteenth-century opulence, especially in its colors and textile richness. But the high-waisted dress, spencer, corset, and separate sleeves constitute a new anatomy, one that anticipates the century to come. This shape would be renewed in the 1880s and 1890s, as one fin de siècle recapitulated the preceeding fin de siècle.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1795

Medium

silk, linen

Culture

Italian

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Purchase, Irene Lewisohn Bequest, 1979