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@bows4crows.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 8:33 AM

Robe a la Française, Kunstmuseum den Haag, 1770

Stressful night, so what better way to relax than by finding a nice dress to write about. What I love about it - the beautiful colour fabric, the square neckline, and the little bows on the stomacher.

#fashionsky #fashionhistory #dresshistory

Museum photo of an 18th centre overdress and skirt. It is in pale blue silk with woven floral details throughout. The overdress consists in a bodice with a square neckline, past-the-elbow sleeves, and a possibly separate stomacher with white lace bows down the front of it. Its skirts fall to the floor over side panniers, and its open in front. This reveals a separate skirt in the same fabric, also full length. Lace engageantes (ruffles) are worn at the sleeve ends, almost reaching the wrists.

@monalunasimone.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 3:51 PM

One little detail that I did love in the film: both Mrs Dashwood and Mrs Jennings wear calashes while traveling. Calashes were these big hoods that protected a woman’s hair from the elements. Sadly couldn’t find any pictures from the film. #dresshistory #18thc

Detail from a 1778 Gallerie des modes et Costumes Françaises fashion plate showing a woman wearing a black “Caleche ordinaire”. Source: Rijksmuseum. Objectnummer RP-P-2009-2096

Black 18th century silk calash from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Object number: C.I.46.82.9

@bows4crows.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 8:48 AM

Girls' dress, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, 1770

I don't know what it is, but I really love this one. The purple silk and brocaded flowers make for a beautiful fabric. And there's a lovely balance between that fabric and the white neck rulffles and engageantes.

#fashionsky #fashionhistory #dresshistory

Museum photo of an 18th century Dutch dress, made for a 12-14 year old. It is in light purple silk with brocade of green and yellow flowers throughout, and pale pinstripes vertically. The bodice is tapered to a narrow waist, with a stomacher. It has a broad square cut neckline, lined with a single layer of white lace ruffles. The sleeves are elbow length, with ruffles at the ends in the same fabric as the dress, and white lace engageantes below this.
The skirt is full and structured, with extended hips (a little past the line of the shoulders).

@bows4crows.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 1:58 PM

Robe à l'anglaise, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, 1765

The brocading on this is really nice (today I learned what brocade is... 😊). I can't understand how this was done back then, so I'll be looking that up. But it makes for a really beautiful fabric.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory

A museum photo of a robe à l'anglaise style dress. It consists of an overdress and tablier (and apron-like front panel). These are made in a blue fabric, with brocade of white trailing vines and flowers.
The bodice is heavily structured and tapered to the waist (though not very narrow), with a wide square cut neckline (filled in with a semi-transparent fichu). The skirts are very full, likely supported by panniers, and extend to the floor.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 9:10 AM

Robe à l'anglaise, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, 1765

The balance of this dress really works for me. It has typical period architectural elements (rigid bodice, panniers), but this is softened by the floral brocade, folds of fabric, and ruffles. Really lovely.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory

Museum photo of a roccoco style dress. It is made in pale green silk, with floral brocade/embroidery throughout.
The bodice is stiff looking and tapered sharply to the waist, with a stomacher and square cut neckline. The sleeves end just past the elbows, where extensive ruffles take over (engageantes?).
The skirt is very broad and full, supported by panniers presumably, with an outer layer that is open in the front, and an inner layer in the same fabric.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 12:56 PM

Ball gown, Netherlands, 1760

The widest dress at Kunstmuseum den Haag!
Floral motifs on silk, with lots of cool features: the skirts supported by panniers; decorative apron in silk passementerie; & lace sleeve ruffles. Strange to modern eyes, but lovely.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory

Museum photo of a formal ball gown.
Its made of light blue silk woven with multicolored floral motifs. It is an example of a mantua, consisting of an overdress with a fitted back and a separate skirt.
This one also has a decorative apron made of silk passementerie. Lace trimmings and lace sleeve ruffles were then added around the neckline and sleeves.
The skirt is about 3 feet wider than the wearers hips on each side, making for a huge visual impact.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 10:12 AM

Girl's dress, 1750, Kunstmuseum den Haag

I love this. Nearly 300 years old, and the green silk is as vibrant as ever. What a startlingly beautiful thing this must have been back then, and for quite a young (12-14) person too.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory #historicalfashion

Museum photo of a rococo (maybe?) style girls dress, primarily in green silk. It has a close fitted bodice, with a very broad scoop neckline. Beneath this, covering the upper chest, is a white fichu. The sleeves are three quarter length, with lace trimming at the ends. The waist is tight and decorated with some 15 or so horizontal bands of fabric in various pastel colours.
There is a small peplum over the hips in the same green silk, and the skirt below this is full length, enlarged considerably at the hips with some underlying structure, and has deep pleats at the top, allowing it to hang very nicely.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Sep 29, 2026, 10:08 AM

Mantua court dress, 1747

I found another haul of old dresses, so lets go!

You may notice that the hips are slightly accentuated - a subtle touch, I'm sure you'll agree 😁

The bodice itself is quite beautiful, with the neckline ruffles a lovely touch.

#fashionsky #fashionhistory #dresshistory

Museum photo of a court dress in pale yellow and white silk. It has chinoiserie embroidery throughout, a pointed stomacher, and a square cut neckline trimmed with ruffles. The most obvious visual feature is the extremely enlarged side hips, extending a good 70cm or so from the bodice to the right and left. These enlarge the skirt considerably and are likely supported by hoops and panniers.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 8:01 AM

Evening dress, Christian Lacroix, France, 1987

It still counts as fashion history, ok? 39 years ago is definitely history 😄
Anyway, I love this. Big hat, big skirt, big embroidery. You can't go wrong.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #HouseofPatou #fashion #fashionhistory

Museum photo of a short gray silk dress with black embroidered skirt, white ruffled bodice, and black satin straps tied in bows at the top. The skirt is extremely full and seemed to have layers of petticoats.

The waistline is just below the bust, and is accentuated by a light green silk belt, with a chunky flat textured buckle in the same colour.

It is worn with an oversized straw hat with square crown and very wide brim, which has a pink silk rose and green petals at the front.

@massobsarchive.bsky.social Sep 22, 2026, 11:14 AM

Another excellent submission featured in our recent blog post! This time a lovely illustration of the clothes owned by one of our contributors in 1988, ranging from underwear to dressed-up wear! You can read the post here: massobs.org.uk/2026/09/21/e...

#dresshistory #fashionhistory

A watercolour illustration of the contents of a wardrobe. There are small sketches of each item of clothing the person owns. This includes underwear, outerwear and jewellery.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Sep 17, 2026, 10:45 AM

Silk draped dress, Torimaru, England, 1976

A dress that flows like a river.
The fabric seems to spill from the halter neck, sweeping down the body, then splitting in the skirt, before sweeping back up behind the figure to form the hood. Wonderful.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory #fashion

Museum photo of a mannequin wearing a cream coloured halter neck drape dress. The fabric of the dress seems to flow from the halter neck, which crosses over at the throat, flowing down the body. As its silk it clings, while retaining a flow due to the volume of fabric. The dress splits in front, at the mid leg, which each side sweeping backwards to form what would be a train. However, the train is lifted up, forming a cape and hood.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Sep 14, 2026, 8:38 AM

Silk suit, Arnold Scaasi, USA, 1968

I really like this. Lovely colour, and the short, high-cut jacket looks really cool, especially sitting on top of that broad waist band. The skirt has a really nice flow to it too.

#fashionsky #fashionhistory #dresshistory #fashion

Museum photo of a silk dress in coral colour, with a turquoise bodice just visible beneath. The dress consists in a loose, straight-cut skirt (to the knee), with a high broad waistband, and a beaded lattice pattern (also coral) over a turquoise bodice). It has extensive beading at the collar.
Its paired with a short coral coloured jacket with 3/4 length sleeves, and further beading at the cuffs. This has 4 covered buttons down the centre.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Sep 10, 2026, 10:38 AM

Close up of the pleated fabric of the bodice. Apparently she generally did the pleating by hand. Extraordinary work.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory #costume

Close up of the bodice of the dress in the linked post.
Shows panels of diagonally interlocking bands of pleated jersey fabric, in white, pink and lavender.

@bows4crows.bsky.social Sep 10, 2026, 10:24 AM

Evening dress, Madame Grès, Paris, 1962

A repost of my favourite dress. The wrap of the bodice and its soft colours are intricate, but guide the eye rather than creating visual noise. The skirt's folds are so soft they seem to fall like rain. Incredible.

#fashionsky #dresshistory #fashionhistory