How to Dress 18th Century: 1750 - 1770 Robe a la Francaise

Have you ever wondered what all goes into dressing in those big, fancy eighteenth-century dresses? What did Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour wear, and what were all the layers of her Rococo dress? In this video Lauren demonstrates getting dressed in a Robe a la Francaise, or sacque, gown, accurate to the period of c. 1750 to 1770.

Robe a la Francaise gowns were popular for almost all of the 18th century, in one form or another. By the mid-18th century, panniers (or pocket hoops) had shrunk in size and width, but were still essential to creating the wide silhouette so popular and iconic in the Georgian period. The Robe a la Francaise continued to feature the beautiful "Watteau" pleats at the back, but by the 1760s featured a waist seam and could be made with or without robings, and with or without a separate stomacher.

About the Costume -
* The lace is antique, though not 18th century. Tambour net can be found on Etsy.

FAQ Answers -
* Regular steel-headed straight pins are used to pin the stomacher and gown. They are driven into the stays with the boning between the pin and the body, so you will not stab yourself. I have never had pins stab me while wearing a gown nor fall out during the day.
* It takes about 10 - 15 minutes to get dressed, even with lacing the stays. It takes longer to do the hair than to actually put the clothing on.
* The crossed straps on the stays are to hold the shoulders back. This style of shoulder straps appears on several extant stays and is a good method for narrow or sloping shoulders. They're easily adjustable.
* I have dated this video 1750 - 1770 because the style of the gown - particularly the waist seam, width of the panniers, and the separate pinned stomacher - cover that range. In the 1760s, comperes front stomachers became popular - this was a center-front closing (pinning, hooking, or buttoning) stomacher that was stitched to each side of the gown. Comperes front and separate stomacher front coexisted.
* I have styled my hair and headdress for the late 1760s, even though the gown can back-date to the 1750s.
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0:00 Introduction
0:09 Start with shift stockings, and shoes My hair is also already styled
0:16 A ribbon and lace choker was popular in the 1760s.
0:41 Next is the underpetticoat
0:54 The underpetticoat provides an additional layer of warmth and padding under the stays.
1:19 Now for the stays
2:14 The boned stomacher helps with pinning the gown later on.
3:16 Panniers, also called pocket hoops, hold the skirt out in the fashionable silhouette
3:27 Panniers came in a variety of shapes and sizes.
3:40 They also served as very capacious pockets!
3:54 Next is the petticoat.
4:09 The petticoat is split at the sides, allowing access to the pocket hoops.
4:16 The petticoat ties on back-to-front, then front-to-back
5:48 This type of gown is called a "sacque" or a "robe a la Francaise."
6:03 It was popular in various incarnations for almost the entire 18th century
7:41 Jewelry is the final addition

[wonderwend]

" I'll be down in 5 minutes Darling "

[nemumami]

How to dress 18th century:
Step one:
Do not be broke

[maternalheart]

Also, never realized how much of these outfits are actually pinned together in places

[elsahennessy-barnes]

Imagine all the snacks you could fit in those pockets

[rxandroid]

"Haha let's make the Halloween party vintage themed!"
Me getting ready:

[helenluis]

It just shows how wrong all those so-called historical films are - where the heroine falls into bed with her dashing male lover and all of a sudden she is half-naked... you'd need an appointment just to get to second base!! Beautiful dress and really informative too.

[CouvadeShark]

This is what Belles dress should have looked like in the live action movie :(

[Vintagemermaid]

The moment you realize the first stage undergarment is your regular fashion nowadays

[Ellaodi]

Thank you for explaining the pins! Everybody just acts like we should automatically know how and where they pin, and now the mystery is solved!

[KatieKruger]

I had no idea the gowns of this era were basically acting like fancy long jackets. It’s so clever

[rosiemakes]

Panniers were pockets? Mind blown! Why have I been carrying a backpack all these years when I could pop everything in my skirt. There's loads of room in there!

[riveraariana]

How did women go from pockets like that to no pockets at all

[Vierge]

Will have to admit, the Robe a la Francaise was the gown that made me fall in love with the period. There's definitely something alluring about the way the gown looks on someone. <3

Love, love, LOVE this video. And those shoes are amazing!!!

[hellothere]

Can you imagine if one of the middle layers became untied? Lol!

[pbd]

That was amazing! I had no idea they pinned the gown on. I thought it was an entire dress that they just got in to after all of the undergarments.

[michellecelesteNW]

The pockets of my dreams. You can stick a leg of lamb in one and a knitting project in the other.

[mnels]

LOVELY. It's a surprise how easily such an elaborate garment is put on, not nearly as many pins as I thought it would take to keep everything in place.

[evacope]

When I was a kid I watched Marie Antoinette and found a book of 18th century fashion my mother owned and I was from then on obsessed with this dress. I cut a hole into a cardboard box and hopped into it and put a blanket around my waist to imitate the skirt lol... you're living my childhood dream

[sistersamich]

the musiccc though I’m about to fall asleep it’s so peaceful…

[ThelouwseFD]

Gorgeous !I'm French and I always loved these kinds of dresses from our past but I never knew that's how they had to be put on !Really thought the outer layer was only one piece ! Thank you so much for this beautiful video !
I just subscribed !