1780s Robe a l'Anglaise - 2 Dresses

Here we have two different Robe a l'Anglaise from the 1780s, roughly. One has the elbow length sleeves and the flounces of the earlier period, and the other has the tight fitting long sleeves that became fashionable at the end of the decade.

Pattern: JP Ryan for both, though I altered the pattern to make the long sleeve on the green dress.

Linen print, down with round gown style back,
pleats stitched down

Faux silk with embroidery. Plain style back.

First, the Linen Print Dress. For this one, I chose not to make a full underskirt, but rather an "apron". I learned that this was a style sometimes utilized by the less wealthy. Rather than waste fine fabric creating a whole petticoat (the back of which no one would see under the dress anyway) they would just make a wide apron of the fine fabric, the sides of which would be hidden under the dress.

Now, the faux silk dress. I went with a color combination that is, strictly speaking, not very historically accurate. However, the burnt orange silk perfectly matches the flowers in the pattern on the green faux silk, so I could not resist. Also, I didn't have enough of the green fabric to make a petticoat anyway.