Recycled Fashion

The lure of China and the Orient proved a potent force during the eighteenth century with "chinoiserie" influencing many aspects of the decorative arts. Chinese export porcelain was imported in vast quantities and its style was copied by European manufacturers; interiors and furniture also looked to chinese patterns, as seen in Chippendale's designs. Hand painted papers for walls and silks for dresses were also skillfully produced in China and eagerly purchased in England. Indeed, Chinese embroidered and painted fabrics and papers, and their inspired motifs have become perenniel favourites, recycled from this date until modern times.

This trained open robe is made from a silk which was painted as a length in China, exported to Britain, and then constructed into a dress and fitted to a client by a mantua-maker here. It has also been remade subsequently several times to keep it in fashion, beginning probably in the 1760s and ending up around the 1790s, although, if we are to believe family tradition, it was also worn as a wedding dress as late as 1806.

Full item descriptions:

"dress" [1952.365/2]

Related Themes:

18th Century Women's Fashion