Polonaise History

This is going to be a very brief idea of what a Robe a la Polonaise is.  There's not a mass amount of reference material easily found on this type of gown and I'm certainly not going to make anything up.  However, and this is the fun part, Brooke Welborne and Kendra Van Cleave have done a lot of research on it for the last few years and should be coming out with a very in-depth article soon (squee!).

So, what I want to do here is show some fashion plates, and a couple extants, and talk about the many options you can see here.  As I mentioned previously, this gown was very popular in the 1770s and 80s. It can be full length, short jacket, or in-between.  Even though the gowns were polonaised in back, the short jackets weren't.  But, the separate and loose front still defined them both.

This is a solid silk taffeta robe trimmed with silk gauze.  As you'll see in many of the fashion plates, gauze is VERY popular.  The trimming continues all around the hem of the gown, with a deep ruffle on the petticoat.  Notice the placements of the bows is very far down compared to some of the following images.

Stripes were certainly common as well.  Notice how her polonaising is very uneven, with the fronts being much higher than the back.  She still uses gauze trim, which one the sleeves continues all the way up to the armscye!

This is one of the publicly findable extants, from the Met Museum.  It's just about the reverse of my color scheme.  The trimming is very simple, just applied.  The neckline has a collar instead of a typical open gown neck.  Most of the seams have cording sewn on.  The trimming on the long sleeves is at the top rather than elbow or bottom, it seems to be a hap-hazard puckering.  I'm assuming they have the skirt pulled up completely, and it seems to be fairly low compared to some other images.  I do love the applied "bows" at the ends of the seams.

There appears to be a tie in front, possibly to hold it together.  They've pinned the front closed further down, which gives it a very awkward puckering.  I'm assuming the bodice is missing on this extant.  It does clearly show the obvious widening of the trim as it continues down.  The full length sleeves are often found in the 1780s, rather than early on.

This fashion plate also has the cording along the seam lines, although her gown is again trimmed in gauze.  Yet another trimming option of flouncing on the petticoat.  The skirt in this case is pulled up by use of ribbon or cording, just barely visible.  Her sleeves also appear to have the random puckering.  And one must apparently have an equally grand wig to go with their gown, as all of the fashion plates show!

This is a perfect example of a short jacket.  Long sleeves were common on this style, which was more popular in the 1780s.  It also shows off a fabric option of "toile", what looks to be a cotton print at that.  The border trim would also be a really interesting challenge if you aren't the ruffly type.

The overall design isn't much different from the prints before.  The petticoat has a very deep flounce and the gauze trim on her gown appears to be stuffed.  She also has a few tassels hanging in front and back.

This is one of my favorite examples.  It's in the Colonial Williamsburg Collection.  They made a recent study of it, reproducing it three times over; once as a copy with all the defects, again by hand but adjusted to a pattern, and finally in a different size to be used by an interpreter.  It's an unusual piece with some strange stitching, but it goes to show there's no singular right way.  It's shorter than most of the gowns in the prints, the skirt is pulled up with a strip of fabric which hooks to the back.  The cuffs are made separately with very erratic tacking then stitched onto the sleeve.  There are also ties in front, but the bodice is missing and appears to have been a separate piece.

This is my favorite print for some reason.  It's a very simply trimmed jacket and the only time I've seen a contrasting petticoat.  All of the seams appear to be corded.  Make this out of a cotton dimity or cherry-derry and this would be an immensely practical summer garment.

This example is a bit unusual.  It appears to have no trim, but if you look very closely and read the description, there is a border on the petticoat and possibly on the gown of a different colored taffeta.  The back also appears to be separate from the skirt and there is an immense amount of fabric pulled up!  I can't tell if the neck ruffles are built in, but I don't see evidence of a kerchief.

This is the image I used for my trimming.  She also appears to have a ruffle around the bottom of her bodice, but I left that off.  You can clearly see a narrow gauze ruffle around the neckline on her gown as well.

She has a very interesting, almost wavy edged trim around her gown.  And the flounce is topped with an erratic puckering.  There is also a small line of trimming around a pocket slit.  I don't have a slit in mine, and the images often don't show one, but it is apparently an option.  She also appears to be wearing a bum roll rather than side hoops.

This again show the uneven polonaising, as well as a plethora of bows.

This print labels her fabric as l'Indienne, another type of cotton chintz, again with gauze trim.  The line of gathering on the trim is far off center, comparison to most of the others which use one or two lines equally spaced.  Her bodice also appears more waistcoat-like, though it doesn't distinctly show buttons.

This gown appears to made of a similar toile to the orange jacket above.  It shows just about every matching accessory one could imagine, sans a walking stick or puppy, but she is out of hands.  Perhaps a few ideas to attempt accomplishment before the upcoming Accessories Symposium in March?

And finally "The Spruce Sportsman, or Beauty the Best Shot".  This lovely jacket is not only shown with a contrasting petticoat, but a different color bodice as well.  The Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop at Colonial Williamsburg recently did a living version of this work.  You can find the making of it on their Facebook page.

Robe a la Polonaise

Up this week is my new Robe a la Polonaise.  It was started in *surprise* another workshop through Burnley & Trowbridge.  This time the lovely Brooke Welborn taught the class during one of her trips back from Cairo; she has made an intense study of Polonaise gowns, beginning with her final project of apprenticeship at Colonial Williamsburg.  I'll try to talk more about the history of the Polonaise gown in my next post, but a quick description; it was a popular style in the 1770s and 80s defined by the separate outer front which drapes away from the body.  It can be a short jacket with no polonaising down to a longer gown (such as mine).

I chose an aqua silk taffeta for the main portion (petticoat and gown always match) and a yellow taffeta for the trim.  Silk gauze for the sleeve ruffles and kerchief.  Mine is worn over side-hoops.  The fitted front bodice is pinned closed.  All of the trimming is roll-hemmed at about 1/8", gathered with a whip stitch, and stitched down.

You can see how the outside fronts fall back, folding up a little over the hips.  The bow is separate and pinned on.

The back shows the satin ribbons which hook up in back to gather up the skirt.  You can also see two pleats taken in the front piece that are stitched down to the waist.  The gown hem just barely passes the trim on the petticoat, which was intentionally done.

Laid out the gradual widening of the trim becomes more obvious.  There are three thread loops along the side back seams of the skirt to help guide the gathers up the ribbon.  The hem is rolled at about 1/4" all the way around to the neckline.

Here you can see how the outside front is only attached at the neckline, armscye, and side-back seam.  The pleats are not stitched to the fitted bodice.

I chose to insert the top of the sleeves between lining and fashion fabric.  The shoulder area is stitched folded over on the sleeve with a spaced backstitch.  About half-way down the sleeve becomes exposed and all is stitched with a regular backstitch.  This happens at the shoulder seam in back and where a seam *might* be on the front shoulder area depending on the fit.

The back is a very simple two pieces.  The side-back seam is not done how it usually is on gowns, but with a turned, non-visible backstitched seam.  The two pleats on the front are done with visible spaced back-stitching however.

I put a great deal of fullness into my skirt since I had wide fabric and wanted to!  There are two pleats under the turn back on each side of the side-back seam (2" deep) and one under the center back (1.5" deep).  The seams which run down the skirt are finished with a mantua-makers stitch.  Hooks on the ribbons and thread eyes on the bows allow the polonaising to be released.

The petticoat is bound with linen tape and has about 3/8" hem.  The ruffle reaches just below the regular hem.  *Don't make the ruffle extend far below, it may seem like it saves fabric but you'll end up destroying the ruffle quickly with shoe buckles, mud, rocks, etc.  Patching or darning a small area under the ruffle will never be seen, but you don't want to damage the ruffle itself if possible.

I know this is a garment which exists mostly in fashion plates, so if there's anything you would like more pictures of or clarification on, just ask!

You can also find a post on the co-ordinating pair of stays here.