Robe a la Polonaise
It is a fitted back gown that is looped up to create poofs in the back. It started to become popular around the 1770's and later....
Norah Waugh states in Cut of Women's Clothes on pg 73 that the robe à l'anglaise was often equipped with tapes to draw up the skirt, and on the topic of the polonaise says:
Though this term is often applied to any eighteenth-century dress with back drapery, it belongs, strictly speaking, to an over dress that appeared c. 1775. This was cut like the man's coat of the same period, with centre back and two far-back side seams all terminating in inverted pleats, the front being in one piece with an underarm dart. It was caught to the top of the bodice centre front ...
There is a distinct difference that defines the style of Polonaise as opposed to the verb: to polonaise.
V. Polonaise:
The open skirt of a Robe a l'Anglaise could be poofed up by tucking the front corners through the pocket slits (also known as "retroussé dans les poches"), or, later, by means of tapes and loops sewn into the skirt.” It was a trickle up of fashion from the lower class shepherdess and milk maids who would ruck up their skirts to avoid getting them dirty.
N. Polonaise:
Its a popular style in the 1770s and 80s defined by the separate outer front which drapes away from the body. The back is also cut similar to a mans jacket with inverted pleats. It can be a short jacket with no polonaising down to a longer gown, with polonaising.
Contrasting and self trimming was evident, as well as silk gauze pleated along the edge of the gown and a large gathered flounce on the petticoat. Stripes also became popular with this style.
Now that we are done with the boring explanations, I choose to do the Polonaise Jacket from Norah Waugh's The Cut of Women's Clothes, Diagram XXI
I have since finished it and added the box pleated trimming....but here are some pics of before the trimming. I've also added a piece of boning down the center front to keep the line straight so it doesn't buckle.
Cheers,
Kate
