Panniers

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gowns in the eighteenth century were supported by rounded side hoops of different extension and depth. In this example the wider dress would be narrower in profile. A woman so garbed had to pass through a doorway sideways.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art