Robe à la française

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In a rare example of a full eighteenth-century dress in quilting, the proficiency of the silk to contain body heat is transferred from the more familiar elements of separate jackets and petticoats for winter. In this instance and a related quilted outfit in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the density of quilting mitigates the sleek lines of mid-eighteenth century. With some uncertainties in its state of preservation, this ensemble combined at-home coziness and social grace despite the added bulk.

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