Description
“Manteau de lit” 1730-1770
SIZES: XS-S-M-L-XK-2XL-3XL
This style garment is always below the hip length, usually mid-thigh or longer. It should close easily a tthe center front, and is not intended to be worn open with a stomacher. Chosse your size carefully, to achieve this fit!
Bedgowns, or in French “Manteau-de-lit” (Coat of Bed), were also, according to Diderot, sometimes called “Manteau-de-nuit” (Coat of Night, or night gown). They were worn by both working class women and non-working women, and were made up in fabrics accordign to their intered use and wearers status. Diderot describes them as a “kindo f short clothing which the women wear to the bed and which they keep inteh morning in the fathois of “deshabille'” ( undress. This obviously describes those worn by the upper class, non-working woman, but there is extensive evidence of working class bedgowns, both in contemporary illustrations and paintings, and in contrmporary write, as well as surviving garments.
The surviving bedgowns are usually made of cotton or linen fabric and show wear and mending. As noted in the Documentation section of this pattern, there are variations of sleeve styles. Body styles also vary , some having pleats in teh s=center bac and sides, some having sloped sides without pleats. Necklines are similar, but vary slightly in construction and collar insertion, while some have no collar piece but a rounded cut neckline. Bedgowns show some style changes over time, with the most distinct change being narrower loner sleeves at the end of the 18th century.
