CWotW – Polonaise
“…The polonaise gown, also developed in the 1770s, effected a more far-reaching though deceptively subtle shift in the eighteenth-century silhouette. In the robe à la polonaise (1976.146a,b; 1970.87), the waist remained small and pointed into very full skirts. The fullness of the polonaise gown was achieved through the voluminous drapery of fabric, most often via rings sewn on the underside of the skirt which were drawn up with cording to create puffs at the back and side of the dress. The puffs of fabric rested on full petticoats to create the still expansive base of the silhouette; its real shift was one of weight, giving as it did an overall lighter impression of the body within.” ~ Source: Eighteenth-Century Silhouette and Support | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art more…
