Mantua clothing

This gown was worn over a pair of stays corset and an often contrasting petticoat, mantua clothing. The draping and folding of fabric created a front-opening gown.

Mantua of damask silk with woven garlands and floral motifs. Courtesy GemeenteMuseum Den Haag. Introduced in Europe in the s, the mantua was in origin a loose coat for women, with a kimono-like cut. It was inspired by the clothes and robes recently imported from India, that were worn by Western men as dressing gowns. Court dress consisting of an embroidered silk mantua robe and petticoat, probably made in England,

Mantua clothing

Global Arts, Cultures and Design 7 min read. This extravagant, highly impractical gown would have been worn at royal occasions. Putting it on and moving in it took skill and practice! Museum reference K. Did you know? For court wear in the early 18th century, women wore the open-fronted mantua, with a train and matching petticoat. To give the figure the required shape, stays an 18th century precursor to the corset and hooped petticoat, or panniers, were worn underneath. Above: Woman's stays made from linen and stiffening. Lengths of cane have been sewn into the interior with rows of vertical stitches. The reverse of the stays can be adjusted with a length of linen interlaced through eyelets at the centre back opening. English, c. The wide skirts of the mantua reflect the contemporary fashion, but their extreme exaggeration is purely a court affectation. In Britain the shape remained largely the same for many years, with only minimal changes in the formation of the train, or the fashionable pattern of the silk. It is rare for mantuas to survive in such excellent condition and the museum is particularly lucky to know the family this belonged to.

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A mantua from the French manteuil or 'mantle' is an article of women's clothing worn in the late 17th century and 18th century. Initially a loose gown , the later mantua was an overgown or robe typically worn over stays , stomacher and either a co-ordinating or contrasting petticoat. The mantua or manteau was a new fashion that arose in the s. Instead of a bodice and skirt cut separately, the mantua hung from the shoulders to the floor like dresses of earlier periods. It started as the female version of the men's banyan , worn for "undress" wear.

During the 17th century, milliners and mantua makers were increasingly recognized as important fashion professionals. Milliners make hats and other accessories for women, and mantua makers made dresses. And increasingly, these professions were dominated by women in England. These craftwomen were often given titles that made clear that work was specifically for women, but it gave them an opportunity to break into the professional trade world in Early Modern England. Tailors had dominated the sewing professions prior to the 17th century, even though most sewing in the home was done by women. Tailors were overwhelmingly men, and they often excluded women from guilds the trade groups that controlled each craft. But increasingly, tailors were allowing women to apprentice in their shops, especially if they wanted to focus on making clothing and accessories for women. And during this time period, over women were admitted to the guild. Also, women who could afford to have dresses made for them would sometimes feel more comfortable with a woman mantua maker, considering the measurements that were needed for a bespoke dress! Milliners made and sold a wide variety of hats and accessories.

Mantua clothing

Quilting for comfort, hemmed in bondage, seaming for profit or embroidered for enjoyment; hand sewing has stitched together humanity. Rooted in an 18th-century English and American hand-sewing practice - Sewn Company inspire people to reconnect to the past with a needle and thread. In Sarah Woodyard's upcoming Hand-Sewn 18th-century Seaming Techniques workshop, she draws on the skills of anonymous mantua-makers and seamstresses and celebrates their labour through the preservation of their skills. A seamstress was a woman who cut and stitched linens like shirts and shifts. It also could mean a skilled stitcher to assist in the remaking of secondhand clothing or a woman brought in by mantua-makers and milliners to stitch garments together. In the 18th and 19th-century Atlantic world, a mantua-maker was often a woman who cut and fit outer garments for women, but not exclusively. Think of her like a modern dressmaker. A mantua-maker fit these garments around their customers' figure, relying on the silhouette created by stays, jumps and other support garments like hoops and bums. Sometimes the shapes of the garments were cut directly around the customer and sometimes the shapes were drafted on the worktable and then fitted on the body.

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Women's History Review. The Georgian Costume Company. One of the earliest extant examples of this, dated to —, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum 's collections. Date: ca. They sometimes worked alongside tailor family members and some were fined for doing so and widows were permitted to carry on the businesses of their deceased husbands. Article Talk. The hooped petticoat would have been arranged on the floor with the outer skirts over it for the lady to step into; both were then pulled up and tied at the waist. The layers of clothing were heavy and cumbersome and women had to take the time and trouble to practice the decorum of wearing the court mantua. Initially considered too informal to be worn outside private spaces by Louis XIV, by the end of the 17th century the mantua became the formal dress worn in the courts of Europe and continued to be worn in England until , when George IV suggested it should be abandoned. Did you know? The mantua-and-stomacher resulted in a high, square neckline in contrast to the broad, off-the-shoulder neckline previously in fashion. Draped and pleated woman's dress.

There is something deeply intriguing about mantuas.

You can see the process in action here:. Fashion Women's history 17th century Women's economic participation Fashion history Dresses women's fashion women's work tailors s Women's economic security Women's workforce participation Luxury fashion. Married women usually operated in workshops in the family home alongside their husbands, many of whom worked as tailors. Gradually the mantua developed into a draped and pleated dress and eventually evolved into a dress worn looped and draped up over a contrasting petticoat and a stomacher. Following the crazes of the court, its width even reached, in the most extreme cases, two meters. This piece of fabric was known as a stomacher. The Costume Institute's collection of more than 33, costumes and accessories represents five continents and seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children. Women did participate informally in these professions. Initially a loose gown , the later mantua was an overgown or robe typically worn over stays , stomacher and either a co-ordinating or contrasting petticoat. Why is the mantua special? While these gowns appear quite substantial, they were actually precariously fastened with pins to hold the stomacher in place. The mantua, made from a single length of fabric pleated to fit with a long train, was ideal for showing the designs of the new elaborately patterned silks that replaced the solid-coloured satins popular in the mid-century. From there it was folded back into a bustle shape and worn over a matching petticoat.