Robe à l'anglaise

Large eighteenth-century rooms with their high ceilings could be very cold in the winter, even when a fire was blazing on the hearth. English ladies wore quilted petticoats to fight the chill and continued the fashion out of doors during the cool days of spring. These petticoats, sewn in brightly colored silks and stains, were elaborately quilted all over in fanciful patterns, not just in front, where the overdress was drawn away. This glazed chintz day dress is a rare surviving example of the elaborate floral chintzes loved by the English in the second and third quarters of the century.