1700 Costume and Makeup

Origin 

Costume & Makeup 

The societal dictates of morality and prudery dictated what ought to be proper body coverings at bedtime, when arising, and for lounging around at home. During the Victorian Period (1837-1901), the guardians of morality criticized fashion trends that accentuated womanly attributes as they believed that the shape of the female body should be obliterated at all times by layers of wrapping to protect the mind from dwelling upon corporal characteristics (Kent, 1999, p. 177-191). Willett & Cunnington (1992) mention that between 1841 and 1856, the notion that a nightdress should be made attractive by trimmings of lace, for instance, did not sit well with the elders who viewed such extravagances in young women as a sign of depravity that went against the highest principles of prudery in the English lady (p. 151).

Different customs have been associated with nightclothes. Nightcaps, for example, were deemed to be assets as they were mentioned occasionally in wills. Willett & Cunnington (1992) remarked that in 1577, John Corbett left to his father “my beste velvet nighte cappe” and, Saffron Walden bequeathed in his will a “night cappe of black velvet embroidered” (p. 43). These authors also impart that in the 1600s and 1700s a custom was for a bride and bride-groom to give each other their wedding nightclothes (p. 61). An enduring custom has been to wear black mourning clothes as an expression of respect for a deceased. In the Thomas Verney Memoirs, dated 1651, Willett & Cunnington noted that this gentleman’s wardrobe included mourning nightwear such as “Two black taffety nightclothes with black night capps” (p. 61).

Originally, women’s linen nightdresses were simple, loosely cut and minimally trimmed. Willett & Cunnington (1992) describe a linen nightdress, dated 1825, that is on display in the Gallery of English Costume at Platt Hall as being rather plain and unshaped with a falling collar and sleeves that are gathered into a cuff and fastened by a hand-made button (p. 134). From the mid-1800s onward, female nightgowns would be transformed into more intricate, alluring, ornate, and colorful garments.