Sacque-spiration – Robes a la Francaise to Admire

Hi! We are currently stitching along on our most complex book project, the 1760s sacque. While we can’t show you the whole big crazy thing quite yet, we’d like to share with you our references.

Mrs. Cadoux c. 1770, The Tate, N03728
Portrait of a Lady, Francis Cotes, 1768 The Tate (Art UK)

Those of you following on Instagram and Facebook may already know that our sacque is ivory and pink, like the two paintings above. We’ve somewhat blended these two together to create a massively-trimmed confection, and will include tutorials for pinking, gathering, and puffing in the book.

A few more references, for good measure:

Gown, c. 1760, British, The Met, 11.60.232ab
Mary, Lady Cunliffe by Francis Cotes, Walker Art Gallery, 1768. WAG 1514
Princess Louisa and Princess Caroline by Francis Cotes, 1767. Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 404334
Miss Susanna Gale by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1763-64. National Gallery of Victoria, 158-4

We are nearly done with the sacque, then it’s all the fun millinery to go with it. Quite the undertaking, but worth the fuss!

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