From panniers to polonaise

21 Sep

The story goes a little something like this: One day around 1730, two pleasantly plump ladies wanted to take a stroll in the Tuileries gardens. But the weather was, at least for England, sticky and warm, and for these ladies in their onerous garb, stifling hot. To avoid the inevitable thigh/fabric rub beneath their walking dresses, the ladies devised a plan. They thought of donkeys carrying baskets. Next, they envisioned themselves, their skirts flowing around them, inches above their skin. Thus, the pannier was born.

(And yes, pannier is the name for a basket slung over a beast of burden)

Worn between the 1730′s until the 1770′s, panniers spread the appearance of ladies’ hips to shocking widths. It’s hard to imagine now, but the most fashionable could not fit in many doorways without turning aside. Collapsible panniers were created to render this problem obsolete but gentlemen scoffed at the idea of widening door frames merely for ladies’ whims. They had, of course, encountered a similar caprice earlier with Marie Antoinette’s towering coiffure, the pouf. The notion of 8 feet hip widths were just another frippery to be endured.

Another casualty resulted from these large hoops in the form of tired limbs. Elbows suffered to wing from their sides and so a second invention ensued: the elbow pad, fastened near the lower waist so the arms would not waste from fatigue. This silly business thrived until the polonaise gown came into vogue in the 1770′s.

1775-1780, altered several times; rosettes and green trim are 19th century

Styled to look like a tiered cake, with rings and cording beneath the skirts, the polonaise gown imitated milkmaids who tucked up their skirts to avoid the muck. Pocket slits appeared on the open skirt, allowing a stylish lady to tuck the fabric however she fancied that day. Despite the necessity of three small panniers (at a miniumum) to achieve this style, overall the look was poufed yet streamlined, the waist nipped in with petticoats underneath.