Dress (Mantua) with Train, anonymous, c. 1750 - c. 1760
On her wedding day in 1759 Helena Slicher wore this gown with a skirt no less than two-metres wide! The skirt is supported by large panniers, side hoops around the hips. Unusually, this dress combines two different types of court dress. The bodice with a ‘tail’ follows the English court dress, a mantua, while the loose train was popular primarily on the Continent.