Gown

Cotton, either plain white or printed with brightly coloured patterns, had displaced silk as the most fashionable fabric for dresses at the end of the eighteenth century. Manufacturers in Europe emulated hand-painted cottons imported from India, and developed new technology which increased productivity and made printed cotton more affordable. English printed cotton dominated the markets of Europe and North America. Three blue threads woven in both selvedges were required by statute to distinguish English cottons from those of foreign manufacture, which were subject to a higher level of tax between 1774 and 1811.

Multi-coloured prints were time-consuming to produce, and more expensive than single colour designs, because a different carved wooden block was needed for each colour. This design shows some of the many shades possible to achieve with madder dye and different mordants - black, dark red, pink and lilac. This example shows extensive hand 'pencilling' of blue and yellow, together creating green. This work was generally done by women and girls.

Botanical prints were very popular. This example, with vertical floral trails between stripes imitating chine printed silks, emphasises the increasingly slender silhouette of womens' dresses of the 1790s. The construction of the dress, which has a relatively high waistline, also indicates the transition towards the Empire line of about 1800. The dress would have been worn with a petticoat, possibly in a matching cotton, or plain cotton or silk.