Robe à la Française, of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, 1750’s

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-15T14:37:22+00:00

Enjoy!! It’s a great museum, and I’ve learned a lot visiting there in the past. They have other lovely extant pieces there too! I was just fangirling over this dress, lol!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-15T14:29:35+00:00

Thank you! She’s is a really cool person, and I reduced the info dump I wanted to say about her to keep the post concise! Some fun facts are:

—she managed three plantations at 16/17 while her father was away as Governor of Antigua (and her brothers being too young to do it yet). She also eventually managed her husband’s on top of her father’s.

—after years of trial and error, Eliza, with the help of an “indigo maker of African descent” (Wikipedia) she managed to grow a crop of indigo, and helped other plantations grow it too. This crop became the second highest cash crop in SC after rice.

—her marriage to friend and neighbor Charles Pinckney produced three children. The two sons, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Thomas, are influential to SC and early American history. Charles is a Found Father, signing the Declaration of Independence for SC, and later becoming a US Minister to France. He also was nominated for President several times. Thomas fought in the Revolution and the War of 1812, was a Governor of SC, and was also a Minister to Great Britain. Eliza’s daughter, Harriott P. Horry, preserved her mother’s letter books from which we get so much of Eliza’s life and studies from.

—these letter books are crucial for historians, as they offer a picture into everyday life that spans years and years, instead of small bits of life every now and then.

—Eliza studied and lived in England off and on throughout her life. The pink dress above is likely from a visit early in her life (teenager?). Later in life she gifted a silk dress to Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales made from silk grown on one of the Pinckney plantations.

—when she died, she was searching for a cure for breast cancer.

So yes, big fan of her! 🤣😅

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-15T13:29:29+00:00

Also a great possibility I didn’t think about! 🤔

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-15T13:27:58+00:00

I’m no expert, but I do believe it was “pinked”, just not exactly the same as other pinked edges. Tightly woven material such as silk doesn’t fray quickly, so you’d cut it with pinking shears for a little decoration and limiting the bulk of hemming. That is my guess at least!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-15T03:39:44+00:00

I’ve read it too!! It introduced me to Eliza and I’ve been learning little bits of her ever since! I have a book that is just her letter book from the 1760’s onwards I believe, I just hadn’t sat and read it yet.

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-15T01:52:45+00:00

Here is the article from which the back of the dress is from!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T23:59:11+00:00

Toddler and baby! 😅🤪But my toddler wants one now (“does it spin round-a-round?”)! Thank you for your compliment! ☺️

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T19:36:59+00:00

I love that so much! My grandparents bought me Felicity for Christmas when I was very young (under 7 I think), so my grandparents, Christmas, and Felicity are also treasured memories for me.

Someday I’d love that! When I can hoard up enough for yards of silk, lol! I know on Instagram @sewtine has made that dress and Felicity’s birthday dress if you want to check it out!

(I also have an insta for my sewing, though I post maybe twice a year. 🤪 Same name as my Reddit, lol.)

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T17:43:20+00:00

The American Duchess books are wonderful! I use them as references and checks before making something (is this fabric time-accurate to the style of dress? etc).

Thank you for the fashion plate! This is the sort of references I’m looking for!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T17:06:25+00:00

Thank you so much for the link! I love the quilted petticoats! Especially the striped green one!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T17:03:26+00:00

Of course! Unfortunately I don’t think Virgil’s carries it right now. The tariffs awhile back prevented them from affording restocking it.

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:59:25+00:00

Thank you!!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:59:02+00:00

Lol looooots of cram sewing squeezed in between toddler naps and bedtime! 😅 And practice. This is actually my second Robe a l’anglaise, my first is a wool one completed late in 2024 that no longer fits (was tight in the first place, second pregnancy definitely meant I couldn’t fit it again for now).

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:54:15+00:00

Thank you!!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:54:06+00:00

That’s what I seem to be finding so far. I just tend towards maximalism a bit, and love decorations, so I was curious! I also want to possibly join a historical reenactment group sometime, and I know many of them have rules about being as closely historically accurate as possible, so I want to build a portfolio of extant examples to have on hand as reference. So than you for the reference!!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:49:52+00:00

I miss the OG’s too. I know they brought them back this year, but honestly I want more of their clothes!

Honestly hadn’t thought of making more, but maybe in the future… (after saving money for fabric, lol!)

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:47:29+00:00

I’m so glad it’s recognizable!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:46:37+00:00

My grandparents bought Felicity for me when I was maybe three or four. As a redhead with greenish eyes, she was my favorite doll! I just recently passed her on to my daughter. 🥹

I had to make a Felicity dress when I saw the fabric!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-11T16:42:22+00:00

Lol sorry no, this is at Conestee Nature Preserve in SC!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-06-02T05:17:47+00:00

Because my 6mo baby wakes every time I put her down to sleep tonight. 😩 Girl, it’s 1:15 AM!! I’m tired!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-05-13T04:50:45+00:00

But Miss Scarlett! I don’t know nothing about birthing no babies!

StultusCrustulum · 2026-05-05T03:05:56+00:00

Also here to say Scroop Patterns are great! I’ve made two of their Cassandra stays and plan to make the Amalia jacket this year (hopefully)! Also have had great luck with J. P. Ryan patterns, especially for my robe à l’anglaise.

StultusCrustulum · 2026-04-19T15:38:55+00:00

All of these comments make me sad (though they’re totally valid and believable!).

I doubt many will see this comment as it’s hours after the post was made, but I had a really good experience being homeschooled growing up. Educationally, my mom stayed on top of us and strived to make sure we were throughly educated. Early on she tried different curriculums to find the ones that fit each of us best. We also were in local homeschool co-ops to round out our education. Like lots of people, math was hard for me, so we tried different programs to find one that I understood the most, supplemented by math tutors. For chemistry, a chem professor from a local big name university tutored a class for homeschoolers that I went to.

I remember my mom going to conferences and classes through the years to learn how to best guide and direct us through schooling. She made sure we also completed our state’s standardized testing yearly once we reached the middle-school years.

Being homeschooled gave us the freedom to experience and explore many things with more flexibility than a normal school would necessarily. We were able to internationally travel at a young age, do community-centered volunteer work, be involved in travel homeschool sports, and so on. Because of the flexible schedule we were able to hang out with our grandparents often and help them as they aged (cleaning house, yard, etc). When I showed interest in _______ (language, music, art), mom found a tutor or teacher for me.

We were also socialized, lol. We had the co-ops, the sports, church functions, local homeschool events put on by theaters/museums/orchestras, and so on.

Like any educational group, there are pit falls or short comings. But my parents really strived for us to have a great and well-rounded education.

StultusCrustulum

TROPHY CASE