The dress displayed is a replica of a so-called sack-back gown or robe à la française, one of the more comfortable women’s dresses of the 18th century. In the portraits of ladies of the nobility, these women often pose in great, stiff gowns cinched with corsets and with skirts so wide that their bearers had to edge through doorways.
But in daily life, in less formal settings and while travelling, this more comfortable gown made from cotton or wool was popular among the women of the elite. This gown is a replica of one that belonged to the Countess Charlotte Louise, which we know about thanks to tailor’s bills from Gammel Estrup.