Hereford Resource and Learning Centre - Gowns

On Thursday I arranged a visit to Hereford Museum and Resource Centre to look at garments with cartridge pleating so that I could look in detail at how they sewed the pleats and attached them together. I have worked at the centre before and know the costume collection reasonably well but had never seen any civic or clerical gowns so I was delighted to learn on arrival that they have 3 in the collection.

Mayor George Bonner 1834-1836

Robe of George Bonner 1834-1836

 This is a gown for Mayor George Bonner, who was unusually in office for 2 years from 1834-1836. His initials are embroidered into the facing on the back. The robe is very different to the Bournemouth one, not only in style as different regions have different decorations but also in the way it is made and the type of sleeves.

On the back the yoke is very small and there are short cartridge pleats (approximately 1.5cm) that run across the back leaving a section unpleated by the arm. Then the sleeve is gathered along the back and over the shoulder . I thought this was quite unusual for a tailored garment as normally you would strive to have the sleeve fit neatly into the sleeve-head without any gathering. 

Having said this in the 1820s and 1830s it was very fashionable for women to have gigot or leg of mutton sleeves and in some respects this translated into male fashion with gathering on the top of the shoulder. I wonder if this is the reason for this gathering, so as to add a bit of volume to the shoulder, mirroring the fashionable shape. 

 This portrait of Henry Stebbing circa 1830-35 shows him wearing a clerical gown. You can see that the sleeves are gathered in a very similar and it may well be that this was just how robes were made in the early part of the 18th century. 

Cartridge pleating inside George Bonner's robe.

Underneath the facing with the embroidered initials you could see the cartridge pleats. In this example they have folded over the seam allowance and used that in the pleats, possibly to make the pleats thicker. There is also a line of stitching along the bottom which are not on our samples and I would like to look into what these are as maybe it would secure the pleats better.

The sleeves on this robe were long rectangular tubes with this t shape slit that the arm comes through. The edges are bound in black velvet and all the sleeve is lined with red silk. When hanging the sleeve creates a similar shape to the sleeve on the gown we're making only without the wing. I would find it interesting to learn how these different sleeves have evolved from their medieval origins. 

Alderman William Boycott 1850-1860

Alderman William Boycott was in office for 10 years from 1850-1860 and his robe has quite a few differences to George Bonner's as well as the style we are making. This robe has a label which I think reads 'W. ..... CHARD. Tailor and Outfitter. High Town. Hereford.'

On the front the gown is cut in much the same way as the previous example. It has a thick black velvet collar  with a thick black cord sewn around the edge which has now come loose. When you turn it to the back however you can see that the black collar widens to about 40cm deep. There is a button in the middle to hold the collar down to the yoke and underneath are the cartridge pleats. 

Cartridge pleats underneath the collar. 

These cartridge pleats are about 20cm long and about 1cm to 1.5cm thick. On this example the yoke is quite small and the sleeve is set into an almost right angled opening. On the reverse, the pleats are gathered with some canvas to add fullness I think and again it has rows of stitching along, to possibly hold them in place.

Wrong side of cartridge pleats. 

Sleeves

Inside of sleeve

The sleeves are similar to before, with a T shape opening, it is interesting to see the inside of the sleeve head on this garment. They have covered most of the seams with the red silk lining and then bound the lower seams. The longer section on the right of this picture is covering the cartridge pleats that are underneath the arm.

2cm long cartridge pleats under the arm.

Neither I, or Althea, the curator, knew what these cartridge pleats were for. Maybe they are there to add more fullness to the side of the garment?

George Powell 1960-1961

This robe is my favourite of the collection, it was for George Powell who was in office from 1960-61. It is made of maroon wool with a navy blue velvet trimming around the collar and the sleeves. Of the three gowns this is the most similar to the gown in Bournemouth because it has winged sleeves with a velvet trim. The label says 'EDE SON & RAVENSCROFT' which is what Ede and Ravenscroft were called from 1902-1921 before the wife of Rosa Ede changed it 31 years after her husbands death. 

The back of this gown is quite narrow with the curve of the armhole coming in quite far. The yoke is curved and the velvet trim meets at a point on the CB. The pleats are very neat examples and are about 5cm deep, on the reverse they are covered by a lining but underneath that you can see that it is made thicker with another red wool and that possibly the yoke has canvas in it.

Inside of robe showing cartridge pleating detail.

The wings on this gown, which are lined in black silk, are very similar to our gown apart from being set further into the back of the gown. They also do not have the hanging sleeve that ours has.

Academic Gowns


I also looked at a few academic gowns that were in the collection as they were good examples of pleating on gowns and it was interesting to see how different kinds of gowns differed.

Academic gown by Ede and Ravenscroft