The Robe de style describes a style of dress popular in the 1920s

1920s in fashion

The 1920s is the decade in which fashion entered the modern era. It was the decade in which women first liberated themselves from constricting fashions and began to wear more comfortable clothes . Men likewise abandoned overly formal clothes and began to wear sport clothes for the first time...

 as an alternative to the straight-cut chemise dress.

The style was characterised by its full skirts. The bodice could be fitted, or straight-cut in the chemise manner, with a dropped waist

Waistline

Waistline refers to:*the waist on a human body — the narrow point of the abdomen between the ribcage and hipsor*Waistline — the line of demarcation between the upper and lower portions of a garment, which notionally corresponds to the natural waist but may vary with fashion from just...

, but it was the full skirt that denoted the robe de style. Sometimes the fullness was supported with petticoats, panniers, or hoops.

The robe de style was a signature design of the couturier Jeanne Lanvin

Jeanne Lanvin

Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was a French fashion designer and the founder of the Lanvin fashion house.One of the most influential designers of the 1920s and '30s, Jeanne Lanvin's skillful use of intricate trimmings, virtuoso embroideries and beaded decorations in clear, light, floral colors became a...

.. Other couture houses known for their versions of the robe de style included Callot Soeurs

Callot Soeurs

Callot Soeurs was a fashion design house opened in 1895 at 24, rue Taitbout in Paris, France. It was operated by the four Callot sisters: Marie Callot Gerber, Marthe Callot Bertrand, Regina Callot Tennyson-Chantrell and Joséphine Callot Crimont. The eldest sister, Marie, was trained in dressmaking...

 and Lucile

Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon

Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon was a leading fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known as "Lucile", her professional name. The first British designer to achieve international renown, Lucile was a widely-acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion...

.

External links

• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haut/ho_C.I.56.49.9.htm
• http://collections.vam.ac.uk/objectid/O15643