Wedding court dress from the 18th century
Wedding gown of Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, Queen of Sweden. In this dress, she married Crown Prince Gustav (later Gustav III of Sweden) in 1766.
The style of this wedding dress is the so-called “Robe de Cour”, meaning “court dress”, and it's sewn according to current French fashion of the time. The origin of the costume has long been unknown, but it's thought that the costume was sewn in Copenhagen with fabric purchased in Hamburg. The bone bodice has an extremely tapered waist.
The fabric is a silver brocade, patterned with flowers and leaves. The sleeves are removable, made of several layers of thin patterned gauze called “engageantes”, meaning “false sleeves”.
The rigid bodice is heavily boned and fastened at the center back with lacing through 13 hand-worked eyelets on either side.
