What was an 18th century "Night gown"? Throughout much of the 18th century in England and its American colonies*, the term "night gown" or more often just "gown" described a garment whose bodice back House of Worth Evening dress French The Metropolitan Museum of Art The 1810s were not entirely about white, as this evening dress surely attests. Far from it. Color was still a major player. This surviving evening ensemble is possibly one that was meant Robe l'anglaise Unknown maker, About 1787. Silk satin, silk gauze, lace Mainland Europe or Britain. The English style of gown was more informal than the French. Worn with narrow paniers (hoops),