This French silk is possibly cut in the form of a ceremonial or ecclesiastical garment, with additional panels joined to the width of the fabric to provide flare to the lower half. Dating to the early 1770s, the meandering bands of flowers and fussy pattern characterising rococo design are overlaid with rigid vertical stripes of simpler, more controlled pattern that typified the neo-classical taste dominating the later decades of the century. As with other ornate silks, its colours and weaves have been expertly chosen to catch and reflect light.