What Is an Evening Gown?

Where does the evening gown come from?

The evening gown grew out of 19th-century fashion: Jane E. Hegland, in the Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, writes that dress historians agree evening dress became a separate category in the mid-1820s. She notes that dresses of the 1820s were identified in fashion magazines by activity or time of day, with labels such as “evening dress” or “ball dress”.

The word itself is much older. “Gown” entered English around 1300 from Old French goune, a robe or coat, which is related to Late Latin gunna, a leather garment of unknown origin. In the 18th century “gown” was the everyday word for what is now called a dress. The Online Etymology Dictionary says the word was revived somewhat in the 20th century in fashion terms and compounds such as “bridal gown”.

How the evening gown changed

• 1820–1899: low or off-the-shoulder necklines, short sleeves, gauze and satin, and skirts heavy with artificial flowers, ribbons, rosettes and lace. Trains were often attached to full-length skirts in the bustle period and the 1890s.
• 1900–1945: evening dress followed day dress until the 1930s, when it split away and stayed floor-length while day hems moved between mid-calf and ankle. Fabrics were pliant chiffons and satins, velvets and taffetas.
• The 1930s bias cut: cloth cut at 45 degrees to the weave skims the body. The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) notes that Madeleine Vionnet began using the bias cut in the 1920s, and highlights satin evening dresses of the decade with low backs, such as a silvery Vionnet dress of 1932.
• Late 1940s to early 1960s: in the years of the New Look, evening dress generally paired a strapless bodice with a full skirt, and floor-length skirts were not unusual. Hegland calls this the last single, identifiable evening fashion.
• 1960s onwards: mini-length straight dresses in metallic or boldly patterned cloth appeared, then evening dresses returned to floor length by the late 1960s. Short, strapless gowns came back again by the mid-1990s.

Writing in 2005, Hegland says evening dress is limited to formal or semi-formal events such as balls, proms, galas, pageants and awards ceremonies.

What makes an evening gown an evening gown?

An evening gown is defined by the occasion it is made for, not by one cut: Hegland describes evening dress as the style fashion prescribes for the evening, and in general it has a low neckline, a tightly fitted bodice, bared arms and an elaborately designed skirt.

Length is mostly a dress-code question. The British etiquette guide Debrett's requires full-length formal evening dresses at white tie and says shorter dresses or trousers are not acceptable there, however smart. At black tie it says long, or at least not very short, is usually best. Not every evening dress is long, though: FIT’s museum holds a Balmain dress of about 1948 catalogued as a short evening dress.

A ball gown is a narrower case: an evening gown made for a ball. Debrett's warns that voluminous dresses are not practical at a black-tie dinner, and that very tight dresses can be uncomfortable or inappropriate at an event with a reception and a sit-down dinner.

What are the main types of evening gown?

The main types of evening gown follow the silhouettes of their periods, and most still appear today.

How do you tell a well-made evening gown?

A well-made evening gown holds its shape from the inside, hangs true on the grain and hides its stitching, and you can check all three in a fitting room.

Look inside the bodice

Much of a structured gown’s shape can come from inside. FIT’s Balmain dress of about 1948 owes its moulded hourglass shape to a boned net corset inside the dress and a stiffened nylon petticoat beneath it. Turn a strapless or close-fitted gown inside out and run your fingers along the bodice seams for boning channels or an inner corset. If you find neither, ask how the bodice is meant to stay in place.

Check the cloth and the grain

• Read the fibre label. Debrett's names silk, crepe and chiffon as fabrics suited to evening.
• On a straight-cut gown the lengthwise grain should hang perpendicular to the floor, matching on the left and right halves. On a bias-cut gown the grain runs diagonally by design.
• Napped cloth such as velvet should run in one direction throughout. Look at every panel in the same light: the shade should match from panel to panel.
• Stripes, checks and prints should meet at the seams.

Read the seams, hem and lining

• Seams and darts are pressed flat on the stitching line, with no bubbles; darts taper to a point without puckering.
• On a hand-finished hem, the stitches are evenly spaced, secure, do not draw the cloth and are invisible from the outside. Check the right side of the hem under a strong light.
• The lining fits smoothly inside, with a little extra for movement, such as a vertical pleat at the back.
• The zip slides without catching and the placket lies flat when closed. Hooks and other fastenings line up and are reinforced on the wrong side.

Check the fit

Wrinkles that pull and draw mean too little ease; wrinkles that fall in loose folds mean too much. Stand, sit and lift your arms, then check the bodice and hips.

Red flags

• Puckered seams or darts that end in a bubble
• Hem stitches visible from the right side, or a hem that ripples
• A strapless bodice with no boning or inner corset you can feel

How do you wear an evening gown?

Wear an evening gown to match the dress code on the invitation: full length at white tie, and long or at least not very short at black tie.

At white tie

• Showing décolletage is traditional, but Debrett's says it is not essential.
• This is the occasion for the finest jewellery, including tiaras. Debrett's adds that young girls should never wear tiaras.
• Long evening gloves are traditional at white-tie balls and dinners. Take them off to eat, even a canapé. With long sleeves, go without gloves rather than wear short ones.
• Carry a small, elegant evening bag, and wear an evening coat: Debrett's says daytime coats look out of place.

At black tie

• Avoid voluminous skirts at a dinner. At an event with a reception and a sit-down dinner, Debrett's says very tight “red-carpet” dresses or a dramatic split can be uncomfortable or inappropriate.
• Choose evening fabrics such as silk, crepe or chiffon. The gown need not be black.
• Fine or costume jewellery suits black tie; tiaras do not.
• Wear black or sheer tights, carry an elegant evening bag and, ideally, an evening coat.

How do you care for an evening gown?

Clean an evening gown as its care label says, and store it so that its own weight cannot pull it out of shape.

The Canadian Conservation Institute’s advice on storing costumes in museum collections can be applied at home:

• Store fragile or heavily decorated gowns flat rather than hanging them.
• Do not hang knits or bias-cut garments.
• Give a heavy gown extra support from the waist: two cotton tapes, 1.5–2 cm wide, attached inside the waist and looped over the hanger hook.
• Do not use a lightweight wire hanger. Pad the hanger with batting so the weight spreads across the shoulders.
• Cover the gown in prewashed cotton; a closed cover suits floor-length clothes. Remove pins first, and pad sleeves with acid-free tissue.