Tea Gown Great Britain, c. 1887-89 Museum Purchase 2007.5.22 This tea gown is heavily influenced by the Aesthetic movement, which flourished in Britain during the 1870s. Aesthetists rejected modern society with its cheap, mass-produced goods and artificial standards of beauty. Instead, they advocated a return to the refined, natural designs of classical antiquity or medieval Europe. Adher
Tea Gown Great Britain, c. 1887-89 Museum Purchase 2007.5.22  This tea gown is heavily influenced by the Aesthetic movement, which flourished in Britain during the 1870s. Aesthetes rejected modern society with its cheap, mass-produced goods and artificial standards of beauty. Instead, they advocated a return to the refined, natural designs of classical antiquity or medieval Europe. Adherents of the Aesthetic movement desired reform in architecture and interior design as well as in dress.