Comments on: The Tea Gown

By: Evangeline Holland

Evangeline Holland — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:56:35 +0000

Hi Tony, yes indeed tea gowns were worn for casual gatherings with friends, but the general aura around the item of clothing was one of seduction. After all, before its invention, women of the 19th century did not wear such relaxing, available clothing in informal settings.

By: tony

tony — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:18:19 +0000

there is a lot of reference to tea gowns in Proust, which is what led me to this site. Proust was a careful observers of custom, and especially of liaisons, adulterous, seductive and otherwise. in Proust tea gowns seem to be worn at home and in the early evening. They are not exclusively associated with entertaining one’s lover; they are often worn when the hostess is recieving her women friends.

By: Kaffeeklatsch » Afternoon Tea: Bloß nicht falsch umrühren

Kaffeeklatsch » Afternoon Tea: Bloß nicht falsch umrühren — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:51:43 +0000

[...] nur weiblichen Gästen – zumindest in der Theorie. In der Praxis soll die legere Kleidung manchen Quellen zufolge auch gern als Vorwand genutzt worden sein, den Ehemann zwischen 16 und 17 Uhr von zu Hause fern zu [...]

By: Marie-Christine

Marie-Christine — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:43:04 +0000

Y’all are confusing the French ‘Five o’clock’, which is when you have British-style tea and gossip with your girlfriends, and ‘le 5 a 7′ which is when you meet with your lover, who’s pleaded fatigue at the office for an early departure, and who’ll plead overwork at home when s/he gets there a bit late. Both are mercifully mostly historical artefacts, not common these days.

But fraise is misguided if she doesn’t know cheating people in contemporary France. The difference with the US is that it is regarded as bad form, and these days frequently leads to divorce, so people are discreet. Much more discreet than Americans can ever imagine. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

Oh, and I could well believe Alice B making fun of French prononciation, which is still pretty atrocious, she probably did know someone saying feef o’cloque. But Fif wasn’t ever in general use.

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:55:36 +0000

fraise: are you sure it isn't a colloquial way of expressing that time? Anglomania was pretty rife in aristocratic Paris, and the author of my main source (Cornelia Otis Skinner) was an expert on 1890s/1900s Parisian society. "Le Fif O'Clock" is used by Alice B. Toklas in her cookbook.

By: fraise

fraise — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:40:34 +0000

I’m a professional French-English translator, have lived in France for ten years now, and have never heard of “le fif o’clock”. I realize Wikipedia isn’t a great reference, but it does confirm my own experience, which is that “le cinq à sept” is the common expression here. (Side note: just because the expression is common does not mean the practice is. In all my years here, I still don’t know a single couple that’s turned out to have a cheating partner, and I know hundreds of French people. Nor is cheating looked upon with any favor, despite what many reporters like to insinuate — it’s regarded much the same as anywhere else in the world: badly.)

Beyond that, it strikes me as very odd that it would be “fif”. “Five” is a numeral I’ve never heard mispronounced — the French get the “i” sound just right and the “v” too. Methinks your reference books are all quoting a single, unreliable source without necessarily realizing it…

By: Kaleberg

Kaleberg — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 23:22:47 +0000

Wasn’t the old joke:

“It’s a tea dress. She wears it to teas.”

“To tease whom?”

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:55:43 +0000

According to books I've used as reference, the phrase was directly culled from the English, so they said "Le fif o'clock" or "Le fif o'clock Anglais". I'll look into "cinq à sept."

By: Theremina

Theremina — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:41:26 +0000

The French would actually call these afternoon love-making a “cinq à sept”, because it would take place at this time, the tea being served at five o’clock.

By: Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Elizabeth Kerri Mahon — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:10:52 +0000

Thanks for the great post on tea gowns. I have 3 of my characters wear elaborate tea gowns to afternoon tea at college in 1895, even though they weren’t really required. Loved the visual!