antique french monogrammed peasant smock

an antique french peasant smock, the long white workshirt-and-chemise style worn across rural france around the turn of the last century. it has a stand collar, a short bib placket closed with mother-of-pearl buttons and hand-worked buttonholes, soft gathering at the back yoke, buttoned cuffs, a patch pocket, and side slits for ease. a small red cross-stitched "w" sits at the hem, the kind of monogram a household once stitched to mark its linens in a trousseau. smocks like this were sewn at home or by a village seamstress from hardwearing linen or cotton and washed soft over decades, which is why they wear so beautifully now as an oversized overshirt or smock dress. the mother-of-pearl buttons and the mix of hand and machine sewing place it in the antique era, before modern sizing and care labels.

please note: a genuine antique, with the soft toning and the occasional faint mark of a long, well-loved life. the red "w" monogram is original to the piece.

details

• era: antique | pre-1920s
• designer: unbranded
• origin: france
• design: long peasant smock with a stand collar, short bib placket closed with mother-of-pearl buttons and hand-worked buttonholes, soft gathering into the back yoke, long sleeves with buttoned cuffs, a patch pocket, side slits, and a shirttail hem. small red cross-stitched 'w' monogram at the hem. mix of hand and machine sewing. materials and percentages: no content tag present. reads as a lightweight linen or fine cotton by weave and hand, in line with comparable antique french smocks.
• condition: very good: clean and bright for its age, with soft antique toning and the odd faint mark from long use, none of it detracting. mother-of-pearl buttons intact, hand-worked buttonholes sound. the red 'w' hem monogram is original. an unpressed, lived-in antique.
• size & fit: oversized, wears as a generous one-size. best on a modern us medium through extra-large worn loose, or on anyone wanting an oversized smock-dress or overshirt drape. go by the flat measurements.
• flat measurements: bust 23 in flat, length 34 in, sleeve 24 in, dropped shoulder