> This pink dress reminded me... a friend is making a Regency 
> style gown, for a party so it doesn't have to be particularly 
> authentic, but neither of us can work out - how/where do they 
> fasten?  Some have buttons down the centre back, but most 
> don't seem to have any visible opening. 
> Please, somebody, give us a clue?

To add a bit to what Bjarne said, some of the early round gowns are only tied 
(apparently with no front back or side opening, just draw strings all the way 
around for waist and neck). The Kyoto Institute's new (ish) book _Fashion_ has 
a gown in this style. There are some that have drawstrings with a back opening 
(frequently with one button at the waist) as well as the drawstrings. Nancy 
Bradford shows a number of those.

Janet Arnold shows at least one gown (and I think more) that are bib front 
gowns; they tend to be a multi-layered bodice in the front with the lining 
being pinned center front and the bib being pinned or buttoned to the shoulder 
area of the neck line -- it's kind of like an apron bib front being pinned up 
rather then tied. Here's my attempt at ASCII drawing: the vertical lines in the 
center are supposed to represent the two sides pinned together  

)|              |(
  ----------
|       |        |
|       |        |
 ------------
 \               \
  \               \
   ------------

This is a nice dress diary for a bib front dress, that should help show what 
I'm trying to describe. http://www.koshka-the-cat.com/drop_front.html

Hope this helps!
        -sunny

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