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Queen Victoria instructed her secretary to write Princess Alexandra about her trousseau before she married the Prince of Wales: "Three or four trains and grand toilettes will . . . be sufficient." What's a "train," in this context? Is it a long undergarment such as a slip, or something else?

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    Why would it not be the train to a formal dress? Aug 31, 2019 at 1:01
  • Note that "grand toilettes", in this context, means "formal dresses", so it's reasonable to assume that "trains" are somehow associated with the dresses.
    – Hot Licks
    Aug 31, 2019 at 1:22
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    OED definiton: "An elongated back of a robe or skirt, or a separate long piece of material attached at the back of formal dress, which trails behind on the ground."
    – ermanen
    Aug 31, 2019 at 2:02
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    What makes you think it's not the elongated part of a dress—or that there is any answer that isn't that? Aug 31, 2019 at 13:32
  • I think a "train and grand toilette" is one thing, of which the Queen wanted three or four. Whether the train is part of the dress or attached separately is probably not a design matter which is not really on-topic here. What did your research tell you about what a train (in the context of women's dresses) is?
    – Andrew Leach
    Aug 31, 2019 at 14:45

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Train :

(DRESS) a part of a long dress that spreads out over the ground behind the person wearing it.

a wedding dress with a long train. (Lexico)

enter image description here

(nzBridal.com)

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