I received my regular list of "Hints" from Ancestry yesterday - they send genealogical information that other people have researched that may apply to your own ancestors. This one was a list of people who had been apprenticed in various trades in the 18thc. One of OH's ancestors, Susannah Wheadon of Crewkerne in Somerset, was apprenticed as a Mantua Maker. This meant nothing to me, but apparently:
Mantua | British | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The mantua was a coatlike construction, with sleeves cut in one piece with the back and front. It was pleated at the shoulders and fell to the waist, where it was held in place by a sash. From there it was folded back into a bustle shape and worn over a matching petticoat.