Chemisette
Encyclopedia
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
worn to fill in the front and neckline of any garment. Chemisettes give the appearance of a blouse
Blouse
A blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that was formerly worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women and children. It is typically gathered at the waist so that it hangs loosely over the wearer's body. Today, the word most commonly refers to a woman's shirt but can also refer to a man's shirt if...
or shirt
Shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...
worn under the outer garment without adding bulk at the waist or upper arm.
Chemisettes of linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
or cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
were often worn with day dresses in the mid-19th century, and could be decorated with tucks
Tuck (sewing)
In sewing, a tuck is a fold or pleat in fabric that is sewn in place.Small tucks, especially multiple parallel tucks, may be used to decorate clothing or household linens...
, embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
(especially whitework
Whitework embroidery
Whitework embroidery refers to any embroidery technique in which the stitching is the same color as the foundation fabric ....
), or lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
.
When wide pagoda sleeves
Sleeve
Sleeve is that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period...
were fashionable (1850s), chemisettes might have matching engageante
Engageante
Engageantes are false sleeves worn with women's clothing in the 18th and 19th centuries.In the 18th century, engageantes took the form of ruffles or flounces of linen, cotton, or lace, tacked to the elbow-length sleeves then fashionable....
s (false undersleeves).
See also
- Godey's Lady's BookGodey's Lady's BookGodey's Lady's Book, alternatively known as Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book, was a United States magazine which was published in Philadelphia. It was the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the Civil War. Its circulation rose from 70,000 in the 1840s to 150,000 in 1860...
(links to online editions) - 1850s in fashion1850s in fashion1850s fashion in Western and Western-influenced clothing is characterized by an increase in the width of women's skirts supported by crinolines or hoops, and the beginnings of dress reform.-Gowns:...
- 1860s in fashion1860s in fashion1860s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by extremely full-skirted women's fashions relying on crinolines and hoops and the emergence of "alternative fashions" under the influence of the Artistic Dress movement....
- Trim (sewing)Trim (sewing)Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament, such as gimp, passementerie, ribbon, ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament....
- Victorian fashionVictorian fashionVictorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and grew in province throughout the Victorian era and the reign of Queen Victoria, a period which would last from June 1837 to January 1901. Covering nearly two thirds of the 19th century, the 63 year reign...