A gown, from the Latin word, ''gunna'', is a usually loose outer

garment Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

from knee-to-full-length worn by people of both sexes in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

to the 17th century, and continuing today in certain professions; later, the term ''gown'' was applied to any full-length woman's garment consisting of a

bodice A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the ...

and an attached skirt. A long, loosely fitted gown called a

Banyan A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

was worn by men in the 18th century as an informal coat. The gowns worn today by academics,

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

s, and some

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

derive directly from the everyday garments worn by their medieval predecessors, formalised into a

uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Terminology

A modern-day gown refers to several types of garments. It can refer to a dress, especially a formal or fancy dress. It may also refer to a nightgown or a dressing gown. In

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and other traditional areas, such as the legal world, gowns are also worn on various formal or ceremonial occasions.

History

The ''gunna'' was worn by

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

women and consisted of a long, loose outer garment. The ''gunna'' was also called a cote, surcoat, or robe. Gowns were worn by students attending early European universities in the 12th and 13th centuries. The gowns, and the hoods that accompanied them, would indicate their status. From the 14th to the 17th centuries, the term "gown" was used to describe any long, loose, robe-like garment. In the 1500s in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, a gown was known as a ''camora'' or by regional names in various locations. The look of the ''camora'' changed over time, starting out with a high waist and low neckline at the beginning of the century and gradually becoming low-waisted and high-necked by the end. Italian women also wore an overgown called a ''vestito'' or a ''roba''. In turn, these might be covered by a ''robone'' which was lined with fabrics or furs for warmth. By the late 16th century, gowns were no longer in style in Italy except where they were worn to denote a professional station, such as a banker or priest. In the 17th century, women's gowns in the American colonies included trimming around the neck and down the bodice, or in the case of an open gown, down front edges from hem to neck. Gowns may also have borders of silk, ribbons, and other decorations. Women in the American colonies wore short gowns as working clothing and informal clothing during the 18th century. The gowns were t-shaped and had side godets for additional volume.

References

Bibliography

* Arnold, Janet: ''Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c.1860–1940'', Wace 1966, Macmillan 1972. Revised metric edition, Drama Books 1977. *Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914'', Abrams, 1996. *Black, J. Anderson and Madge Garland: ''A History of Fashion'', Morrow, 1975. * * Kemp, Roger L. "Town and Gown Relations: A Handbook of Best Practices," McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina, US, and London, England, UK, (2013). (). * * {{Authority control Medieval European costume 12th-century fashion 13th-century fashion 14th-century fashion 15th-century fashion 16th-century fashion 17th-century fashion 18th-century fashion 19th-century fashion 20th-century fashion 21st-century fashion Academic dress Dresses Judicial clothing Women's clothing

Terminology

History

See also

Types of gowns

References

Bibliography