A chemisette (from French, "little
chemise
A chemise or shift is a classic smock type of women's undergarment or dress. Historically, a chemise was a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts commonly worn in W ...
") is an article of women's
clothing
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 ...
worn to fill in the front and neckline of any garment. Chemisettes give the appearance of a
blouse
A blouse () is a loose-fitting upper garment that may be worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women, and children.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary It is typically gathered at the waist or hips (by tight hem, pleats, parter, or belt) so th ...
or
shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist).
Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...
worn under the outer garment without adding bulk at the waist or upper arm.
Chemisettes of
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...
or
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
were often worn with
day dresses in the mid-19th century, and could be decorated with
tucks,
embroidery
Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...
(especially
whitework
Whitework embroidery is any embroidery technique in which the stitch and the foundation fabric (traditionally white linen) are of same color. Styles of whitework embroidery include most drawn thread work, broderie anglaise, Hardanger embroidery ...
), or
lace
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...
.
When wide
pagoda sleeves were fashionable (1850s), chemisettes might have matching
engageante
Engageantes are false sleeves worn with women's clothing. They were worn during the 18th and 19th centuries, with a brief revival in the 20th century. In the 18th century, engageantes took the form of ruffles or flounces of linen, cotton, or la ...
s (false undersleeves).
See also
*
Guimpe
The guimpe (from the French ''guimpe)'' was a garment which developed in medieval Western Europe. It was a silk or linen kerchief, sometimes sheer, sometimes starched, which covered the neck and shoulders of the wearer, sometimes the entire ch ...
*
Godey's Lady's Book
''Godey's Lady's Book'', alternatively known as ''Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book'', was an American women's magazine that was published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1896. It was the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the Civi ...
(links to online editions)
*
1850s in fashion
1850s fashion in Western and Western-influenced clothing is characterized by an increase in the width of women's skirts supported by crinolines or hoops, the mass production of sewing machines, and the beginnings of dress reform. Masculine st ...
*
1860s in fashion
*
Dickey (garment)
In clothing for men, a dickey (also dickie and dicky, and tuxedo front in the U.S.) is a type of shirt, shirtfront that is worn with black tie (tuxedo) and with white tie evening clothes. The dickey is usually attached to the shirt collar and the ...
, a similar false-front mostly for men's shirts in the early 20th century
*
Trim (sewing)
Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament, such as Gimp (thread), gimp, passementerie, ribbon, Ruffle (sewing), ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament.
Before the Industrial Revolution, all trim was made and ...
*
Victorian fashion
Victorian fashion consists of the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly from the 1830s through the 1890s. The period saw m ...
References
*S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, ''The Dictionary of Needlework'', 1885.
*
Picken, Mary Brooks: ''The Fashion Dictionary'', Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition {{ISBN, 0-308-10052-2)
External links
Apparel Search glossary of textile and apparel terms
19th-century fashion
Tops (clothing)
Fashion accessories