| Gown
with dagged sleeves designed for a court masque, early 1600s from
Shakespeare's Ladies. |
 |
Dagged
Edge
A dagged edge is irregularly shaped to resemble a leaf. It was popular
in the Middle Ages. The early 17th century gown to the left was
designed with a deliberately antique feel for a court masque. It
combines the medieval dagged edging on the sleeves with the silhouette
popular in the early 1600s.
|
| Parisian
décolleté lace and chiffon gown, 1907 from The Cutups Call on
Rose O'Neill (unavailable) |
 |
Décolleté
Any neckline that is cut low and wide to display the neck and shoulders
(and sometimes the back) can be said to be décolleté.
|
| Elegant
demi-trained visiting ensemble, 1876, from Corina (not
currently available) |
 |
Demi-Train
"Demi" always means "smaller," so a demi-train
is shorter and less elaborate than a full, formal train. Although
this one actually looks like a fairly long train to me, it was labeled
as a demi-train. That just gives us an idea of elaborate importance
1876 gave to the backs of dresses with trains, bustles, drapery and
all manner of furbelows. |
| Déshabillé
gown for entertaining at home, 1923, from The Roaring Twenties
(not currently available) |
 |
Déshabillé
or Dishabille
Déshabillé is the French word for "undressed." In a fashion
sense it describes a comfortable garment meant to be worn only at
home and only for somewhat casual - or ate least friendly- entertainment.
Many garments that are described as déshabillé are quite elaborate,
such as the one from the 1920s to the left. Because they follow
prevailing fashions, albeit in a more comfortable way, the déshabillé
garments from the the 1700s through much of the 20th century have
little in common except that they require little or no corseting.
|
| Elaborate
dinner gown trimmed with metallic embroidered lace, 1904, from Lily
of the Edwardian Age |
 |
Dinner
Dress
The main difference between a dinner dress and an evening gown is
that a dinner dress generally has sleeves and an evening gown very
well may not. Dinner dresses could be quite elaborate, even splendid.
|
| Short
double-breasted jacket from The Way We
Wore 1969 |
 |
Double
Breasted
The term refers to the cut of jackets, coats and other garments
with two rows of buttons, snaps, or frogs forming the front closure.
|
| Man's
doublet, based on a painting of Sir Walter Raleigh, from Shakespeare's
Ladies |
 |
Doublet
The doublet was a close fitting men's garment worn over a shirt from
the 15th to 17th centuries. This one is actually worn by Shakespeare's
character Viola when she disguises herself as a boy. |
| Evening
or dinner gown with an interestingly draped bodice clasped by an elaborated
enameled buckle, 1923, from Jazz Age Sisters |
 |
Drape
A garment is said to be draped when some part of it falls into loose,
somewhat unconstructed folds. Draped garments range from ancient Greek
dress, through the bunchy effects of late 19th century bustles and
beyond. Draping was extremely popular in the 1920s and 1930s. |
| Loose
drawers trimmed with broderie anglaise, c. 1905, from Nancy
of the Edwardian Age |
 |
Drawers
Originally drawers were divided at the crouch and eschewed by respectable
women who wore nothing at all that we would recognize as underwear.
Gradually these open drawers gained respectability. In the early 19th
century closed drawers were worn by little girls under their dresses
as a decorative part of their ensembles. Later, when crinolines came
into fashion, and fewer petticoats were necessary, women adopted drawers.
|
| Child's
dress with dropped waist defined by a sash, from
May Alice, Child of the 1920s. |
 |
Dropped
Waist
The dropped waist falls below the natural waist. The dropped waist
was nearly universal in the 1920s.
|
| Afternoon
dress with dropped shoulders, 1914, from Julia
of the Nouveau Age. |
 |
Dropped
Shoulder
The dropped shoulder is a seam joining the sleeve to the bodice that
falls somewhat lower on the arm than the actual point of the shoulder.
Dropped shoulders were popular off and on throughout the 20th century,
especially in the 1980s. |
| Duster
over shirtwaist and skirt, 1906, from The Cutups Call on Rose
O'Neill (unavailable). |
 |
Duster
The duster is a loose coat worn to protect clothing from dust during
open carriage or, later, automobile rides. After the mid 20th century
it also came to mean a loose, coat-like worn around the house as a
dressing gown or apron. |
| One
style of traditional cap of the Netherlands; this one is made of lace.
From Heritage Brides. |
 |
Dutch
Cap
There was actually a large variety of traditional caps worn by women
of the Netherlands. This particular form is the one that many people
think of as a Dutch cap and was loosely copied by some hat designers
in the 1930s and 1940s
|
