Bouffant gown

Last updated
A Parisian bouffant gown made of pink tulle. Parisian tulle bouffant gown.jpg
A Parisian bouffant gown made of pink tulle.

A bouffant gown is a women's dress silhouette made of a wide, full skirt resembling a hoop skirt (and sometimes including a hoop or petticoat support underneath the skirt). It may be tea length (mid-calf length) or floor length.

Contents

History

Bouffant gowns were a popular silhouette during the mid-19th century. It fell out of style by the end of the 19th century, but re-emerged in the 1930s, to appear in evening gowns during the 1930s and 1940s. It was fully revived in tea-length designs in 1947 by Christian Dior's New Look couture collection. The style remained very popular at calf or ankle length throughout the 1950s. [1]

Popularity

Bouffant gowns fell out of fashion during the 1960s and 1970s, as streamlined skirts became associated with modern trends. The resurgence of Victorian styles during the 1980s, as in the wedding dress of Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, brought the bouffant gown back into style.[ citation needed ] Today, it is mainly seen in wedding gowns, Quinceañera gowns, or ball gowns.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian fashion</span> Fashions and trends in British culture during the Victorian era

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 many changes in fashion, including changes in styles, fashion technology and the methods of distribution. Various movement in architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts as well as a changing perception of gender roles also influenced fashion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skirt</span> Clothing worn from the waist or hips

A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crinoline</span> Petticoat designed to hold out a skirt

A crinoline is a stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a skirt, popular at various times since the mid-19th century. Originally, crinoline described a stiff fabric made of horsehair ("crin") and cotton or linen which was used to make underskirts and as a dress lining. The term crin or crinoline continues to be applied to a nylon stiffening tape used for interfacing and lining hemlines in the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1890s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1890s

Fashion in the 1890s in Western countries is characterized by long elegant lines, tall collars, and the rise of sportswear. It was an era of great dress reforms led by the invention of the drop-frame safety bicycle, which allowed women the opportunity to ride bicycles more comfortably, and therefore, created the need for appropriate clothing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1870s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1870s

1870s fashion in European and European-influenced clothing is characterized by a gradual return to a narrow silhouette after the full-skirted fashions of the 1850s and 1860s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ball gown</span> Type of evening gown

A ball gown, ballgown or gown is a type of evening gown worn to a ball or a formal event. Most versions are cut off the shoulder with a low décolletage, exposed arms, and long bouffant styled skirts. Such gowns are typically worn with an opera-length white gloves, vintage jewelry or couture, and a stole, cape, or cloak in lieu of a coat. Where "state decorations" are to be worn, they are on a bow pinned to the chest, and married women wear a tiara if they have one. Although synthetic fabrics are now sometimes used, the most common fabrics are satin, silk, taffeta and velvet with trimmings of lace, pearls, sequins, embroidery, ruffles, ribbons, rosettes and ruching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cocktail dress</span> Semi-formal dress

A cocktail dress is a dress suitable at semi-formal occasions, sometimes called cocktail parties, usually in the late afternoon, and usually with accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evening gown</span> Womans dress usually worn to a semi-formal or formal affair

An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from ballerina, tea, to full-length. Such gowns are typically worn with evening gloves. Evening gowns are usually made of luxurious fabrics such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or organza. Silk is a popular fibre for many evening gowns. Although the terms are used interchangeably, ball gowns and evening gowns differ in that a ball gown will always have a full skirt and a fitted bodice, while an evening gown can be any silhouette—sheath, mermaid, fit and flare, A-line, or trumpet-shaped—and may have straps, halters or even sleeves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoop skirt</span> Undergarment that holds the shape of a dress

A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pannier (clothing)</span> Hoopskirt or open framework to extend a skirts width at the sides

Panniers or side hoops are women's undergarments worn in the 17th and 18th centuries to extend the width of the skirts at the side while leaving the front and back relatively flat. This provided a panel where woven patterns, elaborate decorations and rich embroidery could be displayed and fully appreciated by every male suitor that came their way looking for a damsel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantalettes</span> Undergarments covering the legs, worn by women and children

Pantalettes are undergarments covering the legs worn by women, girls, and very young boys in the early- to mid-19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1880s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion of the 1880s

1880s fashion in Western and Western-influenced countries is characterized by the return of the bustle. The long, lean line of the late 1870s was replaced by a full, curvy silhouette with gradually widening shoulders. Fashionable waists were low and tiny below a full, low bust supported by a corset. The Rational Dress Society was founded in 1881 in reaction to the extremes of fashionable corsetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museum of Costume</span>

The National Museum of Costume was located at Shambellie House, in New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and it formed part of the National Museums of Scotland. The museum started operating in 1982. The museum allowed a look at fashion and the lifestyle of the wealthy from the 1850s to the 1950s. The clothes were presented in lifelike room settings. In January 2013, National Museums Scotland announced that the National Museum of Costume was to close and the site would not reopen for 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gown</span> Full-length womans garment

A gown, from the Saxon word, gunna, is a usually loose outer garment from knee-to-full-length worn by people of all genders in Europe from the Early Middle Ages 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 and an attached skirt. A long, loosely fitted gown called a Banyan was worn by men in the 18th century as an informal coat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemline</span> Line formed by the lower edge of a garment

The hemline is the line formed by the lower edge of a garment, such as a skirt, dress or coat, measured from the floor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1900s in Western fashion</span> Costume and fashion in the decade 1900–1909

Fashion in the period 1900–1909 in the Western world continued the severe, long and elegant lines of the late 1890s. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl" hairstyles. A new, columnar silhouette introduced by the couturiers of Paris late in the decade signaled the approaching abandonment of the corset as an indispensable garment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19th century in fashion</span>

The nineteenth century marks the period beginning January 1, 1801 and ends December 31, 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dress</span> Garment consisting of a bodice and skirt made in one or more pieces

A dress is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice. It consists of a top piece that covers the torso and hangs down over the legs. A dress can be any one-piece garment containing a skirt of any length, and can be formal or casual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sack-back gown</span>

The sack-back gown or robe à la française was a women's fashion of 18th century Europe. At the beginning of the century, the sack-back gown was a very informal style of dress. At its most informal, it was unfitted both front and back and called a sacque, contouche, or robe battante. By the 1770s the sack-back gown was second only to court dress in its formality. This style of gown had fabric at the back arranged in box pleats which fell loose from the shoulder to the floor with a slight train. In front, the gown was open, showing off a decorative stomacher and petticoat. It would have been worn with a wide square hoop or panniers under the petticoat. Scalloped ruffles often trimmed elbow-length sleeves, which were worn with separate frills called engageantes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-low skirt</span>

High-low skirts, also known as asymmetrical, waterfall, or mullet skirts, are skirts with a hem that is higher in the front, or side, than in the back.

References

  1. Tredre, Roger & Brenda Polan (2009). The Great Fashion Designers. Berg. pp.  130. ISBN   9781847882288.