A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece outer garment that is worn on the torso and hangs down over the legs and is primarily worn by women or girls.[1][2] Dresses often consist of a bodice attached to a skirt.
Dress shapes and silhouettes, textiles, and colors vary. Dresses can have sleeves of any length or can be sleeveless, and dresses can have any neckline. Similarly, dresses can have skirts of any length or hemline. These variances may be based on considerations such as fashion trends, modesty, weather, and personal taste.[3] Dresses are generally suitable for both formal wear and casual wear in the West.[4]
Historically, foundation garments and other structural garments—including items such as corsets, partlets, petticoats, panniers, bustles—were used to achieve the desired silhouette.[5][6]
- ^ Cumming, Valerie; Cunnington, C.W.; Cunnington, P.E. (2010). The Dictionary of Fashion History. Berg Publishers. p. 70. ISBN 9781847885333.
- ^ "Dress". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ Davis, Michael (2007). Art of dress designing (1st ed.). Delhi: Global Media. ISBN 978-81-904575-7-6.
- ^ Picken 1957, p. 101.
- ^ Cunningham 2003, p. 20.
- ^ Edwards 2017, p. 20,30.