See copyright notice below regarding copying any text from this glossary See copyright notice below regarding copying any text from this glossaryThe purpose of this page is twofold: First, to define vocabulary—to define 18th c. words which are now unfamiliar, and to correctly define non-18th century words which are frequently misused with respect to the 18th century (compare 18th c. equipage to non-18th c. chatelaine). Second, to illustrate the particular form of the objects these words referred to (see bonnet and fan) and/or how the objects were used (see pin). The focus of this page is costume of Britain and British-influenced areas (such as its American colonies), with a lesser focus on France and New France, and occasional other examples where British or French examples are lacking. It isn't my intent to focus on women's costume, but I have a greater personal interest in it so men's and children's clothing entries will come along more slowly.
Please note: Vocabulary in the 18th century varied quite widely from region to region and from year to year. You may find these words used in other ways in original documents.
Except where noted otherwise, definitions describe the 18th century use of words.
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banyan An undress robe worn by men. The banyan was cut in two basic variations: an unfitted version somewhat like a kimono or modern bathrobe, and a fitted version which somewhat resembled a man's coat only with full length, loose skirts. The banyan was typically worn by gentlemen relaxing at home and was worn over shirt, waistcoat, and breeches, usually with a cap to cover the head in lieu of a wig. Circumstances in which a man would be seen in a public area a banyan were limited. Examples:
bearskin 1) The skin of bears (genus Ursus). 2) A particular sort of thick, shaggy woolen fabric.
bed gown, less frequently spelled bed-gown and bedgown A woman's informal, loose-fitting, typically thigh-length garment, with sleeves and skirts cut in one with the body, side seams at the natural side, a pleat or two at center back usually held in place only at the neck, and often a V-neckline in front. Fancier versions could be worn in very informal circumstances by the higher classes (e.g., in one's boudoir), but it was primarily a garment of the lower classes, who wore it as ordinary daily clothing. Toward the end of the 18th century, the bed gown was gradually superseded by the short gown. Examples:
bib A piece attached to some aprons to cover or decorate the front of the torso. The bib was generally wider at the top than at the bottom, where it joined the skirt of the apron; sometimes the tapering was quite extreme, so that the bib served little to protect the clothing. Most English and French children's aprons had bibs. Bibs were quite common on French women's aprons as well, but were extremely rare on Englishwomen's aprons.
bodice 1) (18c) rare Stays. Usually written "a pair of bodies". May also refer to a garment which resembles stays but whose exact nature is not made clear by 18th century sources; perhaps packthread stays. 2) (modern; uncommon in 18c) The part of a woman's fitted garment which covers the torso above the waist. 3) (modern) A woman's fitted garment which covers primarily the torso; that is, a garment which is not a gown. 4) (modern) A sleeveless bodice.
bonnet Generally, a headcovering for women with an unstiffened crown (caul?) and a stiff brim going part way around the crown. Possibly the crown was sometimes stiffened or the brim went all the way around, but this would have been unusual, at least. Black silk seems to have been the most common fabric (used for the caul and to cover the brim), but other colors and fabrics are occasionally cited. You can find many examples in the Dover reprint of the Catchpenny Prints. On-line examples:
bridles See kissing strings.
broadcloth 1) (18c) Wool woven on a double-wide loom. Standard loom width was between around 20 and 30 inches wide, so broadcloth was twice that. 2) (modern) Cheap, ordinary fabric, typically 45 inches wide, typically in a fine, tight weave of cotton, poly-cotton, or polyester.
brunswick A 3/4 length hooded traveling garment cut more or less like a jacket. See also jesuit. Examples:
buttons, thread Buttons made of thread, typically by making buttonhole stitches over a ring of thread or over a thin metal ring, with a thread shank.
cameo Very uncommon in the 18th century until the neoclassical period at the end of the century. Miniatures were much more commonly worn (among the sort of people who had jewelry at all, that is, of course). Example:
cap A headcovering, usually of unstiffened fabric with a crown and usually with a brim which goes only part way around the crown.
A woman's cap is made of white fabric, or, rarely, for upper class, black. It generally has a comparatively large crown, or caul, constructed in one piece, and a narrow brim (sometimes cut in two pieces), and the brim is usually edged with a ruffle.
A working man's cap is generally plain fabric with the bottom turned up to form a brim all the way around. An upper class man may wear a cap (which could be called a "night cap") as "undress" when he is not wearing his wig. A man's cap is generally made in one of three styles: in four quarters sewn together like a modern baseball cap but with a brim turned up all around (often with the top edge of the brim shaped decoratively) (this is how working men's caps are made, without decoratively shaped brims), in a tube (a rectangle with two opposite sides seamed together) cinched together near the top with a ribbon or some such and with a brim turned up at the bottom, or a turban form.
A baby's cap usually has a deep brim and a small caul shaped via darts and is sometimes embroidered in colors. A child's cap (prepubescent girl or, occasionally, unbreeched boy) is generally like a woman's cap but is sometimes embroidered in colors; also, young girls (late toddler through teens or so) often wear a cap with a small, fairly flat caul (but larger than a pinner), very narrow or non-existent band covered by ribbon, and narrow ruffle.
Examples:
caraco Woman's garment made of shaped panels, closely fitted in the upper body and flaring in the skirts, and having no seaming at the waist. Or maybe this is simply a French word for "jacket".
chatelaine 19th c. See equipage.
chemise French word for a man's shirt or woman's shift. This word was not used by English speakers to mean a woman's shift until well after the American Revolution.
cloak Cut in a half circle pattern (women or occasionally men) or full circle pattern (men), with or without cape(s), collar, and/or hood. Regular cloaks usually fall around mid-calf so as not to drag in the mud. Short cloaks may be as short as waist length; fancy short cloaks in silk or fur may have shaped hems (see mantle). For women, the usual fastener is a tie at the neck. Examples:
closed gown Any gown which is not an open gown, whether a round gown or other style.
cloth 1) Name applied to various types of woolen fabric including broadcloth (see broadcloth (1)) and other similar fabrics. 2) (modern) Synonym of "fabric". 3) A particular color, as in "one old quilted petticoat, a cloth coloured cloth ditto" (The Pennsylvania Gazette, February 19, 1777, item #60523), "Mens wash, tan leather, cloth coloured, crimson, purple and white lamb gloves; womens flowered, purple, white grained and white glaized, and cloth coloured lamb gloves and mitts" (The Pennsylvania Gazette, January 1, 1767, item #39486), "Buff, blue, green, cloth coloured and white Plush, Green, scarlet, blue and cloth coloured fine Plush [...] Cinnamon, dove colour, black and cloth coloured, blue, changeable, clouded & striped Mantuas" (The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 10, 1782, item #67214), "dyes leather any sort of cloth colour" (The Pennsylvania Gazette, March 11, 1756, item #19312). As for what color it referred to, some sort of natural wool color seems most likely. The above PA Gazette quotes show that it was considered distinct from white, buff, and dove color (as well as crimson, purple, blue, green, scarlet, cinnamon, and black).
compère Variation on a stomacher which buttons down the center front like a man's waistcoat. Can be stitched to the gown at both sides under the gown's robings, or can be a false compère with buttons but no center front opening and which is pinned or laced to the gown like a normal stomacher. Examples:
coat 1) A man's coat. 2) Short for "petticoat".
corset French word for stays or jumps or something. This word was not used in English before the close of the 18th century (the OED's first citation dates to 1795).
corset blanc French word for a woman's undergarment which is devoid ("blank") of bones. The most probable English translation is "jumps" or perhaps "waistcoat" (see waistcoat (2)). Jean-Baptiste Greuze painted a number of moderately titillating paintings of partially clothed girls which give some good details of the construction of shifts and other underclothing, although somewhat less information on how such clothing was actually worn (since Greuze's subjects often are not only missing their outerwear, but have their underwear half falling off as well). The context of Greuze's art should be kept firmly in mind when using his work as documentation of clothing. Examples of corsets blancs in Greuze's work:
cotton 1) Cotton. 2) Wool of a particular sort of weave.
earrings (I haven't checked whether "earrings" is the period term.) Examples:
engageantes or engageants Possibly a French word rather than English. Shaped ruffles (single, double, or triple) of fine lace or sheer white fabric, tacked into the insides of the ends of the sleeves of the gown. Engageantes are most often seen when the gown sleeve is trimmed with a similarly shaped ruffle (or double or triple ruffle) of the gown fabric. Examples:
equipage 1) French for "equipment". 2) A fancy clip attached at the waist from which depend assorted sewing or other implements. Often called a "chatelaine" by reenactors but "chatelaine" is the 19th c. term for this item. Period advertisements list fancy equipages of gold, silver, etc. See also stay hook.
Despite the popularity of "chatelaines" among reenactors, in period art you are more likely to see a scissors, pincushion, or watch attached with a plain ribbon.
On the term "chatelaine":
fan 18th century folding fans typically have wood or ivory sticks and a paper or parchment leaf. They are held in the hand—they do not have a ring at the end for attaching a ribbon so that the fan can hang from the wrist. Fancy fans are typically painted with a) fêtes galantes—scenes of courtly amusements taking place in Arcadian settings b) classical scenes (Greek or Roman mythology or literature) or c) Biblical scenes. Examples:
Examples of fêtes galantes:
Ways to hold a fan—some ways are used when sitting, some when standing, some in either case.
ferreting Binding the edge of fabric with tape, usually the bottom of a petticoat, or the edge of a felt hat brim. Examples:
fichu French word for a handkerchief. This word was not used by English speakers until after the American Revolution.
flannel 1) (18c) Wool flannel. 2) (modern) Cotton and/or synthetic flannel.
full To process woolen fabric so that the fibers twist and lock together. The fabric becomes thicker and more weatherproof, and as a side effect, shrinks a lot. Well-fulled wool holds an edge (does not fray) when cut and is largely wind- and waterproof. Wool is fulled by agitation, certain chemical processes, and to a lesser degree, heat. The old-fashioned way to full wool is to soak it with stale urine, beat it or stomp on it for a long time, and then wash it clean. The modern home method is to throw it in the washing machine with plenty of detergent so that the fibers can slip past each other and lock together, agitate it for a while, and then rinse.
garter A band of leather or fabric tape that holds up your stockings. Women usually gartered their stockings above the knee, although they sometimes gartered them below the knee. When using a fabric tape, it seems that it was generally long enough to wrap twice (which would distribute the pressure better). Examples:
gloves Examples:
gown A full length, sleeved garment with a fitted bodice and skirts; the bodice and skirts may be cut in one, cut separately, or cut in one in some places and separate elsewhere, depending on the particular style. Women's gowns were cut in two basic variations: the English gown (night gown, robe à l'anglaise) and the sack gown (negligee, sacque, robe à la française). Children's gowns were cut in two basic variations: the back-closing gown for both girls and boys, and the front-closing gown for boys only. With modifiers, this term can refer to distinctly different garments such as the bed gown, short gown, and night gown (a loose robe for men).
(gown) en fourreau A gown with the bodice and skirt cut as one at the center back and stitched down in flattened tubes. The remainder of the bodice and skirt are cut separately and seamed together. This term may be a post-18c costume history term rather than 18c. Examples:
habit See riding habit.
handkerchief 1) Handkerchief; see pocket handkerchief. 2) Neck handkerchief. Also called neck handkerchief, neckerchief, neckatee, (French) fichu, etc. "Handkerchief" was the most common term. Confusing? The people whose fault it is have been dead for two hundred years. The French word fichu was not used by English speakers until after the Revolutionary War. 3) rare Kerchief. (Handkerchiefs were very rarely worn on the head.) ["Kerchief" comes from French couvre chef, "cover the head", so a neck handkerchief is a cover for the head for the hand for the neck. Ain't language great?]
Women wore handkerchiefs in many, many ways, of which the most common was probably untucked in back and tucked in in front. The back can be untucked or tucked in. The front can be pinned close to the neck, pinned further down, pinned with the ends allowed to separate below the pin, pinned so that the ends hang down and overlap, knotted, twisted (like a Steinkirk), tucked in in the center, tucked in toward the sides, and, late in the 18th century after the end of the Revolution when handkerchiefs could be quite large, crossed in front and brought around the sides to tie in back. The ends may be used in front to over the stomacher area of a gown of that style, and may be tucked behind a ribbon or ribbons which cross the stomacher area. The front may cover the entire portion of the bosom left uncovered by the gown, virtually none of it, or anything in between.
For men, alternatives to a handkerchief are a stock or neckcloth. A handkerchief is the least formal of these three alternatives. Men usually rolled or folded their handkerchiefs to somewhat resemble a neckcloth, but handled the ends in about as many ways as women.
Women's handkerchiefs:
There are a fair number of examples of handkerchiefs worn on the head over caps, mostly French. Here are three non-French examples:
and French examples:
hood Hoods were popular in the first half of the 18th century but were largely displaced by bonnets in the second half, although they do appear in some probate inventories (e.g., 70 "hoods" among 80 estate inventories of New Hampshire women taken between 1760 and 1789). Hoods may have been retained longer in some areas such as New England or among some groups such as Quakers, but more research is needed. As a further difficulty, the word "hood" sometimes refers to a hooded cloak of sorts; see riding hood.
jabot Not an 18th century clothing item! There is no documentation for such a clothing accessory in the 18th century, and the Oxford English Dictionary's earliest citation for the word dates to 1823. Men generally wore a stock, neckcloth, or handkerchief around their shirt collars, and a fancy neckcloth might have ends decorated with lace. Men sometimes had the neck slit of their shirt edged with a ruffle of fine fabric or lace on one or both sides. Neckcloth ends and shirt ruffles may sometimes resemble a jabot in appearance, particularly at a casual glance, but jabots were not worn.
jacket A short, fitted, man's or woman's garment, which extends only slightly below the waist; perhaps to high hip height. Or possibly even a much longer garment—up to knee length—might be called a jacket.
jesuit A full length hooded traveling garment cut more or less like a jacket or gown. See also brunswick. Examples:
jumps A woman's support garment, lightly stiffened with whalebone, cane, wood splits, cording, buckram, quilting and/or other means. It is not known whether jumps could use no stiffening other than the fabric of the jumps. No precise definition has been found for jumps, but it is clear that they were, on average, less stiffened than stays. Jumps almost certainly can lace front only, and possibly even usually lace front only. Jumps could be worn by invalids, pregnant women, elderly women, and slatterns, and in informal situations. Stays seem to have been the usual garment, rather than jumps, but data is lacking.
kertch A head covering of some Scottish women. See Before the Clearances: 17th and 18th Century Scottish Costume.
kissing strings Also called "bridles". Term of hazy meaning and usage which appears to have referred to cap lappets that narrow toward their bottoms and are of a length to be fastened under the chin with strings or ribbons. See lappet cap for additional examples.
lappet cap Modern term for a cap with lappets; the period name or names is unknown, although see kissing strings for one possible term for one type of lappet cap, or part of it. Caps with lappets very very popular in the 1730s and '40s, and moderately popular in the 1750s and into the '60s, but were dead as a fashion item by the 1770s and were only frequently worn by elderly women who either retained the styles of their youth, wanted to keep warm, wanted to hide their wrinkled or sagging necks, or, most likely, all of the above. Lappet caps made a fierce comeback in the late 1780s.
lappets Two long strips of material that hang down from the top of the head. They can be either: a) Extensions of the cap band; see lappet cap. b) Extensions of the pinner ruffle. c) A single long piece of lace, made to shape (usually with the ends widened and with a round finish—sort of a teardrop effect), folded at the center, and pinned to the head over or instead of a pinner. Lappets of a cap (a) frequently have the ends folded back up and pinned on top of the cap; this is less common (rare?) with pinner lappets (b) or standalone lappets (c). For examples of caps with lappets, see lappet cap.
linen 1) Fabric made of flax. 2) Fabric made of either flax or hemp.
mantle A fancy short cloak made of silk, lace, or fur, usually lined (unless lace), usually with an edging, often with a hood. Silk may be edged with lace, fabric ruffles, or fur; lace may be edged with lace. Cut like a cloak (basic half-circle cut) but shaped shorter at the sides to allow the forearms to move freely. Usually hangs to the elbow at the side, to the waist or lower in front or back. Possibly also called a "short cloak". Some versions are very small and may have been called "tippets" or something else.
masquerade Masquerade costume appears in many portraits. Often, but not always, the portrait sitter holds a mask in one hand.
miniature Miniature portrait, worn as a pendant, or on the wrist, or attached to the clothing in various other fashions, or sometimes set standing on a table or shelf. While cameos were not popular in the 18th century until the post-Revolution neoclassical period, miniatures were fairly common among the wealthy. Examples:
mitts Gloves with open fingers and thumb. Typically silk, and cut on the bias with a point over the back of the hand. Examples:
mob 18c term that referred either to caps in general and/or to particular styles of cap; what style it referred probably changed as rapidly as fashion. Because of confusion over the period meaning of the term, and confusion with the modern use of the term mob cap, reenactors tend to avoid using this term outside of scholarly discussion.
mob cap Modern term for a modern item of costume! The popular culture term for what popular culture views as "an 18th century cap", generally interpreted as a circle of fabric with a casing a couple of inches in from the edge and either elastic or a drawstring through the casing, often constructed as two layers of fabric to avoid hemming. Although circle-with-drawstring caps do appear to have existed in at least some portions of the 19c, there is no documentation for their existence in the 18c. They violate all principles of 18c cut and construction, and other types of cap are amply documented. There was an 18c term mob which is unclear in meaning and which reenactors generally avoid; reenactors generally use the term "mob cap" (if they use it at all) to refer to the popular cultural fantasy cap.
modesty piece Tucker. Someone did find the term "modesty piece" dating back to, I think, 1710-ish. It's more commonly called a "tucker". "Modesty piece" and "tucker" were also used in the 19th century for a triangular piece to fill in a V neckline, and for a chemisette. In either century, it did not refer to a neck handkerchief, neckerchief, neckatee, (French) fichu, etc.—what we sometimes call a kerchief today.
muff Muffs were small until late in the century. Examples:
muffatees Like mitts, but cover the forearms only, and not any part of the hands. I'm not 100% confident in how strictly these terms were applied, though. Mitt/mitten/muffatee, arm-hand/arm-hand-fingers/arm. Maybe they played mix and match with terms and garments.
neckcloth A rectangular length fabric worn about a man's neck over the shirt collar; a tall shirt collar would fold down over the neckcloth while a short collar would be entirely covered. Fancy neckcloths could be decorated with lace at the ends; this was more common earlier in the 18c (probably largely because lace was more popular earlier in the 18c) and was a conservative style of dress by the 1770s. Alternatives to a neckcloth are a stock or handkerchief. A neckcloth is generally more formal than a handkerchief but less formal than a stock.
necklace Most frequently, simply a lace (ribbon or cord) around the neck. This is the one form of "jewelry" which is seen moderately often on common women. Upper class women are sometimes seen with necklaces containing actual jewels, but are also frequently seen with the same simple ribbon a common woman might wear. Examples of ribbon:
Examples of pearls:
negligée Sack gown.
night gown English style gown (robe à l'anglaise). Also refers to a sort of man's informal gown or banyan.
parasol 18th century parasols had
long straight handles. Examples:
pattens Examples:
pelisse A fancy, short (hip
or thigh length) cloak-like outer garment made of four generally
rectangular panels, with arm slits in the two front panels, and a
hood. Generally made in silk and edged all around body, hood, and arm
slits, often with fur. I'm unsure whether the word pelisse was used by English speakers.
While the 18th century cloak is based on a circle cut (men's) or
half circle cut (women's, some men's, women's short cloaks, women's
mantles (with additional shaping)), the pelisse
is based on a rectangular cut. Although Garsault's draft for a pelisse shows slight shaping of the panels over the
shoulders, the pelisse cut is still far bulkier
at the neckline than a circle or half circle cloak cut, and therefore
is better suited to the lightweight silks from which it was apparently
made, rather than to heavy, fulled wools. (Some pelisses appear to be fur-lined and it's unclear
how this affected bulk at the shoulders.)
The pelisse is similar to the mantle (fancy
short cloak) in terms of fabrics, approximate size, and social class
of those who wore it. A pelisse is probably less convenient to wear
than a mantle, since the arms are covered and the arm slits only allow
for minor movement, and this may be why so many more mantles are seen
in art than pelisses.
Examples:
pet-en-l'air A sacque gown made at three-quarter length (mid to
low thigh). The literal translation of this term is "fart in the
air". Hey, I didn't think it up. I don't know yet
whether a pet-en-l'air would be considered a
jacket or not. petticoat A woman's "undergarment" which covered
the lower body. Throughout the third quarter of the 18th century, the extreme
popularity of open gowns and shorter-than-full-length garments meant that the
top petticoat was usually seen and was not really an undergarment.
See the entry for quilt for examples of quilted
petticoats. pin Typical 18th century pins were of tinned
brass, were about the length and thickness of modern sewing pins, and
had small ball heads. They were often used to fasten clothing. Examples:
pinner A sort of a vestigial cap that you pin to
the top of your head. It usually consists of a tiny bit of flat
fabric (usually roundish, often straight along the back) with a ruffle
going around the sides and front. Sometimes it has
lappets—two long floaty strips that hang down in back or can
be pinned up on top. Pinners are much dressier than caps. Frequently
all or part of the pinner is lace. They get lacier from the outside
in—that is, you might have lace just on the edge of the ruffle,
or just a lace ruffle, or an all-lace pinner, but you wouldn't have a
lace center with a plain fabric ruffle.
plaid 1) A particular Scottish garment, now usually
called a kilt. 2) A plain, unpatterned fabric. (Perhaps a specific kind.
It's not clear to me.) 3) A tartan (1).
pocket 1) For men's garments (men's coats,
waistcoats, and breeches), a bag pocket stitched into the garment. 2)
For women, a single pocket or a pair of pockets attached to a tie and
tied around the waist underneath at least one layer of clothing.
Pockets occasionally peek out from under a woman's clothing in a
context of buying or selling, which may range from perfectly
innocent (shopping in a market), to rapacious (selling one's
sweetheart into the army for the recruiting fee), to libidinous
(prostitution).
pocket handkerchief
What we now call a handkerchief. In the 18th century, "handkerchief" generally referred to a neck
handkerchief.
polonaise A gown which has been pulled up in back
and on the sides into large poufs of fabric by means of cords,
buttons, ties, or whatever means. Any open style of gown may be
polonaised. The polonaise probably developed from the style of retroussé dans les poches. Examples: polonaise jacket A rather long jacket, generally with a
cutaway front bodice and a hem which curves from the skirt front to bottom,
rather than being cut square. Usually edged with wide ruching.
Examples:
pompon A knot or cluster of ribbons, flowers, jewels, feathers, and/or similar materials, sometimes worn in the hair as a decoration in lieu of a cap or pinner when dressed very finely.
pudding cap or pudding A padded cap worn by toddlers to protect the head from bumps. Generally consists of a padded band around the head, often shaped slightly, with tapes or padded bands crisscrossing over the top.
quilt 1) A bedcovering made of two layers of fabric with batting between them, stitched in patterns to hold the layers together. Research is still out on how often quilts were made of small shapes of different fabrics pieced together in designs, but as the debate is between "virtually never" and "very rarely", reenactors should avoid pieced quilts. (Obviously, a quilt could be pieced together from larger pieces, just as any garment could be, to deal with a lack of fabric or a lack of fabric width.) 2) Short for "quilted petticoat".
Examples of quilted petticoats:
retroussé dans les poches Refers to pulling the hem of the gown inside, up, and out through the pocket slit. This could keep the garment out of the way while working, but is also charmingly attractive. Possibly spread from the working classes to the upper classes and then evolved into polonaising. I have not found any examples of petticoats pulled up this way—only gowns—which is not too good for the theory of this style starting with the working class. However, you do find common gowns and petticoats "rucked up" (perhaps only a modern term), by which I mean haphazardly pulled up and tucked up inside under the waistband, usually in front or at front and sides, but sometimes all around or in other ways. Examples of gowns retroussé dans les poches:
Examples of gowns or petticoats "rucked up":
riding hood Evidence is lacking, but this appears to have been either a hood with a substantial cape, or a short cloak with a hood.
robings Folds or strips of fabric along the front edges of a gown with an open bodice. Early in the century, robings were folds in the gown fabric along the bodice edge that released into the skirt; later, they were usually cut separately and applied to the edge of the bodice. Robings often had trim applied to them, such as ruching. Robings are usually cut from the same fabric as the gown, but there are a few rare depictions of gowns with robings and cuffs (or cuff facings?) of the same fabric but not of the main gown fabric, and slightly more written descriptions of contrasting robings and cuffs middle and lower class women; this may only have been an early-century fashion.
round gown A particular style of gown where the bodice has a front closure and laps over the skirt, which is closed; that is, it completely encircles the body. Since the skirt is entirely closed, one must either step into the gown or put it on over the head; next you tie the skirt closed; finally you close the bodice over it. Compare "closed gown"; contrast "open gown". Examples:
sacque or sack (back) (gown), robe à la française A long gown with fabric hanging free from the shoulders, or stitched down for a few inches and hanging free from there to the hem. This fabric is stacked in multiple deep pleats. At the beginning of the 18th century, the gown hung freely from the shoulders front and back. Soon it became fitted in front by means of a back lining to which the back fabric was not attached. Eventually, the back was stitched down a short way down from the neckline and the back became fitted as well by means of being tacked to the lining, with only the folds hanging free. Long after the Revolutionary period, this style came to be called "Watteau" because Watteau depicted it so well (see Gersaint's Sign Shop on the Web at Jim's Fine Art Collection and at the Artchive (detail)), but this is not a period term. The typical sack is trimmed with straight or S-curving gathered, ruched, or poufed trim around the neckline and along the stomacher to the waist, and similar but wider trim down the front of the gown. Sometimes there is narrow trim at the edge of the front opening (bodice and/or skirt) with wider trim beside it. The petticoat nearly always matches the gown and is typically trimmed with a wide applied flounce, plus narrower flounces or straight or S-curving gathered, ruched, or poufed trim both above and below the main flounce; this trim is typically only on the part of the petticoat which shows in front; not only is the rest of the petticoat typically untrimmed, but sometimes the top back of the petticoat, which does not show even when the gown is worn retroussé dans les poches is not only untrimmed but also of a cheaper fabric. Examples:
shawl This word was not in common use until well after the American Revolution. The first (and only) usage in the on-line Pennsylvania Gazette dates to 1790. According to Oxford English Dictionary citations, the word was originally used, even before the American Revolution, specifically in reference to imported Kashmir shawls. Instead of "shawl", use "handkerchief", "short cloak", "mantle", "tippet", mantelet, or pelisse, depending on the cut of the garment you are referring to. As for whether garments of this sort existed, there do not appear to have been any made to shape; that is, rectangular garments woven to shape and finished with fringe or hemming. Of course, any length of cloth could have been pressed into service on the spur of the moment. I have encountered dozens and dozens of cloaks, short cloaks, and handkerchiefs in art, but only one rectangular wrap, on a Scottish lowlander, the Edinburgh Lacewoman by David Allan, drawn in 1784 (see Before the Clearances: 17th and 18th Century Scottish Costume for more information on this artwork and its context). Well, okay, I can cite one anomalous example of what looks like a shawl: The Erskine Family Group by David Allan, 1783, in Paintings of the British Social Scene: From Hogarth to Sickert by E.D.H. Johnson; also at The Georgian Family and the Parental Role (The New Child: British Art and the Origins of Modern Childhood: An exhibition at the University Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, UC Berkeley August 23 - November 19, 1995). In this painting, a young woman holds a baby; she and the baby are covered by a shawl(?) with patterned, fringed ends; she is coiffed in very forward-looking fashion with a fringe of bangs over her forehead and her hair falling in loose curls on the nape of her neck, and a ribbon in her hair but no cap. Or maybe her anomalous dress has something to do with her being Scottish; I don't know. (Also, I can cite several Italian examples—see assorted works by Pietro Longhi)—but the focus of this glossary is American and British terminology and costume, not Italian.)
shift A woman's underwear. The French word chemise was not used by English speakers until well after the American Revolution.
Men sometimes had the neck slit of their shirt edged with a ruffle of fine fabric or lace on one or both sides. Shirts with ruffles along the neck slit:
short cloak Short version of a cloak. For common women, typically wrist length although may be somewhat shorter or longer. Fancy short cloaks, worn by the upper classes and by common women with reason to dress above their station (mantua makers, milliners, procuresses, whores, and perhaps lady's maids) sometimes or always went by other names such as "mantle", "pelerine", "capuchin", and perhaps "riding hood" and "hood".
shortgown Reenactor spelling of short gown (1).
short gown 1) A particular style of woman's garment, cut in a T shape (sometimes with gussets at the lower side seams) and slit down the front, and loosely fitted to the body at the neck by means of a casing and string, or pleats, and at the waist by means of a casing and string or by lapping and pinning the front edges. See Short Gowns by Kidwell. I haven't found any examples of this garment being referred to as a "shortgown" (no space). This garment may be a later development, appearing only on the eve of the Revolution, or possibly not until years after. 2) Any gown which is short, meaning not full length. For example, a pet-en-l'air, or a robe à l'anglaise which has simply been made (or cut) to three-quarter length. It is unlikely that short (pause) gowns were referred to as shortgowns (no space). Actually, we're having a little trouble right now finding instances of short gowns (meaning gowns which are short) other than pets-en-l'air. These probably are, though: November 22, 1764, The Pennsylvania Gazette, ITEM #34662, "RUN away from the Subscriber hereof, living in Pilesgrove, Salem County, Providence of West new Jersey, two servants, [...] a Girl, born in Ireland, and came over about two Years ago, [...] about 20 Years of Age, [...] had on a slanting short red and white Calicoe Gown ..."; December 3, 1767, The Pennsylvania Gazette, ITEM #41572, "RUN away from the Subscriber, in Hill Town, Bucks County, an indented Servant Girl [...]; had on, when she went away, a short white Linen Gown".
skirt 1) Often plural. The part of a garment which hangs below the waist. For example, the skirts of a coat, jacket, gown. 2) Non-standard term for a petticoat. Although there are some examples of the word "skirt" being used to mean "petticoat" (see The Pennsylvania Gazette), the normal and usual term was clearly petticoat.
slattern A woman who is careless in her dress; that is, who does not trouble to dress fashionably or neatly. A slattern's clothing is likely to be ill-fitted, mismatched, old, worn, dirty, and/or torn.
sleeveless bodice (modern) A bodice (3) without sleeves. Not an 18th century garment, at least not in Great Britain, France (except possibly as part of some highly specialized regional peasant costume), and the American colonies. See The Mythical Bodice by Ingrid Schaaphok in the Brigade Courier, Nov/Dec 1999. Some sleeveless upper body garments did exist—such as stays, jumps, waistcoats, and elements of masquerade costume—but they are cut differently from what we know as "sleeveless bodices" and are limited in the circumstances in which they can be worn.
slippers Shoes without backs. Sometimes called "mules". Examples:
smock 1. A man's loose overshirt. While in the 19th and 20th centuries it was common to control the fullness at the top of the body and sleeves by pleating the fabric finely and oversewing the pleats with the stitching called "smocking", this was not done in the 18th century (unless possibly, rarely, very late in the century), and the fullness was left loose.
2. (archaic) 17th century term for a woman's shift, still in use in a few outlying areas, and seen more broadly in the term "smock race'" meanding a woman's foot race with a shift as the winner's prize.
socks Pretty much the same in the 18th century as now. Socks were very rarely worn; the standard garment was stockings. Socks and stockings are not the same thing: socks end below the knee and stockings go up over the knee.
