From the early 19th century through the Edwardian period , the word waist was a term common in the United States for the bodice of a dress or for a blouse or woman's shirt . A shirtwaist was originally a separate blouse constructed like a shirt; i.e., of shirting fabric with turnover collar and cuffs and a front button closure. In the later Victorian period , the term became applied more generally to unlined blouses with relatively simple construction and usually of a cotton or linen fabric, but often highly ornamented with embroidery and lace .
5-402: From the mid-20th century, the term shirt-waist referred to a dress with the upper portion (the bodice and sleeves ) fashioned like a man's shirt, with a turnover collar and buttons down the front. Different embroidery were added to the shirtwaist, like rhinestones and different patterns. Women who entered the workforce often wore this style of garment, and it was thus seen as a symbol of
10-475: Is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, across a myriad of styles of dress. Styles vary from close-fitting to the arm, to relatively unfitted and wide sleeves, some with extremely wide cuffs. Long, hanging sleeves have been used variously as a type of pocket, from which the phrase "to have up one's sleeve" (to have something concealed ready to produce) comes. There are many other proverbial and metaphorical expressions associated with
15-421: The ' New Women ' that emerged in the late 19th century. They were also a staple amongst the suffragettes . This fashion -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sleeve A sleeve ( Old English : slīef , a word allied to slip , cf. Dutch sloof ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm , or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve
20-538: The 19th century and particularly during the Victorian era in Western culture, the sleeves on women's dress at times became extremely wide, rounded or otherwise gathered and 'puffy', necessitating the need for sleeve supports worn inside a garment to support the shape of the sleeve. Various early styles of Western sleeve are still found in types of academic dress . Sleeve length varies in modern times from barely over
25-427: The sleeve, such as "to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve", and "to laugh in one's sleeve". Early Western medieval sleeves were cut straight, and underarm triangle-shaped gussets were used to provide ease of movement. In the 14th century, the rounded sleeve cap was invented, allowing a more fitted sleeve to be inserted, with ease around the sleeve head and a wider cut at the back allowing for wider movement. Throughout
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