Sheath Dress Guide

Information Regarding Sheath Dresses presented by Apparel Search

Women's Clothes   Women's Dresses   Clothes 

Welcome to our favorite guide to Sheath Dresses.  Are you actually wanting to learn more about the sheath dress style?  Well, we hope you are because the reality is that you have found our page on the topic.  In this Women's clothing section of the Apparel Search directory, you will find all sorts of interesting information regarding the sheath dress. 

The word sheath in regard to fashion means a woman's close-fitting dress.

A sheath dress is a fitted, straight cut dress, often nipped at the waistline with no waist seam.

Regarding the construction of the dress, the bodice and skirt are joined together by combining the skirt darts into one dart.  This method aligns the skirt darts with the bodice waist dart. The dress emphasizes the waist as its skirt portion is fitted.

This style of dress often is worn with short sleeves and reaches knee in length.   However, the women's sheath dress can come in many lengths and patterns.

What is the princess sheath dress?

The Princess Sheath dress was popular between 1878 and 1880. It was associated with the Princess of Wales, later known as Queen Alexandra. The Princess sheath is constructed with the bodice and skirt cut in one with a gored skirt. The dress was worn without a bustle but with a small pad. To tighten the front of the dress, ribbons were attached in the back's interior.

Although this is not the first glimpse of the sheath dress design, it became popular in the United States starting in the early 1900's.

During the early 1900s, Americans were still looking to Paris for the latest trends. American socialites traveled to Europe to view collections and receive custom outfits. Paul Poiret is credited as the first designer of the modern sheath dress. In doing so, he also created a rubber girdle as an alternative to the boned corset to wear under the dress.  In great contrast to the emphasized curves of Victorian era and earlier dress, the sheath dress offered a sleek look that revealed the legs and lower torso with a slit.  The style of the sheath dress reached the United States in 1908.

By the 1950s, the sheath dress became the modern look for American women.

One of the most notable sheath dresses of all time is the black Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn. In 1961, Hepburn wore a Hubert de Givenchy black sheath dress in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. By this time, her dress became known as the little black dress.

Audrey Hepburn Sheath Little Black Dress

In recent years, the sheath dress is worn as a cocktail dress. The pattern can also be seen worn on brides as sheath dresses are popular as wedding dresses

This style of dress goes back to at least ancient Egypt.  The sheath dress design is commonly seen in Egyptian art.

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