Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
Fantasywear is a retail category of clothing, usually including lingerie, built around themed character costumes. Standard examples are themed ensembles such as the French maid outfit and uniform-style costumes, made in materials such as PVC, satin or rubber. As a clothing category it sits between lingerie and fancy dress: the garments are costume sets, sold complete with their character accessories. This page explains how the category is defined, the ensembles it standardly includes, and how it differs from both everyday lingerie and general costume.
Such costumes are exampled by the Fembot or French Maid or Fraulein outfits ensembles, or by the use of materials such as PVC, Satin or Rubber.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fantasywear ). Apparel Industry definition modified by Apparel Search 8/3/05 |
Fantasywear is organised differently from the rest of the lingerie trade. Ordinary lingerie is sold by garment type — bras, briefs, slips, nightgowns — while fantasywear is sold by character. Each product is a named ensemble: the maid, the nurse, the uniform and stage-character outfits that costume retailers stock as complete sets, with the dress, apron, cap, cuffs and other identifying pieces boxed together. That is why the category is catalogued alongside fetish clothing in these definitions: the same retailers stock both, and the same materials — PVC, satin, rubber, lace and sheer synthetics — run through both ranges.
As garments, fantasywear pieces are costume construction rather than everyday clothing construction. Seams, fastenings and fabrics are specified for appearance and short wear, sizes are usually simplified to a small range, and the identifying details — white lace trim on a black dress for the maid, for example — matter more than fit refinements. The category overlaps fancy dress at one end and lingerie at the other: a comparatively modest themed dress is effectively a costume, while the skimpiest sets are lingerie with a character theme. For definition purposes the useful line is intent: fantasywear garments are made to represent a character, and that, rather than any single fabric or garment type, is what the term covers.
Fantasywear is a style of clothing, usually including lingerie, built around themed character costumes, exemplified by outfits such as the French maid ensemble and made in materials such as PVC, satin or rubber.
Lingerie is underwear and nightwear in general. Fantasywear is themed: each garment set represents a character or uniform and is sold as a complete costume ensemble with matching accessories.
Fantasywear commonly uses PVC, satin and rubber among its materials, chosen for the look of the character being represented, alongside the lace and sheer fabrics of lingerie.