Fichu
Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A fichu is a large, square kerchief worn by women in the eighteenth century to fill in the low neckline of a bodice. The fichu was generally of linen fabric and was folded diagonally into a triangle and tied, pinned or tucked into the bodice in front. This page explains how the fichu was worn and arranged, why a modesty piece became a fashionable accessory in its own right, and how it relates to the kerchief and neckerchief.
A fichu
is a large,
square
References
- Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-300-09580-5
- Cunnington, C.Willett and Phillis Emily Cunnington: Handbook of English Costume in the Eighteenth Century. London: Faber, 1972.
- Payne, Blanche: History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century, Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS
- Ribeiro, Aileen: Dress in Eighteenth Century Europe 1715-1789, Yale University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-300-09151-6
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fichu) Definition Modified by Apparel Search 2/27/07 |
Modesty Piece and Fashion Accessory
Eighteenth-century bodices were cut low, and the fichu reconciled that fashion with standards of daytime modesty: one square of cloth, folded to a triangle, filled the opening and could be arranged plainly or elaborately. The simplest fichus were plain linen, worn daily. Fashionable versions added lace edges, embroidery and fine muslin, and were arranged in soft folds pinned at the front — at which point the modesty piece had become an ornament, framing the neckline it was meant to fill. Portraits of the period show both extremes, from working women's plain tucked fichus to the gauzy, ruffled arrangements of fashionable dress in the decades covered by the 1700–1750 and 1750–1795 fashion periods.
The garment's references tell its story: Linda Baumgarten's What Clothes Reveal studies it in colonial and federal American dress, and the Cunningtons' Handbook of English Costume in the Eighteenth Century and Blanche Payne's History of Costume place it in the century's costume generally. The fichu belongs to the kerchief family — head and neck cloths named by shape and use — and its name survives in later fashion revivals whenever a soft triangular neck cloth is worn over a low neckline, though the eighteenth-century bodice it was designed for is its defining context. Surviving fichus in museum collections, in linen and lace, are among the most useful evidence for how eighteenth-century necklines were actually worn day to day, because portraits show the arranged result while the cloth itself shows the pinning, tucking and folding that produced it.
Common Questions
What is a fichu?
A fichu is a large, square kerchief worn by women in the 18th century to fill in the low neckline of a bodice, generally of linen, folded diagonally into a triangle.
How was a fichu worn?
The fichu was folded diagonally into a triangle and tied, pinned, or tucked into the bodice in front, filling the neckline.
How does a fichu differ from a neckerchief?
A neckerchief is a kerchief worn around the neck generally. The fichu was specifically the large square kerchief arranged across the front to fill the low neckline of an eighteenth-century bodice.