Smock-Frock
Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A smock-frock, or smock, is an outer garment worn by rural workers in England and Wales from at least the early eighteenth century. The traditional smock-frock is made of heavy linen or wool and varies from thigh-length to mid-calf length. Its characteristic feature is fullness across the back, breast and sleeves, folded into narrow unpressed pleats called tubes and held in place and decorated by smocking, a type of surface embroidery in a honeycomb pattern worked across the pleats, which controls the fullness while allowing a degree of stretch.
A smock-frock or smock is an outer garment worn by rural workers in England and Wales from at least the early eighteenth century.
The traditional smock-frock is made of heavy linen or wool and varies from thigh-length to mid-calf length. Characteristic features of the smock-frock are fullness across the back, breast, and sleeves folded into "tubes" (narrow unpressed pleats) held in place and decorated by smocking, a type of surface embroidery in a honeycomb pattern across the pleats that controls the fullness while allowing a degree of stretch.
Origins
It is uncertain whether smock-frocks are "frocks made like smocks" or "smocks made like frocks"
that is, whether the garment evolved from the smock, the shirt or underdress of the medieval period, or from the frock, an overgarment of equally ancient origin. What is certain is that the fully-developed smock-frock resembles a melding of the two older garments.
Types of smock-frocks
- The round smock is a pullover style with an open neckline and a flat, round collar. This smock is reversible front-to-back.
- The shirt smock is styled like a man's shirt, with a collar and a short placket opening in the front. It is not reversible.
- The coat smock worn by Welsh shepherds is long and buttons up the front in the manner of a coat.
Flowering and decay
By the mid-nineteenth century, wearing of traditional smock-frocks by country laborers was dying out. Romantic nostalgia for England's rural past over the next decades, as epitomized by the illustrations of Kate Greenaway, led to a fashion for women's and children's dresses and blouses loosely styled after smock-frocks. These garments are generally of very fine linen or cotton and feature delicate smocking embroidery done in cotton floss in contrasting colors; smocked garments with pastel-colored embroidery remain popular for babies.
Socks - rhymes with smocks...
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smock-frock) 8/5/05 |
|
|
Origins and Decline
It is uncertain whether smock-frocks are frocks made like smocks or smocks made like frocks: whether the garment evolved from the smock, the shirt or underdress of the medieval period, or from the frock, an overgarment of equally ancient origin. The fully developed smock-frock resembles a melding of the two. What is certain is its working life: for well over a century it was the standard protective outer garment of the English and Welsh countryside, its heavy cloth standing between the labourer and dirt, weather and wear, its smocked panels giving room to swing a tool or lift a load.
By the mid-nineteenth century, traditional smock-frocks were dying out among country labourers as factory-made clothing spread. Romantic nostalgia for England's rural past, epitomised by the illustrations of Kate Greenaway, then turned the smock into fashion: women's and children's dresses and blouses loosely styled after smock-frocks, generally of very fine linen or cotton with delicate smocking in contrasting colours. Smocked garments with pastel embroidery remain popular for babies, so the smock's second life as a decorative technique has now lasted longer than its first life as workwear. The Museum of English Rural Life holds smocks for study, and the garment remains the clearest surviving example of embroidery used as engineering, decoration and occupational badge in a single piece of clothing.
Common Questions
What is smocking?
Smocking is surface embroidery worked in a honeycomb pattern across gathered pleats. On a smock-frock it does two jobs at once: it holds the garment's fullness in controlled tubes across the back, breast and sleeves, and it decorates the work garment, while the honeycomb structure still stretches enough for physical labour.
What are the three types of smock-frock?
The round smock is a pullover style with an open neckline and a flat, round collar, and it is reversible front to back. The shirt smock is styled like a man's shirt, with a collar and a short placket opening in front, and is not reversible. The coat smock, worn by Welsh shepherds, is long and buttons up the front in the manner of a coat.
What did the embroidery on a smock-frock mean?
Embroidery styles varied by region, and motifs became traditional for occupations: wheel shapes for carters and wagoners, sheep and crooks for shepherds, and so on. Most of this embroidery was done in heavy linen thread, often in the same colour as the smock itself.
More to Explore
- garment
- linen
- wool
- sleeves
- pleats
- embroidery
- smock
- frock
- collar
- shirt
- placket
- coat
- dresses
- blouses
- Frock coat
- Smocks at the Museum of English Rural Life
- Origins of the smock at Historical Boys' Clothing
- Underwear
- Kimono Definition
- Socks
- GNU Free Documentation License
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smock-frock