Flounce

A Gathered Strip, Sewn On as Decoration

A flounce is one of the oldest and simplest ways to decorate a garment, because it needs nothing but cloth and gathering. The term refers to a strip of material gathered and sewn to a dress or skirt as a decoration. The construction deserves attention, because the flounce's look comes entirely from one ratio: the strip is cut longer, often much longer, than the edge it will be sewn to, and its length is then gathered, drawn up on threads into small even folds, until it matches that edge. When the gathered edge is stitched down, all the surplus length has nowhere to go but outward, so the strip falls from the seam in waves and ripples, flaring wider as it hangs. A plain band of the same width, cut to the edge's exact length, would lie flat and quiet; the flounce, built from surplus, moves.

That movement is the decoration. A flounced hem swings and ripples as the wearer walks, catching light differently on each wave, and it adds apparent width and weight at the bottom of a skirt without adding a second skirt beneath it. Flounces can be used singly, as one deep gathered strip finishing a hem, or in tiers, several narrower flounces sewn in overlapping rows down a skirt, each tier shading the seam of the one below. Tiered flounces build the full, rustling skirts of period dress and of dance and festive clothing, where the rippling layers are the whole effect. The fabric choice controls the character: a soft, light material makes flounces that float and flutter, a stiffer material makes flounces that stand out in sculptural waves, and a flounce cut from the garment's own fabric reads as part of its structure, while a contrasting flounce in lace or a lighter fabric reads as applied ornament.

Flounces in the Family of Gathered Trims

The flounce belongs to a family of trims that all work by gathering surplus fabric, and distinguishing it from its relatives sharpens the definition. A flounce is a separate strip, gathered along its top edge and sewn to the garment, with its fullness falling freely below its seam; its fullness comes from gathering, distributed along the seam in ripples. Its close relative the ruffle is essentially the same gathered strip used at smaller scales and at edges such as necklines and cuffs. Historical sleeve finishes used the construction at the wrist: engageantes in the 18th century took the form of ruffles or flounces of linen, cotton or lace tacked to elbow-length sleeves, detachable flounces in everything but permanence. Fringe, by contrast, decorates an edge with loose ends rather than a gathered strip, and a pleated trim folds its surplus in regular flat folds rather than rippling gathers, so each trim gives an edge a different texture while solving the same problem of finishing it with interest.

For a dressmaker, the flounce raises practical questions that its simple definition hides. The strip must be gathered evenly, or the waves bunch at one point and starve at another; the seam that joins it carries the weight of the surplus cloth and must be strong enough for a hem that will swing; and the free edge needs a finish fine enough not to drag the flounce down, often a narrow rolled hem. Width is a judgment call: a narrow flounce is a ripple of emphasis at an edge, a deep flounce changes the garment's silhouette and length. Because the term is defined by construction rather than by period or garment, flounces recur whenever fashion wants movement at an edge, on a dress or skirt first of all, but the same gathered strip appears wherever a maker wants cloth to finish in waves instead of in a straight, quiet line.