Miscellaneous Definitions — accessories, trims, tools and general fashion terms from Apparel Search
Padding is material sometimes added to clothes, often to enhance appearance by improving a physical feature. It has been used for the breasts, for height in shoes, and to widen the shoulders in coats and other garments for men. Shoulder pads added to dresses and blouses gave women a broader, more masculine outline that was sometimes thought to be of benefit in business situations, even though prominent shoulders are not a natural female feature. Padding is also added for insulation in coats and outer garments for cold climates, and for cushioning in sporting goods and protective clothing.
In fashion, padding is material sometimes added to clothes. It is often done in an attempt to enhance appearance by 'improving' a physical feature, often a sexually significant one. Thus, there is padding for:
Breasts (sometimes called (in English), falsies)
The male crotch (usually called a codpiece)
Height (usually in shoes and often called (in English) elevator shoes)
Width of shoulders (in coats and other garments for men)
Some padding is added to emphasize particular physical features that are usually not present. Women, for instance, rarely have prominent shoulders, but for some years shoulder pads have been added to dresses (blouses, etc). The effect was unnatural for women, but gave them a more masculine outline which was sometimes thought to be of benefit in business situations.
Padding is also added to clothing for insulation or cushioning reasons. Thus, many coats and outergarments (especially those for outdoor use in cold climates) are padded with such materials as felt or down or feathers or artificial insulations. Cushioning padding is included in some sporting goods, especially those intended for use in combat sports (eg, fencing, some martial arts, etc.). Garments intended for actual use in combat were once commonly padded (eg, by the ancient Greeks under armor, or by the Japanese until the mid-19th century), but have largely been replaced by light armor made of, for instance, Kevlar. If included in a vest, such armor makes a bullet-proof vest.
See also shoulder straps, spaghetti straps, sewing, tailoring, dressmaker, zippers, rhinestones, rivets, sequins, velcro, trimming
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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/padding). Glossary definition modified by the Apparel Search Company on 1/3/06. |
A shoulder pad is padding used as shaping, not as carrying support. Placed inside a coat, jacket, dress or blouse at the shoulder point, it adds width and firmness where the garment would otherwise follow the natural slope of the body. In men's coats and other garments the aim has traditionally been a broader, straighter shoulder line. In women's dresses and blouses the same device produced a deliberately stronger outline: women rarely have prominent shoulders, yet for some years pads were added precisely to create that prominence. The result was described as unnatural in anatomical terms, but fashion does not always prize anatomical accuracy. A widened shoulder makes the waist and hips look narrower by contrast, gives a tailored garment a clean hang from a firm top edge, and was at times thought to project authority in business situations, where a more masculine outline was equated with seriousness.
Shoulder padding belongs to a wider family of appearance padding named in the same tradition. Padding has been used for the breasts, sometimes called falsies, for the male crotch in the form of a codpiece, and for height in shoes, often called elevator shoes. What unites these otherwise different devices is intention: each adds material where the body does not supply the desired contour, so that the dressed silhouette differs from the undressed one. A tailor judges such padding by proportion and concealment. Too little does nothing, too much announces itself at the seam, and a pad that shifts or shows its edge defeats its own purpose. Cut, thickness and placement therefore matter as much as the idea itself, and a well-set shoulder pad is felt in the improved hang of the whole garment rather than noticed as an object in its own right.
Not all padding is about appearance. A second, entirely practical tradition adds padding to clothing for insulation or cushioning. Many coats and outer garments, especially those made for outdoor use in cold climates, are padded with felt, or with down, feathers or artificial insulations that trap still air and slow heat loss. Here thickness is warmth, and the padding is distributed across the body of the garment rather than concentrated at one feature. A third use is cushioning against impact. Padding is included in some sporting goods, especially those intended for use in combat sports such as fencing and some martial arts, where a padded layer spreads a blow and protects the wearer.
Garments intended for actual use in combat were once commonly padded, for example by the ancient Greeks under armor and by the Japanese until the mid-19th century, but padded cloth protection has largely been replaced by light armor made of materials such as Kevlar. When that armor is included in a vest, it makes a bullet-proof vest. The progression clarifies what padding can and cannot do: soft, thick layers excel at warmth and at softening impact, but stopping modern projectiles required new fibres and constructions. Shoulder pads sit at the shaping end of this spectrum. They borrow the same basic means - added material inside a garment - but their work is visual and structural, giving tailored clothing a shoulder line the wearer does not naturally provide.
Padding is material sometimes added to clothes. It is often done to enhance appearance by improving a physical feature, and it is also added for insulation or cushioning reasons.
Shoulder pads gave women a broader, more masculine outline. For some years that effect was sometimes thought to be of benefit in business situations, even though the effect was unnatural for women.
Coats and outer garments for outdoor use in cold climates are padded with materials such as felt, down, feathers or artificial insulations. Cushioning padding is also included in some sporting goods.