A-Z Fashion Dictionary

A

L I N E

A-line is the name of the triangle-like silhouette that begins fitted, typically starting at the waist, and gets gradually wider from the hips down to the hem. It echoes the shape of a capital A. The term was first coined in 1955 by Christian Dior to describe the shape of his A-line Spring Summer Collection. Later, it evolved into Yves Saint Laurent’s 1958 Trapeze Line in his first collection for the house, where the shape drops from the shoulder.

Zimmermann

Fall 2021 Ready-To-Wear Collection

B A S K E T B A G

Any handbag that is shaped like a basket. This classic style can be made from wicker of the type used in baskets, or it can be made from a wide variety of natural or synthetic materials that are interwoven, or from plastic or leather shaped like a basket.

C R U I S E

C O L L E C T I O N

Cruise Collections, or resort or holiday collections as they are otherwise known, launch between the two main ready-to-wear seasons; Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. Originally, they were created with the jet set in mind and catered for a client who needed a wardrobe for their mid-season travels to climates different to their own. Now, they have been adopted by many of the big brands as an opportunity to inject an entirely new must-have mid-season collection into market.

Valentino

Cruise Collection Resort 2021

D É G R A D É

Dégradé is where a fabric’s colour, or the fabric itself, fades like a sunset, from the densest pigment or thread to the finest. It is a popular technique in couture, with all the colours of the spectrum, from the deepest to the lightest, are often used in velvets or silks.

Fendi Spring/Summer 2021 Ready-To-Wear

E M P I R E

W A I S T L I N E

Empire Line takes its name from Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, who was married to Napoleon, leader of the First French Empire, in the 18th century. The style has Neo-classical inspirations — as this was a Court of Gods and Goddesses. The bodice is fitted under the bustline, while the silhouette is usually loosely fitted over the body.

Versace

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

F A U X F U R

Fake fur, also called faux fur, is known as pile fabric, which is engineered to have the appearance and warmth of animal fur.

First introduced on the market in 1929. These early attempts at imitation fur were made using hair from the alpaca. The true modern fake furs were not developed until the mid-1950s, with the introduction of acrylic polymers as replacements for alpaca hair. However, its increasing popularity has been credited to its promotion by animal rights and animal welfare organizations which claim that it is an animal-friendly alternative to traditional fur clothing

Sara Battaglia

G I G O T

S L E E V E

The gigot sleeve, also called the leg-of-mutton sleeve, was named for its resemblance to a sheep's hind leg: wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. With a large puff of material at the shoulder, gigot sleeves tapered sharply at the elbow to fit closely along the lower arm.

Alexander McQueen

Fall 2021 Ready-To-Wear

H O T P A N T S

Hotpants or hot pants describe extremely short shorts. The term was first used by Women's Wear Daily in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents that had been worn for sports or leisure since the 1930s.

Miu Miu

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

I V Y L E A G U E

Ivy League is a style of men's dress, popular during the late 1950s in the Northeastern United States, and said to have originated on college campuses, particularly those of the Ivy League and was the predecessor to the preppy style of dress. Ivy League clothing is derived from the casual attire worn by the British and American upper classes during the 1920s, for sporting pursuits such as golf, polo, sailing, rugby football, hunting, Water Polo, and tennis.

Ralph Lauren

Spring 2021Ready-To-Wear

J U T E

Jute fabric is a type of textile fiber made from the jute plant. Cotton takes the title of most-produced plant-based fiber, but jute is a close second. While jute isn’t very popular in the Western world, it is one of the primary textile fibers of India and neighboring countries. Jute plants grow to be over 10 feet high, and the fibers derived from these plants are harvested in a single long string. Therefore, jute fibers are among the longest natural textile fibers in the world.

Dior

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

K N I T

Knit fabric is made from one continuous fiber, like yarn or thread, which is repeatedly looped to form a garment. If you look closely at a piece of knit clothing, you'll see a pattern that looks like rows of fine braids throughout the material. Because of the way knitwear is made, the resulting soft textiles offer a significant amount of stretchiness for plenty of flexibility and rebound.

Johnathan Simkhai

Fall 2021 Ready-To-Wear

L I T T L E

B L A C K D R E S S

The little black dress (LBD) is a black evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel.[1]

It is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible. Its ubiquity is such that it is often simply referred to as the "LBD".

Alberta Ferretti

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

M O N O C H R O M E

It means a 'One Colour' outfit. It could be all blue (or shades of blue) all green (or shades of green) or even all shades of brown. That is the technical meaning of monochromatic. Many people think it means exactly the same colour head to toe, it can be, but it doesn’t have to be. One can choose a dark version of a colour and that can act as your neutral, and then team some lighter versions of that colour for interest.

Jacquemus

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

N O T C H E D

C O L L A R

A wing-shaped collar with a triangular notch in it, with the lapels (when on blazers and jackets) of a garment at the seam where collar and lapels. Often seen in blazers and blouses with business suits. Also, rounded notched collars appear in many forms of pajamas and nurses uniforms.

Jacquemus

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

O X F O R D S

A basic shoe style that either laces shut or is closed with some other fastening. Details of styling and cut will vary. Originally, the term was used by shoemakers to distinguish between low cut shoes and boots. Today the major distinction is in the fact that the shoe has a closing.

Emporio Armani

Spring 2021 Menswear

P R E P P Y

S T Y L E

Collins Dictionary defines preppy as a characteristic of or denoting a fashion style of neat, understated, and often expensive clothes; young but classic, suggesting that the wearer is well off, upper class, and conservative. preppy fashion has its roots in the Ivy League style of dress, which started around 1912 and became more established in the late 1950s

Valentino

Fall 2021 Ready-To-Wear

Q U I L T I N G

Quilting is a technique where two or more layers of fabric, usually with light padding in between, are sewn together with lines of stitching. The stitches are often worked in parallel lines, forming squares or diamonds in a geometric pattern. The fabric created appears padded in appearance and is popular for jackets, coats and footwear, as well as the classic patchwork quilt.

Chanel

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

R O M P E R

A romper suit, or just romper, is a one-piece or twopiece combination of shorts and a shirt. It is also known as a playsuit, its generally short sleeves and pant-legs contrasting with the typical long ones of the adult onesie or jumpsuit.

Zimmerman

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

S W E A T H E A R T

N E C K L I N E

Sweetheart necklines follow their namesake in shape, have a curved bottom edge that is concave down and usually doubly scalloped to resemble the top half of a heart. The side edges often converge on the neck, similar to halter necklines.

Zimmerman

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

T U L L E

Tulle is a lightweight, very fine, stiff netting. It can be made of various fibres, including silk, nylon, polyester and rayon. Polyester is the most common fibre used for tulle. Rayon tulle is very rare. Tulle is most commonly used for veils, gowns(particularly wedding gowns), and ballet tutus. Tulle comes in a wide array of colors and it is readily available. It can be dyed at home if it is made from nylon, rayon or silk but not if it's made from polyester.

Giambattista Valli

Spring 2021c Couture

U M B R E L L A

S K I R T

A full skirt with many gores that flare gradually from the waist to the hem. Also known as flare skirts, they have large volume and are cut in a way that they resemble an umbrella. (i.e. if the wearer spins, the skirt takes the form of a full circle aka an umbrella).

Valentino

Spring 2021 Couture

V O I L E

Voile is a soft, sheer fabric, usually made of 100% cotton or cotton blended with linen or polyester.

The term is French for veil. Because of its light weight, the fabric is mostly used in soft furnishing.

In tropical climates, voile is used for window treatments and mosquito nets. When used as curtain material, voile is similar to net curtains.

Valentino

Spring 2021 Couture

W I D E L E G

P A N T S

Unlike bell bottoms and flares, wide leg pants are as wide at the hem as they are throughout the rest of the leg, including the calves, knees and thighs. Wide leg pants can be baggy or maintain straight, tailored lines down the length of the leg. This style of pant has gone in and out of fashion over the years, and has been associated with different lifestyles and genres of music.

Fendi

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

X - R A Y

F A B R I C

In 2008, sheer fashion trend started from Europe and these are see-through fabrics. Any garment which is made from lace, mesh or sheer fabric comes under X-Ray fabric as it allows the wearer’s body to be seen through its fabric.

Moschino

Spring 2021 Ready-To-Wear

Y O K E S K I R T

A yoke is a fitted band at the top of a skirt that takes the place of a waistband. Instead of sitting up around the waist, they fit from the waist down over the hip 0r, from where ever the skirt in question starts on the hip.

Vivienne Westwood

Fall 2021 Ready-To-Wear

Z I P P E R S

Zippers are hookless fasteners. They have two rows of ‘teeth’ that slide together to bind and fasten openings on bags, skirts or trousers. Zips can be inserted into a slash or seam with a closed end. Elsa Schiaparelli was one of the first designers credited with turning zippers into a fashion statement back in the 1930s.

Burberry

Pre-Fall 2021