Fichu
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A fichu (Template:IPAc-en, from the French "thrown over") is a large, square kerchief worn by women to fill in the low neckline of a bodice.
Description
It originated in the United Kingdom in the 18th century and remained popular there and in France through the 19th with many variations,[1] as well as in the United States.[2] The fichu was generally of linen fabric and was folded diagonally into a triangle and tied, pinned, or tucked into the bodice in front.
A fichu is sometimes used with a brooch to conceal the closure of a décolleté neckline. The fichu can thus be fastened in the front, or crossed over the chest. The cross-over fichu sometimes extended all the way to the back. Some models include a large over-the-shoulders back piece.[3]
The fichu found in several traditional cultures resembles a poncho that covers only the shoulders and chest.
Gallery
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Elizabeth Sewall Salisbury wears an embroidered fichu pinned at the neck, 1789.
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Jeune femme au fichu blanc, between 1790 and 1800
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American or European, cotton, mid-19th century.
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Probably American, cotton, mid-19th century.
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French, silk, mid-19th century.
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British, linen, knotted, mid-19th century.
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American or European, silk, mid-19th century.
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Fichu en indienne, traditionally worn in the Comtat Venaissin.
See also
Citations
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General and cited references
- Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press, 2002. Template:ISBN.
- 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. Template:ISBN. Template:LCCN. Template:Catalog lookup link.
- Ribeiro, Aileen: Dress in Eighteenth Century Europe 1715–1789, Yale University Prison, 2002, Template:ISBN.