For the wall in fortification, see Chemise (wall). In medieval Castles the chemise (etym fr shirt) was typically a low wall encircling the Keep, protecting the base of the tower

Fashionable young men in early 16th century Germany showed a lot of fine linen in a studied negligee. The negligee (or négligée, literally meaning "careless" -- French négligé is a form of Womenswear intended for wear at night and in the This unidentified gentleman has a band of "smocking" round the collar of his shift. (Portrait by Ambrosius Holbein, 1518, at the Hermitage Museum)

The term chemise can refer to the classic smock or shift, or else can refer to certain modern types of women's undergarments and dresses. Ambrosius Holbein (c 1494 – c 1519 was a German and Swiss artist in painting Drawing and Printmaking. The State Hermitage Museum (Государственный Эрмитаж Gosudarstvennyj Èrmitaž) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of the largest In the classical usage it is a simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirts commonly worn in Western nations. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings

Etymology

Chemise is a French term (which today simply means shirt). French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people This is a cognate of the Italian word camicia, and the Spanish / Portuguese word camisa (subsequently borrowed by Hindi / Urdu), all deriving ultimately from the Latin camisia. Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. ^[1] The English called the same shirt a smock and the Irish called it a léine (pronounced /ˈleɪnjə/).

The history of the chemise

The chemise seems to have been developed from the Roman tunica and first became popular in the European Middle Ages. A tunic is any of several types of Clothing for the body with or without Sleeves and of various lengths reaching from the hips to the ankles Women wore shifts or chemises underneath their gowns or robes; men wore chemises with their trousers or braies, and covered the chemises with garments such as doublets, robes, etc. A gown ( Medieval Latin gunna) is a (usually loose outer Garment from knee- to full-length worn by men and women in Europe from A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. A robe is distinguished from a Cape or Cloak by the fact that it usually has Sleeves The English Trousers are an item of Clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across A doublet is a man's snug-fitting buttoned Jacket that was worn in Western Europe from the Middle Ages through to the mid-17th century A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. A robe is distinguished from a Cape or Cloak by the fact that it usually has Sleeves The English In those times, it was usually the only piece of clothing that was washed regularly.

In Western countries, women's shifts did not fall out of fashion until the early 20th century, when they were generally replaced by brassieres, panties, girdles, and full slips. brassiere ( Brit /'bɹæzɪə(ɹ/ US /bɹə'ziɹ/ commonly referred to as a bra, /bɹɑ/ is an article of clothing that covers supports and elevates Panties (in the USA and Canada or knickers (in the UK and Commonwealth are a form of Underwear, usually light and snug-fitting designed to be worn by Women This article is about the item of clothing In the Scots language, girdle refers to a cooking griddle. A slip is a Woman 's Undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the Skin from coarse

Men's chemises may be said to survive as the common T-shirt, which still serves as an undergarment. A T-shirt (or tee shirt) is a Shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's Torso. The chemise also morphed into the smock-frock, a garment worn by English laborers until the early 20th century. A smock-frock or smock is an outer garment worn by rural workers in England and Wales from at least the early Eighteenth century. Its loose cut and wide sleeves were well adapted to heavy labor. The name smock is nowadays still used for military combat jackets in the UK, whereas in the Belgian army the term has been corrupted to smoke-vest. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those

Historical construction of the chemise

Chemise or shift of the 1830s has elbow-length sleeves and is worn under a corset and petticoats. A corset is a Garment worn to mold and shape the Torso into a desired shape for Aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or A petticoat or underskirt is an article of Clothing for Women; specifically an Undergarment to be worn under a Skirt, dress or

A chemise, shift, or smock was usually sewn at home, by the women of a household. It was assembled from rectangles and triangles cut from one piece of cloth so as to leave no waste. The poor would wear skimpy chemises pieced from a narrow piece of rough cloth; the rich might have voluminous chemises pieced from thin, smooth fine linen.

Modern usage of the term

In modern usage the term chemise generally refers to women's fashions that vaguely resemble the older shifts but are typically more delicate, and usually provocative. Most commonly the term refers to a loose-fitting, sleeveless, shirt-like undergarment or piece of lingerie. Undergarments are clothes worn under other clothes often next to the skin Lingerie is a term for fashionable and alluring women's Undergarments It derives from the French word linge, "washables" — as in faire le linge It can also refer to a short, sleeveless dress that hangs straight from the shoulders and fits loosely at the waist.

There is a similar type of lingerie/sleepwear known as the babydoll. A babydoll is a short Sleeveless loose fitting Nightgown or Negligee intended as Nightwear for Women. Both terms describe short, loose-fitting, sleeveless fashions. Typically, though, babydolls are more loose-fitting at the hips and are generally designed to more resemble a young girl's nightgown (although many modern varieties only vaguely follow this definition adding various sexualizing features which, of course, would only be appropriate for an adult).

See also

• Lingerie
• Undergarments
• Hosiery

References

• Cut My Cote, by Dorothy Burnham, Royal Ontario Museum, 1973. Lingerie is a term for fashionable and alluring women's Undergarments It derives from the French word linge, "washables" — as in faire le linge Undergarments are clothes worn under other clothes often next to the skin Hosiery is knitted coverings for the legs and feet Also referred to as legwear hosiery describes garments worn directly on the feet and Legs The term A survey of shirt patterns over the ages, with diagrams.

• "A Plain Linen Shift: Plain Sewing Makes the Most of Your Fabric", by Kathleen R. Smith, Threads Magazine, Feb/Mar 1987.

External links

• How to make an 18th century chemise.