Tell Me What You are Wearing…

human being tshirt
T-shirt for sale by http://quotesgram.com/, a company which specializes in printed quotes.

Here we are, back in the swing of the semester!  I’ve been trying to post new things for you every-other Wednesday (and once a month in the summer).  This is subject to the frenzy of other library responsibilities, of course, but one has to have goals, right?  We will alternate a longer, feature post, like “Needles in the Stacks” , with shorter, tidbit posts like this one.  And soon we will debut our series on new designers at established fashion houses*.  We hope you’ll like the new features.

Words are important.  Words give us tools to communicate ideas.  One huge area of fashion-related confusion concerns the words used for different fabrics and styles.  That’s why I thought these posts on the Oxford English Dictionary’s blog might be on interest:

cardigan

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/08/7-clothing-names-origins/

It’s interesting how many fabrics took their name from the city or area where they were first made.  And now, every time you throw on a sweater, you can remember the 7th Earl of Cardigan and his leadership at the Charge of the Light Brigade.

 

This post by the OED demonstrates a few cases where items of clothing have assumed an abbreviation of their functions or origin-parts.  One such word is “jeggings”, the combination of jeans made in a stretchy enough fabric to be leggings.

HarperBazar_Combination
This is a woman’s “combination” from an 1892 Harper’s Bazar magazine.

 

Another is “combs” for combinations, a type of underwear that incorporates both long john leggings with an underwear top, such as a camisole.

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2012/02/the-language-of-clothes/

As this next post points out, each decade of fashion brings new words for that fashion.  Many of those words (i.e. bob haircut, go-go boots, zoot suit) become synonymous with the period where they were first introduced (i.e. 20’s, 60’s, 40’s Harlem).

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/07/fedoras-mullets-decades-fashion-words/

Cab Call onstage
The legendary bandleader Cab Calloway, in his heyday, wearing his signature white zoot suit.

 

 

Speaking of words, Mr. Calloway made very interesting use of them in his biggest number:

Cab Calloway performing his signature number

Some things are so special they need a word all their own!

 

 

*Points to you if you can come up with a witty name for this feature.  Email me at [email protected] with suggestions.

Comments

One response to “Tell Me What You are Wearing…”

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    Visitor

    Thank you. 🙂