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:
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.
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/
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…”
Thank you. 🙂