Décolletage
Encyclopedia
Décolletage is the upper part of a woman's torso
, between her waist and neck, comprising her neck, shoulders, back and chest, that is exposed by the style of her clothing. However, the term is most commonly applied to a neckline
which reveals or emphasizes cleavage
. Low-cut necklines are a feature of ball gown
s, evening gown
s, leotard
s and swimsuit
s, among other fashions. Although décolletage does not itself prescribe the extent of exposure of a woman's upper chest, the design of a décolleté garment takes into account current fashions, aesthetics, social norms and the social occasion when a garment will be worn, and exposing of nipple
s or areolae is almost always considered toplessness
or partial nudity
, and not considered socially acceptable in most modern cultures, though that has not always been the case.
Décolletage is a French word which is derived from decolleter, meaning to reveal the neck or, more literally, "without a collar". The term was first used in English literature sometime before 1831. In strict usage, décolletage is the neckline extending about two handbreadths from the base of the neck down, recto and verso.
However, in 15th century Agnès Sorel
, mistress to Charles VII of France
, is credited with starting a fashion when she wore décolleté gowns which fully bared her breasts in the French court. In the 16th century, women's fashions featuring fully exposed breasts were common throughout society,for women of all social statuses.
Décolleté styles were popular in England in the 17th century and even Queen Mary II
and Henrietta Maria
, wife of Charles I of England
, were depicted with fully bared breasts; and architect Inigo Jones
designed a masque
costume for Henrietta Maria that fully revealed both of her breasts.
In aristocratic
and upper-class circles the display of breasts was at times regarded as a status symbol
, as a sign of beauty, wealth or social position. From the Renaissance
onwards, the bared breast even invoked associations with nude sculptures of classical Greece
that were exerting an influence on art, sculpture, and architecture of the period.
After the French Revolution
the décolletage become larger in the front and smaller in the back. During the fashions of the period 1795-1820, many women wore dresses which bared the bosom and shoulders. Towards the end of the Victorian period (end 19th century) the full collar was the fashion, though some décolleté dresses were worn on formal occasions. (See 1880s in fashion
.)
From the Victorian
period onward, however, social attitudes shifted to demand a woman's breasts to be covered in public. For ordinary wear, high collars were the norm for many years.
When it became fashionable, around 1913, for dresses to be worn with a modest round or V-shaped neckline, clergymen all over the world became deeply shocked. In the German Empire
, all of the Roman Catholic bishops joined in issuing a pastoral letter attacking modern fashions. Fashions became more restrained in terms of décolletage, while exposure of the leg became more permitted in Western societies, during World War I
and remained so for nearly half a century.
Lingerie
has long been low-cut and designed to emphasize cleavage.
s and bikini
s commonly have very low necklines, as do evening gown
s. Décolletage produced by such necklines is often considered a sign of elegance and sophistication on many formal social occasions. However, some people disapprove of such styles, which they regard as immodest
and as reflecting negatively on the woman wearer .
From the 1960s onward, changing social mores led to the popularity of open neck and lower necklines and a greater display of cleavage in films, on television, and in everyday life, even for casual wear. During a short period in 1964, "topless" dress designs appeared at fashion shows, but those who wore the dresses in public found themselves arrested on indecency charges. However, fully exposed breasts has come to feature in contemporary haute couture
fashion shows.
Low necklines usually result in increased décolletage. In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much body, and especially breast, exposure is acceptable in public. In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her body depends on the social and cultural context. Showing the nipple
s or areolae is almost always considered toplessness
or partial nudity
. Though exposure of most of a woman's torso can be permissible in some settings, any exposure of breasts and much of the upper body may be prohibited by dress codes in settings such as workplaces, churches and schools, where any exposure of female breasts may be considered inappropriate.
Torso
Trunk or torso is an anatomical term for the central part of the many animal bodies from which extend the neck and limbs. The trunk includes the thorax and abdomen.-Major organs:...
, between her waist and neck, comprising her neck, shoulders, back and chest, that is exposed by the style of her clothing. However, the term is most commonly applied to a neckline
Neckline
The neckline is the top edge of a garment that surrounds the neck, especially from the front view. Neckline also refers to the overall line between all the layers of clothing and the neck and shoulders of a person, ignoring the unseen undergarments....
which reveals or emphasizes cleavage
Cleavage (breasts)
Cleavage, anatomically known as the intramammary cleft, is the space between a woman's breasts lying over the sternum. Cleavage is exposed by a garment with a low neckline, such as ball gowns, evening gowns, swimwear, casual tops and other garments....
. Low-cut necklines are a feature of ball gown
Ball gown
A ball gown is worn for ballroom dancing and only the most formal social occasions according to rules of etiquette. It is traditionally a full-skirted gown reaching at least to the ankles, made of luxurious fabric, delicately and exotically trimmed. Most versions are cut off the shoulder with...
s, evening gown
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
s, leotard
Leotard
A leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....
s and swimsuit
Swimsuit
A swimsuit, bathing suit, or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn by men, women or children while they are engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing, or during activities in the sun, such as sun bathing.A...
s, among other fashions. Although décolletage does not itself prescribe the extent of exposure of a woman's upper chest, the design of a décolleté garment takes into account current fashions, aesthetics, social norms and the social occasion when a garment will be worn, and exposing of nipple
Nipple
In its most general form, a nipple is a structure from which a fluid emanates. More specifically, it is the projection on the breasts or udder of a mammal by which breast milk is delivered to a mother's young. In this sense, it is often called a teat, especially when referring to non-humans, and...
s or areolae is almost always considered toplessness
Toplessness
Toplessness is the state in which a female's breasts are uncovered, with the areolae and nipples visible, usually in a public space. It can also refer to a female not wearing any clothing above the waist, which is the female equivalent to a male barechestedness.The history and even the present-day...
or partial nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
, and not considered socially acceptable in most modern cultures, though that has not always been the case.
Décolletage is a French word which is derived from decolleter, meaning to reveal the neck or, more literally, "without a collar". The term was first used in English literature sometime before 1831. In strict usage, décolletage is the neckline extending about two handbreadths from the base of the neck down, recto and verso.
History
Gowns which exposed a woman's neck and top of her chest were very common and non-controversial in Europe from at least the 11th century. This fashion continued through the Victorian period in the 19th century. Ball or evening gowns especially featured décolletage designed to display and emphasize cleavage. The wearing of low-cut dresses which exposed breasts were considered more acceptable than they are today; with a woman's bared legs, ankles, or shoulders being considered to be more risqué than exposed breasts.However, in 15th century Agnès Sorel
Agnès Sorel
Agnès Sorel , known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters....
, mistress to Charles VII of France
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
, is credited with starting a fashion when she wore décolleté gowns which fully bared her breasts in the French court. In the 16th century, women's fashions featuring fully exposed breasts were common throughout society,for women of all social statuses.
Décolleté styles were popular in England in the 17th century and even Queen Mary II
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
and Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria of France
Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...
, wife of Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, were depicted with fully bared breasts; and architect Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
designed a masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
costume for Henrietta Maria that fully revealed both of her breasts.
In aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
and upper-class circles the display of breasts was at times regarded as a status symbol
Status symbol
A status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of one's social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols...
, as a sign of beauty, wealth or social position. From the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
onwards, the bared breast even invoked associations with nude sculptures of classical Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
that were exerting an influence on art, sculpture, and architecture of the period.
After the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
the décolletage become larger in the front and smaller in the back. During the fashions of the period 1795-1820, many women wore dresses which bared the bosom and shoulders. Towards the end of the Victorian period (end 19th century) the full collar was the fashion, though some décolleté dresses were worn on formal occasions. (See 1880s in fashion
1880s in fashion
Fashion in the 1880s in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by the return of the bustle. The long, lean line of the 1870s was replaced by a full, curvy silhouette with gradually widening shoulders. Fashionable waists were low and tiny below a full, low bust supported by a...
.)
From the Victorian
Victorian morality
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria's reign and of the moral climate of the United Kingdom throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period...
period onward, however, social attitudes shifted to demand a woman's breasts to be covered in public. For ordinary wear, high collars were the norm for many years.
When it became fashionable, around 1913, for dresses to be worn with a modest round or V-shaped neckline, clergymen all over the world became deeply shocked. In the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, all of the Roman Catholic bishops joined in issuing a pastoral letter attacking modern fashions. Fashions became more restrained in terms of décolletage, while exposure of the leg became more permitted in Western societies, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and remained so for nearly half a century.
Lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
has long been low-cut and designed to emphasize cleavage.
Contemporary styles
A dress neckline and consequently décolletage is an aspect of woman's fashions. As such, popular necklines change over time and vary depending on the social and cultural context. Modern Western fashions favour open neck and low-cut neckline styles. Women's swimsuitSwimsuit
A swimsuit, bathing suit, or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn by men, women or children while they are engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing, or during activities in the sun, such as sun bathing.A...
s and bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
s commonly have very low necklines, as do evening gown
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
s. Décolletage produced by such necklines is often considered a sign of elegance and sophistication on many formal social occasions. However, some people disapprove of such styles, which they regard as immodest
Modesty
Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
and as reflecting negatively on the woman wearer .
From the 1960s onward, changing social mores led to the popularity of open neck and lower necklines and a greater display of cleavage in films, on television, and in everyday life, even for casual wear. During a short period in 1964, "topless" dress designs appeared at fashion shows, but those who wore the dresses in public found themselves arrested on indecency charges. However, fully exposed breasts has come to feature in contemporary haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
fashion shows.
Low necklines usually result in increased décolletage. In Western and some other societies, there are differences of opinion as to how much body, and especially breast, exposure is acceptable in public. In contemporary Western society, the extent to which a woman may expose her body depends on the social and cultural context. Showing the nipple
Nipple
In its most general form, a nipple is a structure from which a fluid emanates. More specifically, it is the projection on the breasts or udder of a mammal by which breast milk is delivered to a mother's young. In this sense, it is often called a teat, especially when referring to non-humans, and...
s or areolae is almost always considered toplessness
Toplessness
Toplessness is the state in which a female's breasts are uncovered, with the areolae and nipples visible, usually in a public space. It can also refer to a female not wearing any clothing above the waist, which is the female equivalent to a male barechestedness.The history and even the present-day...
or partial nudity
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
. Though exposure of most of a woman's torso can be permissible in some settings, any exposure of breasts and much of the upper body may be prohibited by dress codes in settings such as workplaces, churches and schools, where any exposure of female breasts may be considered inappropriate.
See also
- Backless dressBackless dressA backless dress is a dress designed to expose the wearer's back. A backless dress is most commonly worn on formal occasions or as evening wear or as wedding dresses and can be of any length, from a haltertop to a miniskirt-length to floor-length....
- CleavageCleavage (breasts)Cleavage, anatomically known as the intramammary cleft, is the space between a woman's breasts lying over the sternum. Cleavage is exposed by a garment with a low neckline, such as ball gowns, evening gowns, swimwear, casual tops and other garments....
- HalterneckHalterneckHalterneck is a style of strap which holds up women's clothing which features a single strap or material which runs from the front of the garment around the back of the wearer's neck, and which enables most of the wearer's back to be uncovered...
- ModestyModestyStandards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
- NecklineNecklineThe neckline is the top edge of a garment that surrounds the neck, especially from the front view. Neckline also refers to the overall line between all the layers of clothing and the neck and shoulders of a person, ignoring the unseen undergarments....
External links
- "Sargent's Portraits", an article including a mention of the scandal caused by the portrayal of cleavage in John Singer SargentJohn Singer SargentJohn Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
's "Portrait of Madame XPortrait of Madame XMadame X or Portrait of Madame X is the informal title of a portrait painting by John Singer Sargent of a young socialite named Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, wife of Pierre Gautreau. The model was an American expatriate who married a French banker, and became notorious in Parisian high society...
".