Fashion Etymology and Terminology

Fashion• Fashion is a major force in our daily lives which affects

every aspect of our lives... what we see, do or wear.• It is a complex concept involving much more than

apparel, accessories, cosmetics and hairstyle.• It is a style that is accepted and used by the majority of

a group at any given time.• Fashion leads us to discard a product that is still useful

but is no longer “IN”.• Fashion is a prevailing custom, usage or style.• Fashion is vital, challenging and ever changing force.

Fashion• Prevailing mode or style of dress• Popular in a culture or group of people at a

point of time• Is a social phenomena common to many

fields of human activity and thinking.

Style• A type of product that has one or more

specific features as characteristic that distinguishes it and make it different from other products.

• A style is a particular design, shape or type of apparel item.

• It is a way of expressing something that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people of a period.

Trend/Popular Fashion• This is the ‘Fashion’ that is popular everywhere.• A fashion which is religiously followed by a certain

group is called a trend.• In a trend the following things combine to make a

fashion:• Its eye appeal and the comfort in an essence.• Its wearable quality.• It is adapted to figure types and to different age

groups

Couture• The highest level of sewing and dressmaking

techniques. • custom-made clothing, made by hand.• describe the best of , fine fabrics, sewing,

tailoring and expensive fabrics.

Sample of intricate embroidery done on a custom made gown

Marie Antoinette movie costume gowns

Haute Couture• Haute Couture is a French word for “high needle work”.• In France, the term “haute couture’ is protected by law

and given for use only to individuals and design houses that meet requirements of the Chambre Syndicate de la Haute Couture.

• It refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted fashions.

• 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 finish. It is often time consuming and made by hand-executed techniques.

Haute couture

• Haute Couture is a French word for “high needle work”.• In France, the term “haute couture’ is protected by law and

given for use only to individuals and design houses that meet requirements of the Chambre Syndicate de la Haute Couture.

• top level of hand customised fashion design and clothing construction

• made by a couture design house.  • Design made-to-order for private clients • originally referred to Englishman Charles Frederick Worth's

work, produced in Paris in the mid-nineteenth century.

Jean Paul GaultierHaute Couture collection

Ellie Saab Bridal Haute Couture collection

Valentino Haute Couture collection

Charles worth • the first successful independent designer.• Born in England• came to Paris at age 20 in 1846. • was able to dictate to his customers what

they should wear• Introduced the tradition of designers

sketching out garment designs.

Charles Worth couture designs

Bridge fashion• Typically, bridge designers are one notch under

designer lines.• Bridge lines have more unique styling than

contemporary ones but are usually not as pricey as designer lines. The hierarchy with regard to styling, price and exclusivity from highest to lowest is:

Haute Couture >> Designer RTW >> Bridge >> Contemporary

Pret-a-Porter• Ready to wear clothes• Aimed to satisfy masses demand.• Volume, turnover

Classic• When a style stays in trend for a long period and is

accepted anywhere and everywhere, it becomes a classic.

• A classic stays in the fashion cycle for a long period.

• It is accepted by all groups of a society.• It serves as the established model or standard.• It has lasting significance or worth.• A classic is a typical or traditional example.

Fad• A fad is a fashion that comes into popularity

overnight. The style becomes a fashion very quickly and it fades off even quicker.

• A fad refers to a fashion that gains popularity in a culture relatively quick, but loses popularity dramatically.

• Some fads may come back if another generation gets interested in it.

CollectionA line of products manufactured for a particular season, as those developed by a fashion designer.

Silhouette- It is the outline or basic contours of an object.• Silhouettes are always changing in fashion.• The general direction that a silhouette

(becomes wider, narrower, longer, shorter) takes shows a fashion trend.

Adaptation• Dress designing term for an interpretation of

an expensive designer dress reproduced with modification of design and fabric.

• Copy of particular design without compromising in quality with slight modifications.

Knock offs• Adaptations are referred to as “line-for-line

copies” or “knock-offs” and are made of less expensive materials.

• Manufactures copies new looks or adapt some of their dominant features, making simpler styles in preparation for rising sales expectations.

• Knowing what is selling, rapid production capabilities and to sell at lower price.

Motifs• It is a design or figure that consists or

recurring shapes, colours as in architecture or decoration.

• It is a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in artistic work

TrimmingsSomething added as decoration or ornament, especially a band or lace or embroidery on clothing.

Boutique• A boutique is a French word for “shop”, is a

small shopping outlet.• It specializes in elite and fashionable items

such as clothing and jewellery.

Texture• Texture refers to the properties held and

sensations caused by the external surface of objects received through the sense of touch.

Hue• A particular gradation of colour, shade.• Hue is also one of the three dimensions in

some colour spaces along with saturation and brightness.

• Usually, colours with the same hue are distinguished with adjectives referring to their lightness and saturation.

ValueValue is a measure of where a particular colour lies along the lightness-darkness axis.

Intensity• Strength of a colour • Brightness or dullness of a hue• Quality which makes yellow different from

lemon yellow.

Stylist• A stylist is either a person who co-ordinates

the clothes, jewelry, and accessories used in fashion photographs and catwalk shows.

Toile• Toile is from a French word meaning “cloth” or

“web” – particularly cloth or canvas for painting on.• A toile is a version of a garment made by fashion

designers to test a pattern. • They are usually made in cheap material, as

multiple toiles may be made in the process of perfecting a design.

• Toiles may be called “muslins” in the United States.

Atelier• French word for an artist’s studio or

workroom. • Classified as ‘Flou’ for soft dressmaking

(basically women dress) or ‘tailleur’ for tailoring suits and coats.

• One step forward from boutique.

Fashion forecast• A prediction of fashion trends

Avant Garde• French term commonly used in English

meaning new, unconventional, ahead of the time.

• Used as an adjective to describe an apparel that may be startling.

• Most daring and wild designs

Coordinates • Garments designed to mix and match

interchangeably.