Modesty panel
{{Short description|Addition to furniture or clothing}}
File:Urinal Modesty Panels.png
A modesty panel is something added to various items such as clothes or furniture for the purpose of concealment.{{Cite web|url = http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/120638|title = modesty, n |date = March 2022|access-date = 16 July 2022|website = Oxford English Dictionary Online|url-access=subscription }} In particular, it refers to a thin board of wood or metal that is attached to the front of a desk, drafting table, electronic organ, or similar item, to shield legs, ankles, or feet from view. This is also known as a modesty board.{{Cite web |title=Definition of MODESTY PANEL |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modesty+panel |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}
Furniture
The panel provides privacy for the person seated at the desk or organ, as it covers the upper part of the legs. {{Cite journal |last=Bishop |first=Owen |date=Sep 1991 |title=A Micro Micro |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Everyday-Electronics/90s/Everyday-Practical-Electronics-1991-09.pdf |journal=Everyday Electronics |pages=584 |via=WorldRadioHistory}} This privacy role is particularly useful in cases where the desk or organ is positioned in front of a class or hall. The modesty panel may also provide structural support for the four legs of the desk or organ; it may also be used as a place for affixing electric cabling, computer cabling, or electrical extension boxes. A modesty panel is a partition often attached to a news desk to cover a news anchor's legs.{{Cite web |last=Magsaysay |first=Melissa |date=2012-06-28 |title=TV news personalities with substance and style |url=https://www.latimes.com/fashion/alltherage/la-ig-news-women-20120318-story.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Early modesty panels were often used in Quaker meeting houses and other churches of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, growing in popularity during the Victorian era. Modesty panels might be found running up the sides of stairways to discourage passers-by from looking up dresses. They were also added to the sides of church organs, shielding the musician's feet and legs from the congregation's view as she played the organ's pedals. Later, as women entered the secretarial force in large numbers during the twentieth century, modesty panels were added to office desks.{{Cite news |date=1983-09-15 |title=BASING A DESK ON A PAIR OF FILE CABINETS (Published 1983) |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/15/garden/basing-a-desk-on-a-pair-of-file-cabinets.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |language=en |last1=Coons |first1=Nancy }}
Clothing
Modesty panels may cover the cleavage of a bust{{cite web |url=https://bonnieandblithe.com/add-modesty-panel-to-top/ |title=ADD MODESTY PANEL TO A V-NECK TOP OR DRESS |author= |date=2017 |website=bonnieandblithe.com |publisher= |access-date=16 July 2022 |quote=}} or the crotch, in particular providing a moisture-proof barrier under a skirt.{{Cite news |date=1987-07-17 |title=Are Short Skirts At Home at Work? (Published 1987) |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/17/style/are-short-skirts-at-home-at-work.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |language=en |last1=Gross |first1=Michael }}{{Cite news |date=2004-02-17 |title=FASHION: Sex and the city:Modesty takes over (Published 2004) |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/17/IHT-fashion-sex-and-the-citymodesty-takes-over.html |access-date=2024-03-07 |language=en |last1=Menkes |first1=Suzy }}{{cite magazine |last=Miller Lenz |first=Elita |date=September 5, 1925 |page=36|title=Feminine Frills |url= |magazine=The Billboard |location=Cincinnati |publisher= |access-date= }} It has also been used for a skirt fitted as part of a woman's swimsuit.{{cite news |last=Samuel |first=Kathryn |date=May 11, 1987 |title=Waves of nostalgia |work=Daily Telegraph |page=15}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{wiktionary}}
{{Furniture-stub}}