Princess line
{{Short description|Garment cut without a horizontal waist seam}}
{{distinguish|coronation gown}}
{{Redirect|Princess Line|the franchise alternatively known as the "Princess Line"|Disney Princess}}
File:Princess line dress, 1878.jpg, CIRC.606-1962{{cite web|title=Princess dress, 1878-1880, jacquard woven silk and ruched silk trimmed with machine made lace|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117712/dress-unknown/|website=V&A Search the Collections|publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum|access-date=31 July 2014}}]]
File:Princess line dress vs non-Princess line dress, September 1905.png
Princess line or princess dress describes a woman's fitted dress or other garment cut in long panels without a horizontal join or separation at the waist.{{cite book |last1=Delamore |first1=Philip |title=The wedding dress : a sourcebook|date=2005|publisher=Pavilion Books |location=London |isbn=9781862057029 |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faH9njGTC9oC&pg=PA34}}{{cite book|last1=Lewandowski|first1=Elizabeth J.|title=The complete costume dictionary |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=9780810840041 |page=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PeXfpsvFyysC&pg=PA238}} Instead of relying on darts to shape the garment, the fit is achieved with long seams (princess seams) and shaped pattern pieces.{{cite book|last1=Camp|first1=Carole Ann|title=Teach yourself visually fashion sewing|date=2011|publisher=Wiley Pub.|location=Hoboken, N.J. |isbn=9780470881316 |page=230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W52-qBSw1D8C&pg=PA230}} A rarely used alternative name for the princess line was French-dart-line dress.{{cite book |last1=Farmer |first1=Bonnita M. |last2=Gotwals |first2=Lois M. |title=Concepts of fit : an individualized approach to pattern design |date=1982 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=9780023362606 |page=199 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FoMbAQAAMAAJ&q=%22French+dart+line+dress%22}}{{cite book|last1=Shelden|first1=Martha Gene|title=Design through draping|date=1974|publisher=Burgess Pub. Co.|location=USA|page=35|isbn=9780808719069|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-k9AQAAIAAJ&q=%22French+dart+line%22}}
History
=19th century=
The princess line is popularly associated with Charles Frederick Worth who first introduced it in the early 1870s.{{cite book|last1=Reeder|first1=Jan Glier|title=High style : masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=2010 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=New York |isbn=9781588393623 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IeGP78Z2SdcC&pg=PA41}} It was named in honour of the famously elegant Princess Alexandra.{{cite book|last1=Fukai|first1=Akiko|title=Fashion : the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute : a history from the 18th to the 20th century |date=2002 |publisher=Taschen |location=Köln [etc.] |isbn=9783822812068 |page=246 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ARLmnMFZ9rcC&pg=PA246}} By the late 1870s and early 1880s the princess dress was a popular style. It is considered one of the first "bodycon" (body-conscious) fashions due to its extremely closely fitted design, presenting the figure in a natural (or at least, corseted) form undistorted by either crinoline or bustle. Princess-line polonaises were worn over long underskirts.{{cite book |last1=Stamper |first1=Anita |last2=Condra |first2=Jill |title=Clothing through American History the Civil War through the Gilded Age, 1861-1899. |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara|isbn=9780313084584|page=271|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmbhEx69ziwC&pg=PA271}} The princess line was also popular for young girls who wore it with a sash or, if slightly older, over a longer underskirt.{{cite book |last1=Ashelford |first1=Jane |title=The Art of Dress Clothes and Society, 1500-1914.|date=2009|publisher=Gardners Books |location=London |isbn=9781905400799 |page=283 |edition=[New ed.?] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMr375uL_-8C&pg=PA283}}
=20th century=
The princess line was a staple of dress design and construction throughout the century. In 1951 the couturier Christian Dior presented a princess-line based fashion collection which is sometimes called the "Princess Line", although its official name was Ligne Longue or "Long Line".{{cite book |last1=Marly |first1=Diana de |title=Christian Dior|date=1990|publisher=B.T. Batsford |location=London |isbn=9780713464535 |page=45 |quote=For the autumn 1951 Dior announced his Long Line, [...] The main cut for dresses was the princess line, Worth's invention to avoid waistlines...}}
=21st century=
The princess line remains a popular style for wedding dresses and a design staple for both day and evening dresses. More recently, the design principle has been applied to men's garments, which generally do not have waist seams.{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Myoung |last2=Kim |first2=Injoo |title=Patternmaking for menswear : classic to contemporary.|date=2014|publisher=Fairchild Books & Visuals |location=New York |isbn=9781609019440 |page=197 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWE9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA197}}
See also
References
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{{Clothing}}
{{Sewing}}
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