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{{Short description|Clothing for women and girls}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Bodice (PSF).jpg|thumb|upright|Line art drawing of a bodice]]
A '''bodice''' ({{IPAc-en|pron|ˈ|b|ɒ|d|ᵻ|s}}) is an article of [[clothing]] traditionally for women and girls, covering the [[torso]] from the neck to the [[waist]]. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern [[dress]] to distinguish it from the skirt and sleeves. The name ''bodice'' is etymologically an odd plural spelling of "body"<ref>{{Cite web |title=bodice {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of bodice by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/bodice |access-date=2022-09-05 |website=etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref> and comes from an older garment called a ''pair of bodies'' (because the garment was originally made in two separate pieces that fastened together, frequently by lacing).
==Origin==
{{Expand section|date=September 2021}}
{{See also|History of cleavage}}
Frescoes produced by the [[Minoan civilization]] portray women wearing open bodices that displayed and accentuated their breasts; however, following the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]], these garments would give way to the simpler clothes characteristic of Iron Age Greece.
Contemporary European bodices are derived from the [[kirtle]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Snodgrass|first=Mary Ellen|title=World Clothing and Fashion: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-69804-5|location=London|pages=70–72|oclc=958107199}}</ref> A fitted bodice became [[1400–1500 in European fashion|fashionable in Europe around 1450]].<ref name=":0" />
==Classification==
[[File:Joseph Julien bodice.jpg|thumb|left|Countrywoman's bodice, 19th century (detail of ''The Hay-Harvest'' by Belgian painter [[Julien Joseph (painter)|Julien Joseph]])]]
The same word is used to refer to several related concepts, some of which also have other names.
[[File:Bodice.jpg|thumb|Sketch of a separate, corset-like bodice]]
In one usage, ''bodice'' refers to a separate upper garment that has removable [[sleeve]]s or no sleeves, often low-cut, worn in [[Europe]] from the 16th century to the 18th century, either over a [[corset]] or in lieu of one. To achieve a fashionable shape and support the bust, the bodice was frequently stiffened with ''bents'' (a type of [[Phragmites|reed]]) or [[whalebone]]. The bodice was separate from the corset of the time because the bodice was intended to be worn over the other garments, and the others were [[undergarment]]s.
In another usage, particularly in [[Victorian fashion|Victorian]] and [[1900s in fashion|early 20th century fashion]], a ''bodice'' (in earlier sources, ''body'') instead indicates the upper part of a dress that was constructed in two parts (i.e., with separate skirt and bodice, such as a [[ballet tutu]]), but of matching or coordinating fabric with the intention of wearing the two parts as a unit. In [[dressmaking]], the term ''waist'' (sometimes called ''dress waist'' to distinguish it from a [[Waist (clothing)|shirtwaist]]) was also used. During wear, the parts might be connected by [[Hook-and-eye closure|hooks and eyes]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dressmakinguptod00butt|title=Dressmaking, Up to Date|date=1905|publisher=The Butterick Publishing Company|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dressmakinguptod00butt/page/75 75]}}</ref> This construction was standard for fashionable garments from the 18th century until the late 19th century, and had the advantages of allowing a voluminous skirt to be paired with a close-fitting bodice, and of allowing two or more bodices to be worn with the same skirt at different times. For example, a woman might wear the skirt with a matching high-necked bodice during the day, and later the same skirt with a different, fashionably low-necked bodice in the evening. One-piece construction became more common after 1900 due to the trend for looser, more simply-constructed clothing with narrower skirts.
''Bodice'' continues in use to refer to the upper portion (not including the sleeves) of a one- or two-piece [[dress]]. The bodice of a dress was called the ''[[Corsage (bodice)|corsage]]'' in the 19th century.
== Styles ==
In earlier periods, bodices and corsets were laced in spiral fashion, with one continuous lace. Some bodices were laced in the back.<ref name=":0" /> In later periods, both were laced like the modern tennis shoe, with eyelets facing one another. This was more convenient for women who had to dress themselves. In the 20th century, lacing was replaced by elastic or other styles.<ref name=":0" />
Padding, boning, and other techniques were used to keep the fitted bodice smooth while it was worn.<ref name=":0" /> Pregnant women wore an adjustable type of bodice, called a ''jump''.<ref name=":0" />
Starting in the 16th century, women used detachable sleeves as a fashion accessory.<ref name=":0" /> A [[Ruff (clothing)|ruff]] or other decorations might be added.<ref name=":0" /> By the 18th century, women were wearing a variety of accessories, including [[fichu]]s and [[partlet]]s, with their bodices.<ref name=":0" /> [[File:Dirndl-2011.JPG|thumb|upright|A woman wearing a [[dirndl]]]]
In the 19th century, in parts of Europe, styles reflected local folk dress, so that the bodice in France was frilled, in Austria took the form of the dirndl, and in Bulgaria, it had a gold [[stomacher]].<ref name=":0" /> Other styles seen in the 19th century include:<ref name=":0" />
* the [[casaquin]] bodice,
* the coat-bodice inspired by men's [[frock coat]]s,
* the long [[cuirass]]e bodice, which was also called the [[Joan of Arc]] bodice,
* the pointed Marie Stuart bodice,
* the modest Circassian bodice,
* the amazon corsage,
* the bag bodice, which was popular in Canada,
* the [[Agnes Sorel]] bodice, which had a high, square-cut [[neckline]] and was worn with [[bishop sleeve]]s,<ref name="CummingCunnington2010">{{cite book |last1=Cumming |first1=Valerie |last2=Cunnington |first2=C. W. |last3=Cunnington |first3=P. E. |title=The Dictionary of Fashion History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glBf_El4Qd4C|access-date=10 January 2012|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Berg|isbn=978-1-84788-738-2|page=2}}</ref>
* the casaque bodice,
* the antique bodice, which, despite its name, was the new fashion in its time,
* the pleated Grecian-style Norma corsage,
* the Anglo–Greek bodice with wide [[lapel]]s,
* the bébé bodice with its sash,
* the Empire bodice with its scarves,
* the beribboned bohemian-style baby bodice,
* the Elizabethan bodice, which reflected the styles popular in the [[Elizabethan era]], but which was worn during the late [[Victorian era]].
==Today==
Bodices survive into modern times in the traditional or revived [[National dress|folk dress]] of many European countries, as in the case of the German/Austrian [[dirndl]] and [[Scottish highland dance|Scottish highland dancers']] [[Aboyne dress]]. They are also commonly seen today at gatherings celebrating archaic European customs, such as [[Oktoberfest celebrations|Oktoberfest]], [[Society for Creative Anachronism]] events, and [[Renaissance Fair]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title='Bodacious bodices' at the Renaissance Festival|publisher=Metromix|location=Chicago|year=2009|url=http://chicago.metromix.com/home/photogallery/bodacious-bodices-at-the/997298/content|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090520084511/http://chicago.metromix.com/home/photogallery/bodacious-bodices-at-the/997298/content|archive-date=2009-05-20}}</ref> Some Asian cultures also feature bodices, including the Indian [[choli]], Chinese [[dudou]], Vietnamese [[yếm]] and Indonesian [[kemben]].<ref name=":0" />
==See also==
* [[Angia (garment)|Angia]]
* [[Bodice ripper]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Arnold, Janet: ''Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560–1620'', Macmillan, 1985. {{ISBN|0-89676-083-9}}.
* {{cite book|last=Steele|first=Valerie|title=The Corset: A Cultural History|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|date=2001}}
==External links==
* {{wiktionary-inline}}
* {{commons category-inline|Bodices}}
{{Lingerie}}
{{Historical clothing|state=expanded}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:16th-century fashion]]
[[Category:17th-century fashion]]
[[Category:18th-century fashion]]
[[Category:19th-century fashion]]
[[Category:20th-century fashion]]
[[Category:History of clothing (Western fashion)]]
[[Category:Medieval European costume]]
[[Category:Tops (clothing)]]
[[Category:Women's clothing]]