Garment Accessories

Accessories are items of apparel worn with a garment to complete the outfit. Hats scarves, ties, shawls, jewelry, belts, gloves, bags, socks, stockings, sunglasses and watches are all accessories.

Accessories add interest and individuality to your clothes.

Popular tastes in accessories fashion change quickly. When buying or making accessories ask yourself if it is a "fad" or a "classic" design. Then decide how much you are willing to pay for the accessory. Accessories come in all price ranges. One special accessory can sometimes make a basic outfit look terrific.

Lightweight fashion scarves are made in several standard sizes. Heavier - weight scarves for warmth vary in size. The standard heavy scarf for women is about 4 feet long; men's heavy scarves are usually about 5 feet long. Scarves can be made in almost any fabric that drapes and will knot. Cottons, silk, and challis are particularly good. It is advisable to select a fabric that does not wrinkle easily. A scarf can match or contrast with your outfit in colour and pattern.

Shawls came and go in popularity, but they always add a touch of drama. They keep you warm. It can be fringed or unfringed. Fringe usually varies in length up to 9 inches (23 cm).

Gloves The glove has, perhaps, more than any other component of woman dress, acquired a romantic character. It has long been a token of the extremes of love and hate. The glove was one of the few articles of female attire which a man could offer as a gift to his lady-love. Gloves are by no means minor accessories of dress.

Whether worn or carried, they form one of the finishing touches of the elegantly attired man and woman. As protective coverings for all kinds of purposes — gardening, sport and industrial processes - their importance is very great and probably growing.

In England common use of gloves was a comparatively late development in clothing, it is thought that the extended sleeves of early Norman times were designed, in part at least, as protection for the hands. It was, however, not till the 16th century that Queen Elizabeth set the fashion for wearing gloves richly embroidered and jeweled. France was known to be the largest world maker of leather gloves.

Women's handbags The manufacture of ladies' handbags as now known is a modern specialized trade. Pouches (or game bag) introduced during the fourteenth century were towards the end of the fifteenth replaced for a time by pouches, often of great size and which closed with a nap. In all these types leather was used extensively although not exclusively.

There has been little change in style until we reach the period of the "reticule", which became necessary with the introduction of slim, high waist dresses round about 1800. During the period crinoline purses of many types achieved great importance, being often made of fine leather such as doe or seal­skin.

The purse with many compartments was a feature of the nineteenth century but has now practically disappeared.

The manufacture of handbags is now a separate craft requiring high specialization, its own distinct methods of manufacture and an intensified study of fashion trends. It demands a wide knowledge of materials - leather, textiles, plastics, artificial leathers and metals - and outstanding ability in design based on comprehensive technical knowledge.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30