All posts tagged: terminology

Terminology: what is a burnous?

The burnous, both in name and design, is of Arab origin, and describes a full, hooded cloak, often decorated with embroidery and tassels. It can also be spelled burnoose and bournouse. The burnous was introduced to Western fashion through the Spahi, the French calvary troops of from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, whose uniforms included burnous.  The Spahi began in the 1830s, and saw extensive action throughout the 19th century.  This, combined with photographs of the Spahi troops in their burnous taken by Roger Fenton in the 1850s popularised their image in the West, and started the fashion for the cloaks. Burnouses fit well with mid-19th century fashion, as the loose shape was easy to wear over large hoopskirts, and the hoods mimicked the bonnets that were worn with daywear, or could even fit over the bonnet. A 1859 fashion article describes burnouses: These are made frequently in cachemire, in broad Algerienne stripes, or in light coloured cachemire, wadded and trimmed with plaid, and also in black silk trimmed with plaid, or plain velvet, plaited ribbon …

Terminology: What is chinchilla

I’m not much for fur, but chinchilla has always fascinated me.  I think it is the name.  It’s just so darn cute!  It sounds like a name Disney would invent for an animal. I’m never really thought about what a chinchilla actually was until recently.  When I did begin to wonder, I had to look it up. The chinchilla is a rodent from South America.  It looks like this: OH.MY.GOODNESS Squeee! Cute overload. It’s a fat little mouse with extra big ears and a squirrel tail! Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I think they were invented by Disney! Really, could you get any cuter if you tried? I think we need to see more cuteness: Awwwwwwwwwww! Of course, in fashion they aren’t concerned with how gosh darn cute the fat little mice with big ears and fluffy squirrel tails are.  They are concerned with how soft and dense the fur is, because they kill and skin those gosh darn cute fat little big-eared, fluffy-tailed mice for it. Natural chinchilla fur is pale grey with a dark streak running along …

Terminology: What is alamode or allamode fabric?

While a la mode may mean ‘in the fashion’ it was also once the name for a fabric. In the 17th, 18th & 19th century alamode was a thin plain tabby weave lustred silk, usually black.  It was used mainly for mourning, and for the linings of expensive garments, as well as as the outer fabric, especially for outerwear such as hoods and mantuas.  A 1691 theft included “”two blacke allamode hoods worth 5s”.  Eighty years later,    in 1770 Mary Berridge’s London house was broken into, and one of the items stolen was “One Black Allamode Clock Lined in the Blue  Latestring” In early histories of 18th century fabrics it is described as being like lustring or surah silk, but more loosely woven (which may be a very non-technical way of saying that it is a plain tabby weave, rather than a twill like surah), and some references even describe it as the same fabric as lustring, but period advertisements make that very unlikely. While usually spelled allamode or alamode, the vagaries of 17th …