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Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament, such as gimp, passementerie, ribbon, ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament.

Elaborately trimmed fashions for April 1861 from Godey's Lady's Book.

Before the industrial revolution, all trim was made and applied by hand, thus making heavily trimmed furnishings and garments expensive and high-status. Machine-woven trims and sewing machines put these dense trimmings within the reach of even modest dressmakers and home sewers, and an abundance of trimming is a characteristic of mid-Victorian fashion¹ . As a predictable reaction, high fashion came to emphasize exquisiteness of cut and construction over denseness of trimming, and applied trim became a signifier of mass-produced clothing by the 1930s². The iconic braid and gold button trim of the Chanel suit are a notable survival of trim in high fashion.

In home decorating, the 1980s and 1990s saw a fashion for dense, elaborately layered trimmings on upholstered furniture and drapery.

Today, most trimmings are commercially manufactured. Scalamandré is known for elaborate trim for home furnishings, and Wrights is a leading manufacturer of trim for home sewing and crafts.

Types of trimming include:

• Bias tape
• Braid
• Buttons
• Cord
• Embroidery by hand or machine
• Gimp
• Lace edgings or insertions
• Passementerie
• Piping
• Ribbon
• Rick-rack
• Ruffles or frills
• Tassels

See also sewing, tailoring, heirloom sewing.

Notes

1. ^ See Jane Tozer and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870
2. ^ See Elizabeth Hawes, Fashion is Spinach, 1938

In recent years Samuel & Sons Passementerie has surpassed the empire created by Scalamandre.Samuel & Sons Passementerie is a leading designer, importer and distributor of the finest interior design trimming. Creating exclusive collections with materials such as silk, wool, glass and jade, our diverse collection of over 20,000 trims are sought after by designers, architects, and hotels.

References

• Hawes, Elizabeth Fashion is Spinach, Random House, 1938
• Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press, ISBN 0-9508-9130-4

v • d • e Sewing Techniques: Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment) Stitches: Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack Seams: Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types Notions: Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape Closures: Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper Materials: Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric Tools: Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle Sewing machines: BROTHER • Bernina · Feed dogs · Sewing machine · Pfaff · Singer · Tapemaster

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 17 September 2008, at 17:56.

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