Bandeau
Encyclopedia
General Attire
A bandeau (pl. bandeaux, diminutive of FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
bande, strip), is a strapless garment worn around a woman's breast
Breast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
s. It may be fastened in the front or back or be sufficiently elastic so as to have no fastener at all. In a strict sense a bandeau has but two edges, although it is sometimes manufactured with a detachable halter strap that goes around the neck. A wide bandeau that covers much of the midriff is sometimes called a tube top
Tube top
A tube top is a shoulderless, sleeveless "tube" that wraps the torso. Such a top is generally very tight over the breasts in order to prevent the garment from falling...
.
As a silhouette the bandeau has been worn since Roman times. In the 1920s the term referred to a simply shaped brassiere
Brassiere
A brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
, usually of a soft fabric and delicate trimmings providing little support or shaping. It was sometimes made from an elastic material to flatten or suppress the breasts in the style of the period. When the "boyish" silhouette went out of fashion, the word "brassiere" or later "bra" became the term for more shapely support garments.
The bandeau emerged as the top part of a deux-pièces swimsuit during the 1940s. In the 1950s the bandeau incorporated foundation so as to structure (or improve) the contours of the body, while still retaining a relatively simple circle or band shape, emphasizing the bare midriff
Midriff
Midriff is a particular term to denominate the section of the human body between the thorax/chest and the pelvis/hips. It is used as a genteel avoidance of synonymous belly ; as a synonym for waist; and as a name for the area around the diaphragm Midriff is a particular term to denominate the...
. Its popularity in swimwear declined during the string bikini era, but it was reintroduced in the 1980s, especially with Spandex and other stretch fabric blends. Side stays, v-wire in the center front, O-rings, and the twisted top are popular design elements.
The strapless bandeau, or tube top, is also worn as casual wear and sports wear starting in the 1970s, and is sometimes worn as part of a sportswear ensemble and paired with a cropped jacket or bolero.
Religious Habit
The term bandeau also refers to the thin headband traditionally worn--until recently--underneath and supporting the veilVeil
A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...
by the nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s of many Catholic religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
s. Together with the wimple
Wimple
A wimple is a garment worn around the neck and chin, and which usually covers the head. Its use developed among women in early medieval Europe . At many stages of medieval culture it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair...
(which covers the cheeks and neck) and the white coif
Coif
A coif is a close fitting cap that covers the top, back, and sides of the head.- History :Coifs were worn by all classes in England and Scotland from the Middle Ages to the early seventeenth century .Tudor and earlier coifs are usually made of unadorned white linen and tied under...
to which it would be attached, it was the common headdress of a respectable woman in Medieval and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Variations and relatives
- A bandeau is related to other strapless foundation garments including a torsolette, corsetCorsetA corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
and bustierBustierA bustier is a form-fitting garment for women, which is traditionally worn as lingerie. Its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts up, while gently shaping the waist. Nowadays, it might also be worn as a push-up bra under a low-backed... - A "bandeau" with shoulder straps is a brassiereBrassiereA brassiere is an undergarment that covers, supports, and elevates the breasts. Since the late 19th century, it has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts....
- A "bandeau" with a neck strap is a halterHalterneckHalterneck is a style of strap which holds up women's clothing which features a single strap or material which runs from the front of the garment around the back of the wearer's neck, and which enables most of the wearer's back to be uncovered...
- In pre-Islamic Balinese (Indonesian) culture, women would wear a bandeau, called a sabuk when visiting temples or attending important ceremonies (else in daily life they would normally go topless).