Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Style Dictionary: Jabots

Jabots are a curious genre, closely related to the bow-tie blouse, but really a category of their own. These cascading collar ruffles are best known as Supreme Court wear, and indeed, they often recall the harsh black and white of a judge's robes. (It's pronounced ja-BO, if you're curious.)
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Jabots can be made two ways: by cutting a circular ruffle (which naturally creates that cascading effect) or by ruffling straight-grain strips of fabric and arranging them into rows on your blouse.

It's hard to find a fashion era that doesn't include a jabot blouse of some sort. Often the ruffles surrounded a neckline button placket, as on the lower right view of this Hollywood pattern.

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Interestingly, the jabot above appears to be a dickey of sorts that attaches to a regular placket blouse.

When I think of a jabot dress, I most often think of Peggy Olsen of Mad Men. This plaid dress is one of her regular office dresses, and looks very smart on her.

Jabots lasted well into the mod years, as shown here.

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And they're alive and well today! Have you noticed how all knit tops seem to have some sort of ruffly bib on the front?

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I think we may actually be due for a complete jabot recession, to be honest. Just yesterday, a straight male friend asked me, "What's with all the stuff on the front of blouses these days?"

Readers, are you ready for a break from the ruffle-front trend?

46 comments:

  1. There are of course the coffee date dress, by the selfish seamstress, for the people who want to make a dress by a free modern pattern. :)

    http://selfishseamstress.wordpress.com/downloads/

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  2. I never really liked the ruffle front thing to begin with, particularly on tank tops. Sure, there is an occasional button-up top that looks nice with the ruffle-front, but in most cases it looks like a wild ruffle monster is trying to eat the wearer.

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  3. Jabot is also the French for poultry's neck. By extension in informal language it can refer to someone's neck. My mum always tell me: "Couvre ton jabot" (Cover your neck).

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  4. Hi Gertie, just found your blog and am finding it very interesting and informative.

    Although I'm a sucker for ruffles, I think they've been overused at this point (or maybe the point passed a while ago). We should take a short break from them. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, right?

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  5. Interesting post, I hadn't heard of the word jabot before. I've only just made a ruffle front blouse, perhaps coming late to the trend as it's dying out - never mind!

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  6. Gertie, I so don't like ruffles. Soooo over seeing them on tops in every season! And what's worse is that at the age of 31 my mother keeps buying me really nice pricey tops that are made completely ugly by ruffles. One is a beautiful silk shell in an off-white with a jabot down the front. Such a shame. And she LOVES ruffles.

    If I never see another top with ruffles, it'll be too soon. Ok maybe that's a bit of an overstatment, since I too like the look of the Coffee Date dress available through BurdaStyle, but I just Don't Like Ruffles. Sorta gladI didn't live in the 1820's - 1840's, considering all the ruffles in the 1830's!!

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  7. as always, both informative and entertaining. glad to know what to call the ruffly-fronts on my vintage patterns. While i think they're fun to look at on the vintagey models, personally, i am not a huge fan of the over-ruffled trend - nor of the 'i sewed my necklace to my collar' trend. It's not an area that i want more 'stuff' that might make my chest/ bust/ neck look larger/ fuller & that's what these feel like to me.

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  8. I was actually thinking about that the other -- I wonder how much longer these will last. I will be very sad when they actually do go out of style because they work wonders for those of us who are less voluptuous in the top! They are also good to balance out a pear shape by drawing the eye towards the top.

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  9. I'm a bit lukewarm on neckline ruffles. Some I think are cute, like the SS's coffedate dress, but there's way too much of 'me' up there to wear it myself.

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  10. I've never been terribly fond of ruffles on tops/bodices... I'm trying to think of one thing I have in my closet that fits the bill, and I honestly can't think of anything! I should be the perfect candidate for ruffles/jabots--classic pear shape with tiny bustline--but I guess I'm not a super-ruffly girl. ;) haha! I'll be kind of glad when the ruffles trend does wane; I feel like part of the reason I haven't bought that much ready-made the past few years is because the "more is more" style looks over-thought and fussy to me.

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  11. Oh, yes indeed, I'm ready for this look to be over. Just tired of it, that's all. It's hard to find tops in the stores that don't have "stuff" on them right now, and same with sewing patterns like you said. I haven't bought or made any because I know I'd feel really dated really soon.

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  12. I'll pass on the neckline ruffles. I am short, very busty, and have no neck, so jabots make me look like one of those fancy show pigeons. Not a look I want to cultivate for myself, you know?

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  13. They (neck embellishments of all sorts) don't make me weep....unless they are just raw edged fabric. THAT I am done with. I bought a great basic knit dress the other day that was saved by pulling 3 yards of 1 inch wide strips of self fabric sewn to the neckline in irregular loops. A bit of picking out and ta-daa! But who thought THAT was a good idea. sigh!

    For clarification, only the ruffle is the jabot, right? That is how I have always used the term, but I usually think of it more in the "dickey" style as in something you attach, rather than something integral to the garment...thoughts? k.

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  14. I'm kind of of two minds about the ruffly-front thing. On the one hand, it's kind of sweet and adorable, and a way to "girly up" and otherwise men's cut outfit. On the other hand, I have a large bust, and adding ruffles sort of makes me look ridiculous.
    I do like an asymmetrical ruffle, like showed up on some tops at Anthro/JCrew this year. Adding interest without becoming a "crumb catcher".

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  15. "These cascading collar ruffles are best known as Supreme Court wear,..."

    "Supreme Court wear"? As far as I know, Justice Ginsberg started wearing a jabot when she joined the bench. We've only had four women justices and it hasn't been that long. French (male) judges have worn them for at least a couple of years.

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  16. Hey, I love ruffles, I do, but recently I was like, I love this pattern, look at the ruffles, and my mom was like, no. Too many ruffles. Stop with the ruffles. They make your breasts look huge. Which is true. So I'm trying to break my ruffles habit, which is rough. Just gotta hack it...I'm onto pleats, now. Pleats are my summer thing.

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  17. I love the jabot personally..it's the jewelry without the metal and beads...guys are just never going to get the jabot. They like lots of hair, pretty legs and shoes. Cleavage is really secondary, surprisingly. I get the most compliments from men these days on my rose-tinted 1970s style sunglasses. Women like 'em too. They're like make up for the eyes without the fuss of mascara and eyeliner.

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  18. Yes I am. But, it's not because I don't like the look. It's because ruffles look ridiculous on my oversized bust and I'm tired of being jealous that I can't wear them! :)

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  19. Love the Style Dictionary Posts. On a side note, I also appreciate the pronunciation help. Sometimes I feel like an idiot at the fabric store when I ask for fabrics and I don't know how to pronounce them (Ponte, Boucle, Dupioni ect). :)

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  20. I can't wait for this trend to be over. It's been waaaay too long in my opinion. I'm busty with narrow hips, and ruffles look ludicrous on me. And they're so prevalent that it's difficult to find tops or blouses that look right on me.

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  21. I look forward to the return of tops without all the STUFF on them. I think I have a cardigan with a very restrained, almost tailored ruffle, but generally I can do without them. But then I'm more of a simple dresser. I remember a sweater I had when I was ten that had Scottie dogs on it, with tartan fabric bows attached to their necks--I cut off all the bows because they were just too much.

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  22. Ok, I'll admit it, I like ruffles. However, I think these comments are really interesting because they show that a lot of the time a certain style can be flattering to one body type and less so on another. This by no means applies to everyone here but it seems that the women here with more sizable busts tend to steer clear of jabots. For women with smaller busts or who are pear-shaped (like me), ruffles seem to be more ok. I say, embrace what looks and feels good on your body and you can't go wrong regardless of the trends!

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  23. After a long anti ruffle stance, I have just used one on a knit shirt. To be frank, I really messed up the neck and added a lace ruffle on the front of the neck; it looks cool. It was a good save!

    I am short/petite and these fashions often have WAY too many ruffles. Why do designers think short people want to appear girlish? But now that I am not girlish, I am 46, I am wearing the my low-key ruffle with pride.

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  24. I love the ruffle! Mind you, less so after learning from Popbabe7 that jabot is french for poultry's neck, but I'll get over it:) I could use a little help "up top", so I find them flattering on my body type and they're so pretty and feminine. I feel special with a ruffle:)

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  25. Interesting!! new perspective !!I look at knit wear differently i am sure !!!

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  26. I tend to feel that an abundance of ruffles infantilize a woman. A well-placed ruffle can add a nice "feminine" touch. But the "let's add MOAR" attitude makes me feel like I pulled on an oversized kidswear Easter dress.

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  27. I avoid ruffles above the waist like the plague, so I'll be glad to see this trend cycle out for awhile. I'm short, with a big bust on a small frame (28J bra), and anything that isn't sleek and fitted above the waist just exacerbates the problem.

    Now ruffles on skirts, those I can get behind. ;)

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  28. I just had to pass this along...some beautiful images of vintage detachable collars, including jabots, posted today on The Snail and Theh Cyclops blog...

    http://thesnailandthecyclops.blogspot.com/2011/06/welcomed-distractions.html

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  29. I am late to this party, as always. I just finished making a jersey top with a ruffle along the neckline. I called it my clown shirt as I was sewing it but on wearing it, found it to be a nice feminine take on a basic tank. I am petite, with 34B bust. Ruffles work for me, as long as they stay next to the garment and don't float all over.

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  31. I sort of like that first picture you posted with the old-fashioned crocheted one, but generally speaking I do *NOT* like them. And I am very pear shaped with a B-cup at most! I especially dislike the jersey ones. They look to me like the designer said to him/herself "well, I gotta add something different... What should I do? Oh let's just take a piece of fabric and zigzag it around over here". Bluchh. On burdastyle there's a pattern "the coffee date dress" and many people made it at the time - I was very saddened by that.

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  32. I'm not against ruffles in general, but I agree that they are SO overused, especially those huge loose ruffles on cheap jersey tops. I also really hate fat ruffles on shoulders and the back of the neckline because the look bizarre under a sweater.

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  33. Hoping the style doesn't die until I have a chance to make one....

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  34. I'm with all of the other busty gals--I'm ready for the tops with ruffles look to be over. I've got too much on top and the ruffles look ludicrous on me. I understand that they do flatter some body types, but it's becoming very difficult to go to a store and find a cute top that doesn't have ruffles on it.

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  35. I am so ready to get rid of the excess amount of fabric on the front of blouses/ dress bodices. They seem somewhat pointless and they add too much heat... Especially when living in South Alabama with 110 degree f. weather!

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  36. I have resisted the ruffle/fluffle until just recently. I too am endowed, with small shoulders, and thought the look was too much for me. I just made a plain T that I plan to add a little trim to and I have a nice silk polka-dot that will have a little bow tie to the left side collar and it cascades down a bit. I think it is essential to match the scale of the embellishment to your size and shape. If done properly they enhance rather than detract. That said, I totally agree that RTW seems to be out of ideas and stick ruffles on everything. So tired looking.

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  37. I like the ruffles on shirts and would be kind of sad to see them go...makes me look a little less flat chested :)

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  38. I'm knitting a ruffly potato chip scarf at the moment for a girly girl relative. I think, though, it depends on the design. Some ruffles and jabots make me fight the impulse heave. Others, like Oscar De la Renta's, are quite nice.

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  39. I think your straight male friend is disgusted with all the "stuff on the fronts of blouses" because it makes it more difficult for him to oggle breasts.

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  40. I hate jabots too.......very schoolmistress, and not in a sexy way!

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  41. Gotta admit, I am ready for a break. I like the look of jabots, but I am quite well endowed, and any kind of ruffle on my front makes me feel like I'm screaming "Look at my chest!"

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  42. I hate ruffles and all the "stuff" on the front of blouses, as your friend mentioned, so I am more than ready for this trend to be over!

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  43. Not into ruffles or jabots so I'm more than happy for a break. They have their place, just not on me.

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  44. Coming late to this but just got to say O. M . G I remember those mod ruffles. I wanted so much to wear the white one with the black ribbon trim.n It was so legal looking, though more clerk of court than supreme judiciary I think. I had the sense, however, to realise that since I was short with a big bust I'd better not!

    I'm still short with a big bust so still better not, but I thought I would try the Kwiksew 3826 knit top with the extended collar that is sewn into the CF seam. Not quite jabot and falling softly all the way down to avoid the pigeon effect.

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  45. I have been LOVING ruffles in fun patterns on t-shirts and blouses - also the ruffle rose and all that. My husband doesn't go for it at ALL, so I've been trying to sneak a few pieces in here and there.

    Not sure I'd wear a full on jabot though- don't love the bib look!

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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