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Passement

Example of passement. Example of passement.

Passement is an archaic term for both braids and laces that were applied flat to clothes or as a border to a curtain, etc. In particular the term was associated with a metal thread braid used to edge a garment. The term comes from the French word passement, and it was in wide-spread use in Britain from the fifteenth to the early seventeenth centuries, at what time the term passement was being replaced by dentelle (Fr: lace).

The term can also be used for the pattern made with a tape that is made with bobbin lace or needlepoint lace.

See also: passementerie.

Sources:

  • EARNSHAW, Pat (1984). A Dictionary of Lace, Aylesbury: Shire Publications, p. 121.
  • SHAEFFER, Claire B. (1993). Couture Sewing Techniques, Newtown CT: Taunton, p. 204.
  • Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: 'Passement'

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 18 June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Tuesday, 18 April 2017 16:50