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