Princess line

 ( 19th-century Fashion ) 

Princess line or princess dress describes a woman's fitted dress or other garment cut in long panels without a horizontal join or separation at the waist.

(2025). 9780810840041, Scarecrow Press, Inc.. . ISBN 9780810840041

Instead of relying on darts to shape the garment, the fit is achieved with long seams (princess seams) and shaped pattern pieces.

(2025). 9780470881316, Wiley Pub.. . ISBN 9780470881316

A rarely used alternative name for the princess line was French-dart-line dress.

(1982). 9780023362606, Macmillan. . ISBN 9780023362606

(1974). 9780808719069, Burgess Pub. Co.. . ISBN 9780808719069

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History

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19th century The princess line is popularly associated with Charles Frederick Worth who first introduced it in the early 1870s.

(2025). 9781588393623, Metropolitan Museum of Art. . ISBN 9781588393623

It was named in honour of the famously elegant Princess Alexandra.

(2025). 9783822812068, Taschen. . ISBN 9783822812068

By the late 1870s and early 1880s the princess dress was a popular style. It is considered one of the first "bodycon dress" (body-conscious) fashions due to its extremely closely fitted design, presenting the figure in a natural (or at least, ) form undistorted by either crinoline or bustle. Princess-line polonaises were worn over long underskirts.

(2025). 9780313084584, ABC-CLIO. . ISBN 9780313084584

The princess line was also popular for young girls who wore it with a sash or, if slightly older, over a longer underskirt.

(2025). 9781905400799, Gardners Books. . ISBN 9781905400799

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20th century

The princess line was a staple of dress design and construction throughout the century. In 1951 the couturier Christian Dior presented a princess-line based fashion collection which is sometimes called the "Princess Line", although its official name was Ligne Longue or "Long Line".

(1990). 9780713464535, B.T. Batsford. ISBN 9780713464535

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21st century

The princess line remains a popular style for and a design staple for both day and evening dresses. More recently, the design principle has been applied to men's garments, which generally do not have waist seams.

(2025). 9781609019440, Fairchild Books & Visuals. . ISBN 9781609019440

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See also

• Clothing terminology

Categories: 19th-century Fashion, 20th-century Fashion, 21st-century Fashion, Dresses, Parts Of Clothing, Seams

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