Introduction to Pleatwork Embroidery
What is Pleatwork Embroidery?
This is a term I coined to describe the embroidery used on the clothing prior to the 17th century. The word itself is drawn from a period German term 'fitz-arbeit' or "pleat work"(1) . This helps to differentiate between pleated fabric and the actual embroidery used on the pleats.
Why not just call it smocking?
When we hear the word smocking we think of little girls dresses with embroidered necklines and bodices. Most of them are done in a style known as English Smocking. This is not to say that smocking originated in England, nor was it isolated to just England, rather this phrase was coined from its usage through post period in the rural smocks and coats of England and Wales through the 18th and 19th centuries and popularized in clothing during the Victorian era.(2)
Whats the difference between Pleatwork and Smocking?
Depending on how you want to define it, there is not really a difference. Both can be defined as the useage of pleating for decorative purposes and the embroidery use to embellish the pleats. Modern smocking tends to refer to not just embroidery, but any manipulation of pleating in a decorative fashion. I prefer to use a more "period" terminology because I think it more accurately reflects the usage of the embroidery.
How do you know what is pleatwork and what isn't?
This, as the website will further show, is not easy to determine. There are very few extant pieces in existance. They do support the use of embroidery as both a a decorative element and as a means to manage the pleats. The use of embroidery as a decorative element is also supported by secondary sources such as inventory accounts and portrature. Using secondary sources such as portraits to document the embroidery is much more difficult. Some portraits are very detailed and we the artist has painted every stitch. Some paintings provide such detail that you can say "yes, here are the pleats... and here is the embroidery and it could have been done like this..." Most however are not as detailed and therefore it becomes conjecture: is what we are seeing embroidery or something more trim-like? Inventories and other written accounts are equally as frustrating since the can be ambiguous, using statements such as a "shirt pleated with gold wrought upon it."
Explorations into Pleatwork
Pleatwork, as an embroidery technique, was primarily used during a very narrow time period from the late 15th century to the early 16th century. While pleatwork has its origins in earlier times it's popularity was during a 50 year period in Germany, Italy and to some extent England. This site will explore the origins to its heyday and provide insight into the shape and embroidery of those garments.