The long back portion of a formal garment that trails behind the wearer
In
clothing
, a
train
describes the long back portion of a
robe
,
coat
,
cloak
,
skirt
,
overskirt
, or
dress
that trails behind the wearer.
It is a common part of ceremonial robes in
academic dress
,
court dress
or
court uniform
. It is also a common part of a woman's formal
evening gowns
or
wedding dresses
.
Types of train
[
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]
Fashion
[
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]
Dress with a fishtail train, French, c. 1880. LACMA
Detail of the previous dress
- Court train
? Worn for formal court occasions, the court train had to fall in with strict dress codes which differed from court to court. For example, the French court code set in 1804 by
Jean-Baptiste Isabey
prescribed a four-inch maximum width for embroidered train borders for non-Royal wearers.
[1]
In Britain it was required to be three yards in length at the minimum.
[2]
- Double train
? Two trains attached to the same dress, or a single train divided into two trains.
- Fishtail train
? A train popular at various times from the 1870s onwards, flaring out from midway down a close-fitting skirt.
[3]
- Demi-train
? A short train formed by having the back of the garment slightly longer than the front.
[4]
Wedding dress
[
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]
Trains in modern (20th and 21st century) bridal wear have their own terminology:
- Cathedral train
? also known as a
monarch train
, this can measure up to eight feet (2.4 metres). A
royal cathedral train
is considered the longest, most formal train, measuring up to ten feet (3.0 metres) or more.
[5]
[6]
- Chapel train
? a medium length train up to five feet (1.1 to 1.5 metres) long.
[5]
- Court train
? in bridal terminology, a court train is a narrow train extending 1 metre behind.
[5]
- Sweep train
? a short train that does not necessarily reach the floor.
[5]
It is so called because it might just sweep the ground.
[6]
- Watteau train
? a modern version of the pleated backs (called 'Watteau pleats') seen in 18th century
sack-back gowns
.
[5]
Brides of the
Ndebele people
of South Africa traditionally wear long beaded trains hung from the shoulder, known as
nyoga
(snake).
[7]
Trains as part of uniform
[
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]
Trains are a common feature of the
Royal mantles
of Kings and Princes, as well as the mantles of many
chivalric orders
.
Officers of older, traditional universities generally wear distinctive and more elaborate dress. The
Chancellor
and the
Vice-Chancellor
may wear a black damask lay type gown with a long train.
[8]
[9]
[10]
In France the train is now usually hooked to the inner side of the robe.
The
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
, when robed, dresses like a High Court Judge with the distinction of a train to his
scarlet
robe.
[11]
Judges of the Court of Appeal wear the black silk damask gown, trained and heavily embellished with gold embroidery.
French court dress includes a train, now buttoned to the inside of the robe and suspended by fabric bands, a vestige of the former practice of lawyers carrying their trains.
[12]
The
Lord Chancellor
, the
Speaker of the House of Commons
, and other high dignitaries also wear similar embroidered black robes with trains.
[13]
The
Lord Mayor of London
also wears a robe with a train.
[14]
A trained robe, the
cappa magna
(great cape) remains in use in the Catholic Church for certain ceremonial occasions.
Cardinals
,
bishops
, and certain other honorary
prelates
are entitled to wear the
cappa magna
, but within the territory of their jurisdiction.
[15]
Eastern Orthodox bishops also traditionally use a cloak with a long train known as the
Mandyas
, which may have parallels with the development of the Catholic
cappa magna
.
For male peers, the Coronation robe is a cloak of crimson velvet extending to the feet, open in the front (with white silk satin ribbon ties) with train trailing behind.
[16]
The Parliament robe of a British peer is a full-length garment of scarlet
wool
with a collar of white
miniver
fur, cut long as a train, but this is usually kept hooked up inside the garment.
[17]
Court dresses for women were commonly fifteen yards in length.
[2]
Court dresses for noble women sometimes had trains both behind and in front of the dress.
[4]
Japanese Imperial court clothing,
sokutai
for men and
j?nihitoe
for women, both include a long train extending from the back of the robe. It remains in use with the
Imperial Household of Japan
for ceremonial occasions.
[18]
History
[
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]
Trains declined in popularity in the late nineteenth century when they were targeted by public health campaigns in Europe and the United States that argued they brought germs from the streets into the wearers' homes. The issue was the subject of a cartoon published in
Puck
in 1900 entitled "The Trailing Skirt: Death Loves a Shining Mark."
[19]
Gallery
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]
-
The Lord Chief Justice, 2013
-
The scarlet robe, with train, Lord Mayor of London
-
Chancellor of the Exchequer Robe of State
-
Mantle of the Knights of the
Order of the Holy Spirit
, France
-
Coronation robes of an earl,
William Pitt
-
-
Serbian Orthodox bishop in mandyas
-
King Frederick William IV of Prussia in mantle
-
Isabeau of Bavaria
with long ermine-lined train; c. late 14th century or early 15th century
-
-
Pauline Bonaparte
manteau de cour, a train attached at chest level, introduced by Napoleon,
[20]
1808
-
Court dress and train, English, 1822
-
Empress
Teresa Cristina of Brazil
in court dress and train of green velvet with gold embroidery, 1864
-
Evening gown with train, 1883
-
Saya de cola
(lit. "skirt train") of the
traje de mestiza
during the late 19th century (erroneously referred to as a
Maria Clara gown
) from the
Philippines
. Note the manner of the woman's arms and hands, which depict the traditional method of holding the train at the time.
-
Court presentation dress and train, 1897
-
Short wedding dress with long train attached. 1920s
-
Japanese bride in a white dress with train, 2007
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Court train (manteau de cour), ca. 1809"
.
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2006
. Retrieved
18 June
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Dress and Insignia Worn at His Majesty's Court
. Various editions 1898-1937
- ^
Watt, Judith (2012).
Fashion: The definitive history of costume and style
(1. publ. ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 200.
ISBN
9781405398794
.
- ^
a
b
Cumming, Valerie; Cunnington, C. W.; Cunnington, P. E. (2010).
The Dictionary of Fashion History
. Berg. p. 208.
ISBN
978-0857851437
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Shimer, Elizabeth (2004).
The wedding gown book: how to find the gown that perfectly fits your body, personality, style, and budget
. Gloucester, Mass.: Quarry Books. p. 44.
ISBN
1592530664
. Retrieved
6 June
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Hagen, Shelly (2004).
The everything wedding book: the ultimate guide to planning the wedding of your dreams
(3rd ed.). Avon, Mass.: Adams Media. p.
117
.
ISBN
1593371268
.
- ^
Brennan, Summer.
"A Natural History of the Wedding Dress"
. JSTOR Daily.
- ^
The Oxford and Cambridge review, Volume 4
. Oxford University. 1847. p. 530.
- ^
"Australian National University, Academic and Ceremonial Dress Order 2010"
.
Federal Register of Legislation
. 27 July 2010.
- ^
"National University of Ireland, Academic Dress Booklet"
(PDF)
.
Academic Dress of the NUI
.
- ^
Dress worn at Court
, 1921 edition.
- ^
Renard, Clement.
"Dans le secret des robes noire des avocat"
. Le Parisien.
- ^
Campbell, Una (1989).
Robes of the Realm
. Michael O'Mara Books Ltd: London. pp. 53-54.
- ^
Weinreb, Ben
;
Hibbert, Christopher
(1992).
The London Encyclopaedia
(reprint ed.).
Macmillan
. p. 496.
- ^
FIU.edu
- ^
"No. 39709"
.
The London Gazette
. 2 December 1952. p. 6351.
- ^
Cox, Noel (1999). "The Coronation and Parliamentary Robes of the British Peerage."
Arma, the Journal of the Heraldry Society of Southern Africa
. Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 289?293. Retrieved on 2007-10-19.
- ^
Encyclopædia Britannica:
Sokutai
- ^
Emily Mullin (May 10, 2016).
"How Tuberculosis Shaped Victorian Fashion"
.
Smithsonian Magazine
.
- ^
Ingrid Loschek
Reclams Mode- und Kostumlexikon.
Reclam, Stuttgart 1987,
ISBN
3-15-010448-3
, S. 156.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Black, J. Anderson and Madge Garland:
A History of Fashion
, Morrow, 1975.
ISBN
0-688-02893-4
- Payne, Blanche:
History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century
, Harper & Row, 1965.
ISBN
9780060450700