Skirt (pronounced skurt)
(1) The part of a gown, dress, slip, or coat that extends downward from the waist.
(2) A one-piece garment extending downward from the waist and not joined between the legs, worn especially by women and girls.
(3) Some part resembling or suggesting the skirt of a garment, as the flared lip of a bell or a protective and ornamental cloth strip covering the legs of furniture.
(4) In saddlery, in a small leather flap on each side of a saddle, covering the metal bar from which the stirrup hangs.
(5) In the building trades, a baseboard or apron.
(6) In furniture design, a flat horizontal brace set immediately beneath the seat of a chair, chest of drawers, or the like, to strengthen the legs; also called a bed or frieze (a flat brace or support immediately beneath a tabletop).
(7) The bordering, marginal, or outlying part of a place, group etc; the outskirts; to lie along the border of somewhere.
(8) In slang, an older (and usually disparaging or offensive) term used to refer to a woman or girl.
(9) In rocketry, an outer part of a rocket or missile that provides structural support or houses such systems as avionics or gyroscopes.
(10) To avoid, go around the edge of, or keep distant from (something that is controversial, risky etc).
(11) In the wool industry, to remove low-grade wool and foreign matter from the outer edge of fleece.
(12) In the design of internal combustion engines, the lower part of the block which extends to (or below) the centre of the crankshaft line.
(13) In the design of suction or elevating devices, a flexible edging providing a partial seal at the base where the air flow occurs.
(14) In butchery, a cut of beef from the flank.
1250–1300: From the Middle English skyrte & skirte (lower part of a woman’s dress) from the Old Norse skyrta (shirt; a kind of kirtle) from the Proto-Germanic skurtijǭ (skirt). The sense development from "shirt" to "skirt" is thought most likely related to the long shirts of peasant garb (the Low German cognate Schört, in some dialects translates as "woman's gown"). The meaning "border, edge" (in outskirts, etc) was first recorded in the late fifteenth century and the metonymic use for "women collectively" emerged as early as the 1550s although there’s no evidence the slang sense of "young woman" existed prior to 1906 with “skirt-chaser” (a womaniser) first attested 1942. The mini-skirt dates from 1965, reputedly the invention of French designer André Courrèges (1923-2016).
The
Ford & Lincoln “Y-Block” V8 engines gained their nickname from the deep
skirting of the block which extended below the crankshaft line, making for an
unusually robust bottom end, something which would prove of some significance
long after the unit had been supplanted in the US by more modern designs. In many ways the Y-Blocks were a curious
cul-de-sac in the evolutionary path of the US V8 engine, having an unusual port
design which rendered development by conventional means impossible (hence the brief
resort to supercharging) and the dimensions limited the potential for increased
displacement. It was noted also for the
unique arrangement of the solid valve lifters which had to be installed from
below and a firing order which produced a distinctive and pleasing burble from
the exhaust. Compared with Ford’s
earlier and later V8s, both the Y-Blocks were short-lived, the Lincoln (some of
which were actually used in Ford trucks) used between 1952-1963 while the Ford
lasted from 1954 until 1964, their replacements both adopting a more
conventional design approach. However,
the Ford lived on in Romania until 1975 where it was produced under licence as
a truck engine (the durability of the tough, deep-skirted block an asset in a
market where conditions were tough and the quality of oil and fuel sometimes
suspect) and in Argentina until 1988, the South Americans improving things
greatly with their re-designed heads which used conventional porting.
The Pencil Skirt
Lindsay Lohan in racerback floral crop top and matching high-waisted pencil skirt with cobalt blue suede heels; Suno Spring Collection, 2013.
A pencil skirt is a slim-fitting garment with a severe, narrow cut. The classic design was approximately knee-length but modern, more flexible fabrics have made possible calf-length styles. It borrows its name from the writing instrument because, tailored for a close fit, it is pencil-like: long and slender. Flexible in use, it’s the quintessential mix-and-match item, able to be worn either as a separate piece or as part of an ensemble. A vent is usually placed in the back (or increasingly at the sides, especially in longer styles) because the slim shape would otherwise impede movement although a more modest kick pleat can instead be used. Modern stretchy fabrics have made practical functional pencil skirts without either vents or pleats but they seem still popular for aesthetic reasons. Historically, the industry paired pencil skirts with stilettos or court shoes but they’re now worn in just about any combination, boots proving increasingly popular. French designer Christian Dior (1905–1957) included a classic pencil skirt in his 1954 Autumn-Winter collection although the style had long been worn. Economical in the use of fabric compared with more voluminous cuts, its popularity had been boosted by war-time rationing and post-war austerity.
The
pencil skirt’s precursor was the hobble skirt, an Edwardian-era fad inspired by
the Ballets Russes, a Paris-based ballet
company which, between 1908-1929, performed in the Americas and Europe (though
paradoxically never in Russia because of the political convulsions). Highly influential, Ballets Russes brought modernism to ballet with works commissioned
from Stravinsky, Debussy, Prokofiev, Satie and Ravel, and their artistic
collaborators included Kandinsky, Benois, Picasso and Matisse. Coco Chanel (1883–1971) was one of their costume designers
but it’s not known if she penned the hobble skirt.
No comments:
Post a Comment