There are things in an adult’s wardrobe that at first glance may seem completely childish. For example, a shirtfront. We think of it as a bib that should be worn to protect the neck from the cold wind. This accessory does indeed look a little funny, but it certainly cannot be called useless.
@etarantseva
So, the shirtfront is a special chest insert. Only in the old days it was not intended to shelter from the cold, but to decorate a man’s suit or woman’s dress. It peeked out chastely from the neckline of the vest and was considered a stylish element of any wardrobe.
The first in the Russian Empire to try on such a bib were aristocrats in the 18th century. They combined the shirtfront with a white shirt and black tailcoat. A little later, when the fashion for suits and snow-white underwear came to the masses, the chest insert did not remain out of popularity. On the contrary, the demand for it has only grown. Now the shirtfront was increasingly worn by petty officials, of whom there were quite a few in those days.In order to somehow separate the nobility from the common people, the latter were asked to wear a chest insert fastened to their uniform. People called her “Gavrilka”.
For a long time, aristocrats did not wear removable breastplates. It was only at the end of the 19th century that plastrons, or snap-on shirtfronts, became fashionable among the socialites of that time.
@fayzoff.com
Women's fashion for this accessory was more conservative. In the middle of the 19th century, ladies embroidered it with lace, threads, ruffles or buttons, and most often combined it with a dress or blouse.
By the way! For people who were not particularly rich in those days, a shirtfront helped them save significantly on clothing. A common practice among them was to put a bib on a naked body when there was no money for a new shirt.
Nowadays, the function of a “bib” that protects clothes has been irretrievably lost by the shirtfront (of course, if we are not talking about children who are just getting acquainted with a spoon). Today its main task is beautiful and reliable protection from bad weather.
@mg_knit
This accessory is ideal for people who don't like scarves. It does not twist or crumple under clothes. But the most important thing is that it does not need to be wrapped nicely around the neck (this fact is especially relevant for many men and children).
You can buy a shirt-front ready-made. In this case, it will be made of wool, felt, fleece, thick knitwear or even velvet. But hand-knitted models look interesting. As a rule, experienced craftswomen use wool with the addition of a small amount of synthetics (no more than 30%) for such work.
In general, all the shirtfronts are similar to each other, but there are still slight differences in the cut. Thus, the following types of modern chest inserts can be noted:
@elja434
In addition, there are women's, men's and children's models. They usually differ in cut, size or color. Men's are more modest, monochromatic, devoid of decorative elements. Women's and children's shirtfronts are often bright, they are decorated with embroidery and unusual prints.
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