Engageante

For the French ship, see French frigate Engageante (1766).

Engageantes are false sleeves worn with women's clothing. They were worn during the 18th and 19th centuries, with a brief revival in the 20th century. In the 18th century, engageantes took the form of ruffles or flounces of linen, cotton, or lace, tacked to the elbow-length sleeves then fashionable.

Eleanor Frances Dixie by Henry Pickering, painted c. 1753. Sack-back gown worn with embroidered lawn engageantes.

Fashions of 1861 show linen or cotton engageantes worn under pagoda sleeves.

In the mid-19th century, the term engageante was used for separate false sleeves, usually with fullness gathered tight at the wrist, worn under the open bell-shaped "pagoda" sleeves of day dresses. The fashion reappeared briefly just after the turn of the 20th century.

External links

• Glossary of 18th century dress terms
• 18th Century Women's Engageantes
• Fashion in the Edwardian Era