Types of Gaments

What is a Garment?

A garment is a pieces of article used for clothing. It is an outer covering or outward appearance. Garment can also be referred as clothing. Clothing is fiber and textile material worn on the body. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of nearly all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn is dependent on physical stature, gender, as well as social and geographic considerations.

Physically, clothing serves many purposes: it can serve as protection from the elements, and can enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking. It protects the wearer from rough surfaces, rash-causing plants, insect bites, splinters, thorns and prickles by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Clothes can insulate against cold or hot conditions. Further, they can provide a hygienic barrier, keeping infectious and toxic materials away from the body. Clothing also provides protection from harmful UV radiation.

Clothes can be made out of fiber plants such as cotton, plastics such as polyester, or animal skin and hair such as wool. Humans began wearing clothes roughly 83,000 to 170,000 years ago.

Functions of Garment/Cloth: 

The most obvious function of clothing is to improve the comfort of the wearer, by protecting the wearer from the elements. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, while in cold climates its thermal insulation properties are generally more important. Shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, and other superficial layers are normally removed when entering a warm home, particularly if one is residing or sleeping there. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials and fewer layers of clothing are generally worn in warmer seasons and regions than in colder ones.

Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and sexual differentiation, and social status. In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, and social status. Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style.

Clothing can and has in history been made from a very wide variety of materials. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to woven materials, to elaborate and exotic natural and synthetic fabrics. Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing. Articles carried rather than worn (such as purses), worn on a single part of the body and easily removed (scarves), worn purely for adornment (jewelry), or those that serve a function other than protection (eyeglasses), are normally considered accessories rather than clothing, as are footwear and hats.

Clothing protects against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes protect people from the elements, including rain, snow, wind, and other weather, as well as from the sun. However, clothing that is too sheer, thin, small, tight, etc., offers less protection. Clothes also reduce risk during activities such as work or sport. Some clothing protects from specific environmental hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weather, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances. Conversely, clothing may protect the environment from the clothing wearer, as with doctors wearing medical scrubs.

Humans have shown extreme inventiveness in devising clothing solutions to environmental hazards. Examples include: space suits, air conditioned clothing, armor, diving suits, swimsuits, bee-keeper gear, motorcycle leathers, high-visibility clothing, and other pieces of protective clothing. Meanwhile, the distinction between clothing and protective equipment is not always clear-cut—since clothes designed to be fashionable often have protective value and clothes designed for function often consider fashion in their design. Wearing clothes also has social implications. They cover parts of the body that social norms require to be covered, act as a form of adornment, and serve other social purposes.

Types of Garments

Dress Shirt:

A shirt, dress shirt, button-front, button-front shirt, or button-up shirt is a garment with a collar, and a full-length opening at the front from the collar to the hem. While traditionally dress shirts were worn by men (while women wore blouses or chemises), in the mid-1800s it also became an item of women's clothing and is worn by both sexes today. The front opening is fastened using buttons or studs. Shirts are normally made from woven cloth, and are often accompanied by a jacket and tie, for example with a suit or formal wear, but shirts are also worn more casually. In British English, dress shirt means specifically the more formal evening garment worn with black- or white- tie, also discussed below. Some of these formal shirts have stiff fronts and detachable collars attached with collar studs. The term "button-down" (which refers a type of shirt which has a collar fastened down by buttons) is sometimes used in error to apply to all shirts (with or without buttoned down collars), being used as a synonym for "button-up" or "button-front".

Jacket:

                         

A jacket is a hip- or waist-length garment for the upper body. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which is outerwear. Some jackets are fashionable, while others serve as protective clothing.

Trousers:

 

Trousers are an item of clothing worn from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and dresses). They are also called pants in the United States. (In other English speaking countries, the word "pants" generally means underwear and not trousers.)[1] Shorts are similar to trousers, but with legs that come down only to around the area of the knee, higher or lower depending on the style of the garment. To distinguish them from shorts, trousers may be called "long trousers" in certain contexts such as school uniform, where tailored shorts may be called "short trousers", especially in the UK.

Jeans:

    

 

Jeans are pants made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of pants, called "blue jeans" and invented by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss in 1873. Starting in the 1950s, jeans, originally designed for cowboys and miners, became popular among teenagers, especially members of the greaser subculture. Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and Wrangler. Jeans come in various fits, including skinny, tapered, slim, straight, boot cut, narrow bottom, low waist, anti-fit, and flare.

Jeans are now a very popular article of casual dress around the world. They come in many styles and colors; however, blue jeans are particularly identified with American culture, especially the American Old West.

Brassiere:

A Brassiere, commonly referred to as a Bra , is a woman's undergarment that supports her breasts. Bras are typically form-fitting and perform a variety of functions and have also evolved into a fashion item. Women usually wear bras to support their breasts.

Changing social trends and novel materials have increased the variety and complexity of available designs, and allowed manufacturers to make bras that in some instances are more fashionable than functional.

Some garments, such as camisoles, tank tops and backless dresses, have built-in breast support, alleviating the need to wear a separate bra.

The bra has become a feminine icon or symbol with cultural significance beyond its primary function of supporting breasts. Some feminist consider the brassiere a symbol of the repression of women's bodies.

Shorts:      

Shorts are a garment worn by both men and women over their pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to knee but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they are a shortened version of pants, which cover the entire leg. Shorts are typically worn in warm weather or in an environment where comfort and airflow are more important than the protection of the legs.

There are a variety of shorts, ranging from knee-length short pants that can be worn as formal clothes to beachwear and athletic shorts. Some types of shorts are typically worn by women, as in the case of culottes, which are a divided skirt resembling a pair of loose-cut shorts.

Polo Shirts:

                              

A polo shirt, also known as a golf shirt and tennis shirt, is a form of shirt with a collar, a placket with typically two or three buttons, and an optional pocket. Polo shirts are usually made of knitted cloth (rather than woven cloth), usually piqué cotton or, less commonly, silk, merino wool, or synthetic fibers. A dress-length version of the shirt is called a polo dress.

T-Shirts:

 

A T-Shirt (T Shirt, tee-shirt, or tee) is a style of shirt. A T-Shirt's defining characteristic is the T shape made with the body and sleeves. It is normally associated with short sleeves, a round neck line, and no collar.

T-Shirts are typically made of cotton fibers (sometimes others), knitted together in a jersey stitch that gives a T-Shirt its distinctive soft texture. The majority of modern T-Shirts have a body that is made from a continuously woven tube, so the torso has no side seams.

T-Shirt fashions include many styles for both men and women, and for all age groups, including baby, youth, teen, adult and elderly sizes.

Briefs:

Briefs are a type of short, tight underwear and swimwear, as opposed to styles where the material extends down the legs.

A main difference between male briefs and female briefs is that male briefs are often designed with a seam or much larger pouch in the crotch area to accommodate a bulge. This is because men and boys have larger external genitals in comparison to women or girls, thus requiring more fabric in the crotch area.

Skirts:

                              

A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.

At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of material (such as pareos), but most skirts are fitted to the body at the waist and fuller below, with the fullness introduced by means of dart, gores, pleats, or panels. Modern skirts are usually made of light to mid-weight fabrics, such as denim, jersey, worsted, or poplin. Skirts of thin or clingy fabrics are often worn with slips to make the material of the skirt drape better and for modesty.

The hemline of skirts varies according to the personal taste of the wearer which can be influenced by such factors as social context, fashion, and cultural conceptions of modesty.

One Piece Dress:

A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). In Western culture, dresses are usually considered to be items of women's and girls' apparel.

The hemlines of dresses vary depending on the whims of fashion and the modesty or personal taste of the wearer.