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Ball gowns of the 1860s

A ball gown is worn for ballroom dancing and only the most formal social occasions according to rules of etiquette. It is traditionally a full-skirted gown reaching at least to the ankles, made of luxurious fabric, delicately and exotically trimmed. Most versions are cut off the shoulder with decollete necklines. Such gowns are typically worn with a stole (a formal shawl in expensive fabric), cape or cloak in lieu of a coat, "good" (couture or vintage) jewellery and opera-length gloves. Standard accessories are dancing shoes and a clutch style evening bag. Where "state decorations" are to be worn, they are on a bow pinned to the chest, and married women wear a tiara if they have one. The ball-gown shape has changed little since the mid-19th century. Although artificial fabrics are now sometimes used, the most common fabrics are satin, silk, taffeta and velvet with trimmings of lace, pearls, sequins, embroidery, ruffles and ruching.

The elements of ladies' white tie attire[link]

According to rules of etiquette and attire, ladies must wear a ball gown to events where men are required to wear white tie attire. The elements of ladies' white tie attire could include:

• ball gown - ballerina (to the ankle) or full-length (to the floor)
• dancing shoes - formal pumps, sandals, flats or ballet slippers
• jewellery - earrings and necklace; rings and bracelets are optional. A watch is not considered appropriate except for jeweled versions in which the face is covered so that it resembles a bracelet.
• gloves - if worn, should be opera length
• stole, cape or cloak, or an opera coat
• handbag - clutch style or small evening bag

Optional:

• state decorations - if specified on invitation; worn on a bow pinned to the chest
• tiaras - If married and the event does not take place in a hotel.^[1]

Debutantes[link]

For their debuts, debutantes wear long white ball gowns. They also wear long white leather gloves that go well above the elbow and that close with small pearl buttons at the wrist, even though nowadays it is very common for girls to wear long satin gloves. Their jewellery is understated and suitable for a young lady about to be formally presented to society for the first time.

See also[link]

• Ball (dance)
• Ballerina skirt
• Crinoline
• Clothing terminology
• Dress codes

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ball dresses

Look up ball in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A football

A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling. Balls made from hard-wearing materials are used in engineering applications to provide very low friction bearings, known as ball bearings. Black powder weapons use stone and metal balls as projectiles.

Although many types of balls are today made from rubber, this form was unknown outside the Americas until after the voyages of Columbus. The Spanish were the first Europeans to see bouncing rubber balls (albeit solid and not inflated) which were employed most notably in the Mesoamerican ballgame. Balls used in various sports in other parts of the world prior to Columbus were made from other materials such as animal bladders or skins, stuffed with various materials.

As balls are one of the most familiar spherical objects to humans, the word "ball" is used to refer to, or to describe, anything spherical or near-spherical.

Etymology[link]

The first known use of the word ball in English in the sense of a globular body that is played with was in 1205 in Laȝamon's Brut, or Chronicle of Britain in the phrase, "Summe heo driuen balles wide ȝeond Þa feldes." The word came from the Middle English bal (inflected as ball-e, -es, in turn from Old Norse böllr (pronounced [bɔlːr]; compare Old Swedish baller, and Swedish boll) from Proto-Germanic ballu-z, (whence probably Middle High German bal, ball-es, Middle Dutch bal), a cognate with Old High German ballo, pallo, Middle High German balle from Proto-Germanic *ballon (weak masculine), and Old High German ballâ, pallâ, Middle High German balle, Proto-Germanic *ballôn (weak feminine). No Old English representative of any of these is known. (The answering forms in Old English would have been beallu, -a, -e -- compare bealluc, ballock.) If ball- was native in Germanic, it may have been a cognate with the Latin foll-is in sense of a "thing blown up or inflated." In the later Middle English spelling balle the word coincided graphically with the French balle "ball" and "bale" which has hence been erroneously assumed to be its source. French balle (but not boule) is assumed to be of Germanic origin, itself, however.

History[link]

Russian leather balls (Russian: мячи), 12-13 century.

A ball, as the essential feature in many forms of gameplay requiring physical exertion, must date from the very earliest times. A rolling object appeals not only to a human baby but to a kitten and a puppy. Some form of game with a ball is found portrayed on Egyptian monuments, and is played among aboriginal tribes at the present day. In Homer, Nausicaa was playing at ball with her maidens when Odysseus first saw her in the land of the Phaeacians (Od. vi. 100). And Halios and Laodamas performed before Alcinous and Odysseus with ball play, accompanied with dancing (Od. viii. 370). The Hebrews have no mention of the ball in their scriptures.^[1]

Ancient Greeks[link]

Among the Greeks games with balls (σφαῖραι) were regarded as a useful subsidiary to the more violent athletic exercises, as a means of keeping the body supple, and rendering it graceful, but were generally left to boys and girls. Of regular rules for the playing of ball games, little trace remains, if there were any such. The names in Greek for various forms, which have come down to us in such works as the Ὀνομαστικόν of Pollux of Naucratis, imply little or nothing of such; thus, ἀπόρραξις only means the putting of the ball on the ground with the open hand, οὐρανία, the flinging of the ball in the air to be caught by two or more players; φαινίνδα would seem to be a game of catch played by two or more, where feinting is used as a test of quickness and skill. Pollux (i. x. 104) mentions a game called ἐπίσκυρος, which has often been looked on as the origin of football. It seems to have been played by two sides, arranged in lines; how far there was any form of "goal" seems uncertain.^[1]

Ancient Romans[link]

Among the Romans, ball games were looked upon as an adjunct to the bath, and were graduated to the age and health of the bathers, and usually a place (sphaeristerium) was set apart for them in the baths (thermae). There appear to have been three types or sizes of ball, the pila, or small ball, used in catching games, the paganica, a heavy ball stuffed with feathers, and the follis, a leather ball filled with air, the largest of the three. This was struck from player to player, who wore a kind of gauntlet on the arm. There was a game known as trigon, played by three players standing in the form of a triangle, and played with the follis, and also one known as harpastum, which seems to imply a "scrimmage" among several players for the ball. These games are known to us through the Romans, though the names are Greek.^[1]

Modern ball games[link]

The various modern games played with a ball or balls and subject to rules are treated under their various names, such as polo, cricket, football, etc.^[1]

Images[link]

This section looks like an image gallery. Wikipedia policy discourages galleries of random images of the article subject; please improve or remove the section accordingly, moving freely licensed images to Wikimedia Commons if not already hosted there.

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  Computed tomography of a football (soccer) (Video)

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  Baoding balls

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  Baseball

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  Basketball

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  Billiard balls

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  Bowling ball (and pin)

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  Lacrosse ball

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  Cricket ball

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  Golf ball next to a hole

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  Rugby union ball

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  Australian rules football

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  Tennis ball

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  Volleyball

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  American Football

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  Water polo ball

See also[link]

• Ball (mathematics)
• Buckminster Fullerene "Bucky balls"
• Football (ball)
• Kickball
• Marbles
• Penny floater
• Prisoner Ball
• Shuttlecock
• Super Ball

References[link]

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