Sir Christopher Hatton in a full-length, fur-lined gown with hanging sleeves, c. 1591

A gown, from medieval Latin gunna, is a usually loose outer garment from knee- to full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the early Middle Ages to the 17th century, and continuing today in certain professions; later, gown was applied to any full-length woman's garment consisting of a bodice and attached skirt. A long, loosely-fitted gown called a Banyan was worn by men in the 18th century as an informal coat.

The gowns worn today by academics, judges, and some clergy derive directly from the everyday garments worn by their medieval predecessors, formalized into a uniform in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Women's dress[link]

In women's fashion, gown was used in English for any one-piece garment, but more often through the 18th century for an overgarment worn with a petticoat – called in French a robe. Compare this to the short gowns or bedgowns of the later 18th century.

Before the Victorian period, the word "dress" usually referred to a general overall mode of attire for either men or women, such as in the phrases "Evening Dress", "Morning Dress", "Travelling Dress", "Full Dress" and so on, rather than to any specific garment, and the most often English word for a woman's skirted garment was "gown". By the early 20th century, both "gown" and "frock" were essentially synonymous with "dress", although gown was more often used for a formal, heavy or full-length garment and frock or dress for a light-weight, shorter or informal one. Only in the last few decades has "gown" lost its general meaning of a woman's garment in the United States in favor of "dress". Today the usage is chiefly British except in historical senses or in formal cases such as evening gown and wedding gown.

See also[link]

References[link]

Bibliography

• Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen's Dresses and Their Construction c.1860–1940, Wace 1966, Macmillan 1972. Revised metric edition, Drama Books 1977. ISBN 0-89676-027-8
• Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0-8109-6317-5
• Black, J. Anderson and Madge Garland: A History of Fashion, Morrow, 1975. ISBN 0-688-02893-4

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gowns

Yasmin Le Bon (née Parvaneh; born 29 October 1964, in Oxford, England) is a British model.^[1] Le Bon is currently represented by Elite+ in New York City and Models 1 in London.^[2] Le Bon was one of the highest earning models during the 1980s.^[3]

Career[link]

In 1981, Le Bon, who was born to an Iranian father and an English mother, was discovered by a local modelling agency while working a part-time sales job in a boutique.

In April 1987, she was hired by GUESS? for a key advertising campaign.^[4] Throughout the late 1980, she appeared on the cover of the first American and British issues of Elle. She has also been on the covers of Vogue, V, I.D., Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Harper's Bazaar.

Le Bon, a 47-year-old mother of three, modelled bikinis for Marks & Spencer in spring 2001. In 2003, she signed an exclusive deal with designer Matthew Williamson and his sponsor, Ariel Essential.

As a model, Le Bon has also represented Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Bergdorf Goodman, Biotherm, Bloomingdale's, Bonwit Teller, Calvin Klein, Versace, Chanel, Christian Dior, Clairol, Escada, Filene's, Frasercard, Avon, and Gianfranco Ferré.^[2]

In September 2009, Le Bon partnered with Wallis to design her first women's clothing and jewellery collection called YLB. Her second collection was made available in March 2010.

In January 2012, Le Bon wore a 110 pound gown in the Stéphane Rolland spring/summer Haute Couture show in Paris.

Personal life[link]

In 1984, she met Simon Le Bon, lead singer of Duran Duran. The couple married on 27 December 1985. Le Bon gave birth to a daughter, Amber Rose, in August 1989. She was back on the catwalks within weeks.^[5] In September 1991, Le Bon had her second daughter, Saffron Sahara, and then, in 1994, had her third, Talullah Pine.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Yasmin Le Bon on the Fashion Model Directory
• Yasmin Le Bon at the Internet Movie Database