A basque is an item of women's apparel. The term, of French origin, refers to a type of bodice or jacket, and in modern usage a long corset, characterized by a close, contoured fit and extending past the waistline over the hips. It is so called because the fashion was adopted from Basque traditional dress, initially by the French and then throughout Western fashion.

In Victorian fashion, basque refers to a closely fitted bodice or jacket extending past the waistline over the hips; depending on era, it may be worn over a hoopskirt (earlier Victorian era) or bustle (later Victorian era). A basque bodice (i.e., when considered as a dress component, to be worn with a specific skirt) could also be referred to as a "corset waist", because of its close fit.

In 20th century and contemporary attire, the term is used to refer to certain articles of lingerie, particularly a type of corset known as a torsolette, or alternately a torso-hugging camisole that resembles a corset (typically featuring decorative front or back lace-up detail), but of more delicate construction and offering little or no figure-molding compression.

Basque may refer to:

See also:

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, informally known as The Assumption, according to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. While Catholic dogma leaves open the question of Mary's death before rising to Heaven, the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Dormition of the Theotokos teaches that Mary died and then rose to Heaven. In the churches which observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, commonly celebrated on August 15. In many countries it is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation.

In his August 15, 2004, homily given at Lourdes, Pope John Paul II quoted John 14:3 as one of the scriptural bases for understanding the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also." According to Catholic theology, Mary is the pledge of the fulfillment of Christ's promise.

Emily Katherine Booth (born April 26, 1976), also known by her stage name Emily "Bouff" Bouffante, is an English actress and television presenter.

Booth was born in Chester, England in 1976 but grew up in Hastings, East Sussex. Her paternal great grandfather built one of the first cinemas in the UK in Cornwall. It is now a garage, but still has a plaque on the wall marking its significance. Booth studied for 3 A levels and a BA in media and film degree at Goldsmiths College, University of London. While she was a student she earned money busking in the street playing the violin and sang on Eurotrash. She once worked in PR for the London based Salvation Films. She used to be an avid animal rights campaigner^{[citation needed]} and has some rats as pets.^{[citation needed]}

In 2011 she gave birth to her first child, Betty Seren Booth-Walters.

Booth is known for her roles in such cult films as Pervirella, Cradle of Fear, Evil Aliens, BAFTA nominated short film Inferno. She also appeared in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez's double header Grindhouse (2007) in the mock trailer "Don't", by Edgar Wright (director of Shaun of the Dead).

Gok Wan (born 9 September 1974) is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British Chinese heritage. He is known for his appearances on many television programmes (including his own fashion show How to Look Good Naked), for providing fashion advice to celebrities and for contributing his views to fashion magazines published internationally.

Gok Wan (christened Kwokhyn Wan) was born in Leicester, England, to an English mother, Myra, and a Chinese father, John Tung Shing Wan, who was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to England at age 16. He grew up in Whetstone, Leicestershire, where his parents owned a restaurant. Wan stood out from his peers from a young age and the fact that he was mixed race, tall, overweight and gay led to bullying from other children.

He was 21 stone (133 kg) in his teenage years and later confessed, "I was really fat". He was drawn to performing arts and after leaving Babington Community College he began attending a course at the Charles Keene College of Further Education. Wan received a diploma from the college, then enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama and continued to study performing arts. However, the other students had backgrounds very different to his and he felt that his weight was beginning to dictate his life, later saying: