Draped garment



A draped garment (draped dress) is a garment that is made of a single piece of cloth that is draped around the body; drapes are not cut away or stitched as in a tailored garment. Drapes can be held to the body by means of knotting, pinning, fibulae, clasps, sashes, belts, tying drawstrings, or just plain friction and gravity alone. Many draped garments consist of only one single piece.

An advanced form of the garment is the tailored dress, which is constructed from fabric that has been cut into pieces and stitched together to fit various parts of the body. In comparison to draped dresses, they are more fitted to the body.

History
Draping is a most ancient and widespread form of clothing. Many visual arts of the Romans and Indian sculptures, terracottas, cave paintings, and wood carvings (also shown in picture gallery) representing men and women show the same, unstitched clothes with various wrapping and draping styles.

Uttariya, and Antariya are few evident clothing items of draped garments from the Vedic period. Kasaya, another rectangular piece of the Buddhist robe, is a real example of the draped garment. Further evolved forms are Sari, and Odhni, etc.

The kāṣāya, also called jiāshā (Chinese: 袈裟), consists of three pieces, with the saṃghāti as the most visible part of the buddhist attire. It is worn over the upper robe (uttarāsaṅga). Uttarāsaṅga is a robe covering the upper body that comes over the undergarment, or antarvāsa. The antarvāsa is the inner robe covering the lower body. The latter are covered with saṃghāti.

Examples
More examples of draped clothing are:
 * Uttariya an upper body garment.
 * Adivasah is a loose-fitting outer garment, it is a type of over garment similar to a mantle or cloak.
 * Antariya a lower body garment.
 * Angvastra a kind of stole.
 * Various kind of headdresses for the protection and adornment of the head.
 * Stanapatta a chest band to cover the breasts.
 * Sari is a draped garment of south Asia, typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, partly baring the midriff.
 * Traditional kilts and belted plaids.
 * Peplos Long draped garment worn by women of Ancient Greece; often open on one side, with a deep fold at the top, and fastened on both shoulders.
 * Palla (garment) a long rectangular piece of cloth, folded in half lengthwise and used as a cloak by Roman women.
 * Chitons
 * Loincloths
 * Togas a very long length of woolen fabric that Romans wrapped around themselves, draping it over the left shoulder and arm and leaving the right arm free.
 * Himation an ancient Greek garment similar to the Roman toga.
 * Stolas long full robe with or without sleeves and drawn in with a belt; it was worn by Roman women, corresponding to the toga, that was worn by men. The stola was usually woollen.
 * Sarongs or lungis
 * Sudanese thawb: Women's outer draped garment, a rectangular length of fabric, generally two meters wide and four to seven meters long.
 * Pareos
 * Pongyis
 * Dhotis
 * Ponchos
 * Cloaks
 * Shawls
 * Scarf
 * Veshti a cloth wrap for the lower body in the Southern India.
 * Matchcoats, a Native American garment similar to the ancient Greek himation.

Haute couture
Wrapped and draped dresses continue to inspire many fashion designers. Madame Grès was a well-known French couturier known for her draping art. Her most notable work are so-called floor-length draped Grecian goddess gowns.