Definition of "fichu"

No. 2.—Carriage Dress. A dress of taffety of the very lightest tinge of willow-green; with four broad tucks, or bias folds, round the border, carried up almost the whole length of the skirt. The body made quite plain; and an elegant fichu worn over it, made of fine India muslin, with a standing-up collar; finished by a full frill-trimming of very fine lace. This trimming, when the fichu is of crape or of Japanese gauze, is of blond.An illustration of this dress appears on a coloured plate between pages 122 and 123 of the work.

1827 September, “Records of the Beau Monde. Fashions for September, 1827. Explanation of the Prints of the Fashions.”, in La Belle Assemblée, or Court and Fashionable Magazine; […], volume VI, number 33, London: Published by Geo[rge] B[yrom] Whittaker, […], page 122, column 1

The ‘fichu’ proper, introduced by Marie-Antoinette, not before the décolletée style of toilette made it positively necessary, was nothing more than a lace kerchief worn crossed over the shoulders.

1868 May, “Fashion at Longchamps”, in London Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation, volume XIII, number LXXVII, London: Office, 217, Piccadilly, W. [printed by William Clowes and Sons], page 407, column 1

The fichu is made in such a manner that it can at pleasure be either at the neck or in the center of the back, or at the waist, according as the fichu is arranged, more or less forward in front. For ladies who are unwilling to wear tight-fitting garments in the street without something to conceal the figure, these plaited fichus are most convenient; [...] These fichus are trimmed with bows, and are made according to the taste of the wearer.

1872 June, “Fashions for June”, in Charles Jacobs Peterson, editor, Peterson’s Magazine, volume LXI, number 6, Philadelphia, Pa.: Charles J. Peterson, page 446, column 2

She wore a dress of filmy white stuff, embroidered with bunches of pale mauve thistles, a full fichu, and a large mauve hat with wide mauve ribbons, tied in front in a large knot where the fichu was crossed on her bosom.

1919, Ronald Firbank, chapter IX, in Valmouth: A Romantic Novel, London: Duckworth, page 93; republished in The Works of Ronald Firbank, volume III (Valmouth; The Princess Zoubaroff), London: Duckworth; New York, N.Y.: Brentano’s, 1929, page 93

Assistant Van admired her elegant slenderness, the gray tailor-made suit, the smoky fichu and as it wafted away, her long white neck.

1969, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 5, in Ada, or, Ardor: A Family Chronicle, Harmondsworth, London: Penguin Books, published 1970, part 2, pages 288–289

Dresses were updated or embellished by the use of accessories. A dress might be given a different look by the addition of a fichu. Fichus were often made of sheer, gauze-like fabrics. They were decorated with ruffles, ribbons, lace, and bows. Fichus were particularly popular in warmer climates at a time when propriety dictated that a lady's shoulders be fully covered until evening. A cooler dress with a scooped neckline could be worn and covered by the lightweight fichu. Older women often wore fichus with their ball gowns.

2009, Dorothy Denneen Volo, James M. Volo, “The Look: Fashion and Women’s Clothing”, in Daily Life in Civil War America (Greenwood Press Daily Life through History Series), 2nd edition, Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press, ABC-CLIO, page 289