A supportasse or underpropper is a stiffened support for a
ruff or
collar.[1][2][3] Essential items of courtly fashion in the late
16th and early
17th centuries, supportasses are sometimes called piccadills (picadils, pickadills), whisks,rebatos, or portefraise, terms used at different times for both the supporters and the various
lace or
linen collar styles to which they were attached.[2][4]
I pray you, sir, what say you to these great ruffs, which are borne up with supporters and rebatoes, as it were with post and rail?
—
Arthur Dent, The Plain Man's Pathway To Heaven (1631)[5]
Decorative supportasses were often made of wire fashioned in loops and scallops, covered over with colored silk, gold, or silver thread. Supporters stiffened with cardboard or pasteboard and covered in silk or linen were also popular.[2] They were held in place with ties or points fastened through worked holes at the back of the collar.[3] Examples of both types of supportasse survive in the costume collections of the
Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the
Musée national du Moyen Âge (formerly Musée de Cluny).[2]
^
abcdArnold, Janet (2008). Patterns of fashion 4: The cut and construction of linen shirts, smocks, neckwear, headwear and accessories for men and women c.1540-1660. Hollywood, CA: Quite Specific Media Group. pp. 32–38.
ISBN978-0896762626.
^
abCumming, Valerie (2010). The dictionary of fashion history. Oxford New York: Berg. p. 199.
ISBN9781847885333.
^Cumming, Valerie (2010). The dictionary of fashion history. Oxford New York: Berg. pp. 156, 170, 199.
ISBN9781847885333.
^Dent, Arthur.
"Pride of Dress". The Plain Man's Pathway To Heaven. p. 34. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
A supportasse or underpropper is a stiffened support for a
ruff or
collar.[1][2][3] Essential items of courtly fashion in the late
16th and early
17th centuries, supportasses are sometimes called piccadills (picadils, pickadills), whisks,rebatos, or portefraise, terms used at different times for both the supporters and the various
lace or
linen collar styles to which they were attached.[2][4]
I pray you, sir, what say you to these great ruffs, which are borne up with supporters and rebatoes, as it were with post and rail?
—
Arthur Dent, The Plain Man's Pathway To Heaven (1631)[5]
Decorative supportasses were often made of wire fashioned in loops and scallops, covered over with colored silk, gold, or silver thread. Supporters stiffened with cardboard or pasteboard and covered in silk or linen were also popular.[2] They were held in place with ties or points fastened through worked holes at the back of the collar.[3] Examples of both types of supportasse survive in the costume collections of the
Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the
Musée national du Moyen Âge (formerly Musée de Cluny).[2]
^
abcdArnold, Janet (2008). Patterns of fashion 4: The cut and construction of linen shirts, smocks, neckwear, headwear and accessories for men and women c.1540-1660. Hollywood, CA: Quite Specific Media Group. pp. 32–38.
ISBN978-0896762626.
^
abCumming, Valerie (2010). The dictionary of fashion history. Oxford New York: Berg. p. 199.
ISBN9781847885333.
^Cumming, Valerie (2010). The dictionary of fashion history. Oxford New York: Berg. pp. 156, 170, 199.
ISBN9781847885333.
^Dent, Arthur.
"Pride of Dress". The Plain Man's Pathway To Heaven. p. 34. Retrieved 17 October 2014.