ruche

American  

[roosh] / ruʃ /

noun

1. a strip of pleated lace, net, muslin, or other material for trimming or finishing a dress, as at the collar or sleeves.

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ruche British  

/ ruːʃ /

noun

1. a strip of pleated or frilled lawn, lace, etc, used to decorate blouses, dresses, etc, or worn around the neck like a small ruff as in the 16th century

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Usage

What does ruche mean? A ruche is a strip of material used to finish a dress, as in Paula decided to add lace ruche to the dress’s sleeves. A ruche is a decorative piece of fabric used to finish a dress on the ends. Typically, a ruche is placed on the collar or sleeves of a dress as a way to draw attention to those areas and complete a design. A traditional ruche is made by pleating the fabric already present at the top of the dress or gathering it into small folds, but it can also be made out of pleated fabric that is added on top of the dress fabric. Ruches are often made from lace, net, or muslin but can be made from any material that can be pleated and sewn on the garment’s fabric. To ruche means to gather or pleat fabric into a ruche, as in Franny struggled to ruche the lace for the wedding gown. Example: Vlad used a bright-colored ruche on the dress sleeves to make the dress pop.

Other Word Forms

• ruching
  noun
• ruched
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ruche

1820–30; < French: literally, beehive < Gallo-Romance *rūsca bark, apparently < Gaulish; compare Welsh rhisg ( l ) bark, rind

Related Words

• bend
• crimp
• curl
• knit
• tuck