ruche
Americannoun
noun
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
Etymology
Origin of ruche
1820–30; < French: literally, beehive < Gallo-Romance *rūsca bark, apparently < Gaulish; compare Welsh rhisg ( l ) bark, rind
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Oprah Winfrey made a red carpet appearance in a ruche nude chiffon frock from Vera Wang.
From Forbes ● Feb. 22, 2015
The basket is ornamented with ruches of red worsted braid; between two box pleats of the ruche a black bugle is fastened.
From Beeton's Book of Needlework by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary)
The hood of the dark veranda, surmounted with its high ruche of snow, seemed to incline, invitational.
From Every Soul Hath Its Song by Hurst, Fannie
Trim the basket with a ruche of double box pleats, ornamented with glass beads and with bows of brown silk ribbon.
From Beeton's Book of Needlework by Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary)
She had a plump figure, its fulness accentuated by her rustling gray silk gown, with its spreading mantle glittering with steel beads, and finished with a thick, outstanding ruche at the neck.
From The Last Stroke a detective story by Lynch, Lawrence L.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
