What is ruching?
What is ruching? A friend recently revealed her abysmal ignorance on this important sartorial question. A decorative sewing technique, ruching is perhaps most familiar to us today in the form of hideous 80s shot-taffeta prom dresses, and those crinoline-wearing plastic dolls that cover the extra roll of toilet paper in suburban bathrooms (I’m sorry, I couldn’t find any pictorial example of these).
It is also the most commonly misspelled word of all sewing techniques – ‘rouching’ seeming to be the most popular incarnation, with ‘rusching’ coming a close second.
Put simply, ruching is the gathering of fabric or ribbon on two parallel sides, that is then stitched to an underlying fabric to form ruffles, scallops or petals. The knit top by Anthropologie above has no underlay however; the fabric is gathered with elastic. To ensure even gathers, modern tailors use a plastic guide to mark the zig-zag pattern that will afterwards be stitched. Historically, seamstresses would have used a similar tool.
This classic 80s ruched party dress from Gravel Ghost Vintage sold on Etsy early last year
This form-fitting shape is quintessentially 1980s – click to buy at Zwzzy now!Ruching was an extremely popular technique in the 19th century, when it was used to decorate all items of women’s clothing including hats and petticoats, although it has been around for many years, possibly even as far back as medieval times. The technique also made a resurgence in the 1950s, more often than not in formal gowns and ruched gloves, as in the 1980s. Most familiar is horizontal ruching, but vertical ruching is far prettier in my eyes simply by virtue of its rarity. However, vertical ruching should not to be confused with multiple rows of gathers, which would more correctly be defined as shirring.
There you have it. I gather the confusion is all cleared up now.
Read more about the history and techniques of ruching at Wise Geek.
This ruched gown hung with swags was popular with 1950s debutantes – and beskirted toilet-roll holders; gown available at Etsy store Vintage Vortex
A couture gown of the 1950s features vertical ruching on the bodice; gown from Posh Porscha on Etsy