Portrait of English nobleman Grey Brydges wearing a piccadill, painted around 1615

A piccadill or pickadill is a large broad collar of cut-work lace that became fashionable in the late 16th century and early 17th century.[1] The term is also used for the stiffened supporter or supportasse used to hold such a collar in place.[2][3]

The term may originate from a conjectured Spanish word picadillo, from picado meaning punctured or pierced or the Welsh word pica meaning pointed. This is similar to the Spanish word picadura, used for the lace collars of the seventeenth century that contained much elaborate cut work point lace.

Examples of a piccadill can be seen on portraits of Queen Elizabeth I and other portraits of her contemporaries such as Sir Walter Raleigh.

Piccadilly, a street in central London, is believed to be named after the piccadill, perhaps because a landowner in the area once made his fortune from them.[4]

See also

Look up piccadill in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ Pickadil, Merriam-Webster, retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. ^ Arnold, 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. ISBN 978-0896762626.
  3. ^ Cumming, Valerie (2010). The dictionary of fashion history. Oxford New York: Berg. p. 156. ISBN 9781847885333.
  4. ^ "piccadill", Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition 1989


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