Lolitymology - Shirring

Lolitymology is my new section that will delve into a word or phrase that is very common within Lolita fashion, as well as uncommon outside of Lolita fashion, or that has a different meaning outside of the fashion. The title is a portmanteau of "Lolita" and "etymology".

Shirring

I've seen it pronounced "shee-ring" and spelled shearing. Neither of these are correct. It is pronounced "shur-ing". If an item is shirred, it's pronounced "sh-urd". Like heard, nerd, bird, or turd (disclaimer: with my accent these are all pronounced with the same vowel sound). Example without suffixes: "I was going to shirr my JSK but I ran out of elastic."

In general parlance shirring describes elasticated portions of clothing, generally requiring a minimum of 2 rows of elastic to be considered shirring. A large proportion of western sewing blogs recommend shirring by using elasticated thread and sewing with it in a machine. Some other methods of shirring include using a zig-zag stitch to attach cable elastic or flat elastic, sewing elastic channels into the fabric and then manually feeding the elastic through and securing it on both ends with stitches, or by just holding the flat elastic with some tension and stitching it down with a straight stitch. I'll go into detail on each method. 

Elastic Thread

The sleeve cuff of my blouse from Pumpkin Cat.

Shirring with elastic thread produces a cute, delicate gathering effect that adds considerable visual interest to a piece, as well as giving it stretch and give.

This method requires the rows of elastic stitching to be fairly close to one-another, and they have to be sewn by machine. You've likely seen this kind of shirring if you've ever owned a western-style sundress.You probably won't see this kind of shirring on many decent quality Lolita dresses for a few reasons that I will now go into. This works best on unlined garments, because the thickness of a lined garment might make the gathers too chunky and ruin the dainty effect. It also doesn't work very well with heavier or thicker fabrics for a similar reason. It needs to be on fine, light, thin fabrics to have the maximum effect. While you probably won't find it on many brand-name or lined Lolita dresses, you may find it on blouses. It could be used to add visual interest, nip in a waist, or create a gathered cuff or sleeve as seen above.

The "wrong" side of the cuff, demonstrating the exposed shirring elastic.

As far as I can tell this method of shirring came about in the 1970's when there had been increased interest in crafting and handmade-looking clothing. This method and effect was often called "smocking" or even "machine-smocking", and it is still referred to as such today by many. This is not a technically correct name. Smocking is an ancient embroidery technique that adds texture and limited stretch to fabric without the use of elastic, instead relying on intricate embroidery stitches. Smocking can produce some truly decadent effects on clothing, bedspreads, or anything else a patient embroiderer wishes to hand gather or pleat and then decorate. Real, hand-sewn smocking can look absolutely exquisite and would definitely be at home on a Lolita garment, but it's not a mass-production technique and is thus reserved to handmade Lolitas, historical costumers, and your average crafty grandma.

A lovely Instagram video showing how to make a form of smocking. 

Zig-Zag

I have never seen this method on a commercially produced and sold garment. I don't own any garments with this kind of shirring to photograph for this entry. I'd be interested to know if anyone has. It seems very home-made to me. The technique is to machine stitch a zig-zag over a cable or flat elastic, creating a sort of ad-hoc channel that it can freely move within. Thenthe elastic is either knotted or sewn down to preserve the shirred effect. You probably won't see this on any Lolita dresses, for similar reasons to the elastic thread method. It probably doesn't produce a very durable finish or strong shirred effect, and clearly isn't an industry standard for our fashion. 

Elastic Channel / Casing

The facing side of the half-shirred bodice on my Dream Cat-Go-Round JSK from AP

The very same bodice as above, but this is the lining side.

This is probably the most time consuming method of shirring. It produces the strongest effect, and is the only one I've seen that works well on lined garments. In fact, it really only works if the bodice of a dress is at least partially lined. It can be used in a folded waistband as well, and channels like this are used for bloomers and shirt cuffs. Channels are sewn into the panel of fabric that is to be shirred, and then the flat elastic is slowly fed through them. It usually has to be done by hand, using elastic threading tools or safety pins as a grip while the fabric is gathered and worked down the length of the elastic. Afterwards the elastic and open ends of the casings are sewn down in a state of tension so that the material remains gathered unless stretched. This is the chunkiest way to add shirring to a garment and it can add visual and physical bulk. But it is also the most durable method as the elastic is well protected from friction and skin-oils that might weaken them. 

All of my Angelic Pretty and Metamorphose pieces have been shirred like this. 

I will leave some photographs of items from my wardrobe with this kind of shirring.

The quarter-panel of shirring on the back of my Belle Epoque Rose JSK from AP. Quarter panel shirring is often paired with "corset lacing". This can help hide the unsightly shirring, and also helps reduce the size of the bodice to fit smaller.

The quarter panel shirring as seen from the lining side.

The shirred waistband of my Happy Balloon Frill Skirt from Meta. This waistband is fully shirred and features 3 rows of elastic and channels.

The back shirred waistband panel of my Precocious Girl skirt from AP. Most of my AP skirts have this kind of shirring, which isn't technically shirring because it is just one elastic. It is a single channel where a very thick piece of flat elastic is secured, and then a single row of straight machine stitching is done along the centre of the elastic, producing a cute gathering effect.

Flat Elastic and Straight Stitch

The facing side of the shirring panel on my BtSSB Sheryl Lacy JSK II

The inner side of the shirring panel on my BtSSB Sheryl Lacy JSK II. Notice how much tighter the elastic is sewn and more gathered the material is than on the Bodyline JSK below?

The inner side of the rear shirring panel of the L348 JSK from Bodyline

I have seen this kind of shirring on my Bodyline and on all of my BtSSB JSKs. None of them have a lined bodice and all of them feature it, seemingly as a result of not having a lining. It looks a little cheap in my opinion, but it appears to produce a passable shirring effect, especially on the BtSSB JSK where the construction is more careful and it appears the elastic was pulled much more taut before stitching it down. I can't find much on this method, because it doesn't seem the western sewing world considers this to be "shirring". The material on the dresses that feature this shirring often seems too thick to be properly shirred by the elastic thread method, and all of the dresses I own that feature it are very heavy with ruffles/pintucks/lace and very full skirts. You may find this kind of shirring on some Lolita dresses. It appears that BtSSB does not often line the bodices of their dresses, in my wardrobe anyways, so this shirring is more commonly found in that brand. You may also find it in blouses, as a lined blouse is very uncommon and this could be used to produce the puffy, fully shirred oldschool cotton blouses that were more popular over a decade ago.

Why is this important?

Nearly every Lolita JSK put out by any Lolita brand has shirring in it these days. I know someone is going to comment with a link to a modern JSK made without shirring. It will probably be from the brand Mary Magdalene. But, truly, shirring is so common in Lolita clothing that every single JSK and skirt I own has it. Brands use shirring because it helps cut down on the need to release multiple sizes. It allows a single-sized garment to fit a plethora of different body sizes and shapes. Even  many handmade Lolitas will add shirring to their own clothing. Patterns in Otome no Sewing, the most well known current Lolita Sewing Pattern Magazine, call for shirring panels on many of their garments. They do this because it makes dresses more comfortable. It allows the garment to expand and contract with breathing, eating, moving, and wearing different thicknesses of blouses or undergarments underneath. Is it perfect?? No! It can be ugly to look at and bulky to wear. If it is stretched out for a long time, or washed a lot, it can lose its ability to contract again, requiring disassembly and replacement. But without the advent of shirring very few people would be able to wear the one-size off-the-rack Lolita fashion so prevalent today and it is unlikely the fashion community would have grown to the size it is now.

Consider this: Maybe shirring is the reason Lolita fashion was able to grow and flourish.

I've made some collages just to demonstrate how many pieces are shirred from just this year, in case there is a skeptic out there waiting to strike.

Disclaimer: these JSKs / blouses are all from the current sale period at the time of writing this blog entry. This does not account for the hundreds of dresses going back the years and decades some of these brands have been producing Lolita clothing. This also does not include OPs, which are less likely to have shirring and are usually more restrictive in fit.

Every single JSK on Angelic Pretty's webstore as of April 13, 2020. All 22 of them are shirred. Included 2 blouses with waist shirring for good measure. Those are also on the store.

All but 2 JSKs on BtSSB and AatP's webstore had shirring as of April 13, 2020. I count 38 dresses here, and I had to omit one dress due to it not having any back photographs to use. Included 2 blouses with some shirring details.

Every JSK on Meta's webstore had shirring, and most were quite generously shirred, as of April 13, 2020. 20 JSKs. Included 3 blouses with shirring details.

I could keep going and document more brands, but I do feel I have gotten my point across to anyone who didn't know the prevalence of shirring in Lolita clothing. 

In Conclusion

Lolita fashion is a niche fashion, and even the "big" brands that drive the trends don't have bottomless pockets. Making dresses like these is expensive, and one way to manage costs is to only produce one size in a few different colours of each release. Shirring is the most common way to produce only one size. Now you possibly know more about shirring than you did when you started today. Or perhaps not, but you saw some snazzy photographs of elastic in dresses, and maybe that is good enough.