thumb|upright|Line art drawing of a bodice
A bodice () is an article of clothing traditionally for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern dress to distinguish it from the skirt and sleeves. The name bodice is etymologically an odd plural spelling of "body" and comes from an older garment called a pair of bodies (because the garment was originally made in two separate pieces that fastened together, frequently by lacing).
Origin
Frescoes produced by the Minoan civilization portray women wearing open bodices that displayed and accentuated their breasts; however, following the Late Bronze Age collapse, these garments would give way to the simpler clothes characteristic of Iron Age Greece.
Contemporary European bodices are derived from the kirtle. A fitted bodice became fashionable in Europe around 1450. This construction was standard for fashionable garments from the 18th century until the late 19th century, and had the advantages of allowing a voluminous skirt to be paired with a close-fitting bodice, and of allowing two or more bodices to be worn with the same skirt at different times. For example, a woman might wear the skirt with a matching high-necked bodice during the day, and later the same skirt with a different, fashionably low-necked bodice in the evening. One-piece construction became more common after 1900 due to the trend for looser, more simply-constructed clothing with narrower skirts.
Bodice continues in use to refer to the upper portion (not including the sleeves) of a one- or two-piece dress. The bodice of a dress was called the corsage in the 19th century.
Styles
In earlier periods, bodices and corsets were laced in spiral fashion, with one continuous lace. Some bodices were laced in the back.
- the casaque bodice,
- the antique bodice, which, despite its name, was the new fashion in its time,
- the pleated Grecian-style Norma corsage,
- the Anglo–Greek bodice with wide lapels,
- the bébé bodice with its sash,
- the Empire bodice with its scarves,
- the beribboned bohemian-style baby bodice,
- the Elizabethan bodice, which reflected the styles popular in the Elizabethan era, but which was worn during the late Victorian era.
Today
Bodices survive into modern times in the traditional or revived folk dress of many European countries, as in the case of the German/Austrian dirndl and Scottish highland dancers' Aboyne dress. They are also commonly seen today at gatherings celebrating archaic European customs, such as Oktoberfest, Society for Creative Anachronism events, and Renaissance Fairs. Some Asian cultures also feature bodices, including the Indian choli, Chinese dudou, Vietnamese yếm and Indonesian kemben.