Engageantes

Engageantes are false sleeves (or rather cuffs), worn with women’s clothing.

It is difficult to say when the removable sleeves or cuffs appeared, but in the 17th century, lace trim on underwear was a very prominent feature of women’s and men’s fashion. Lace was expensive, and it was impractical to attach it to just one chemise.

In the 18th century, the false sleeves were called Engageantes. These were a ribbon of fabric, and decorative fabric gathered in folds was attached to it. They were made of lace, cambric, muslin. Engageantes were single-layer and multi-layer (up to 5 layers). The Engageantes were especially popular in the 1750s – 1770s, then they were replaced by Chemise a la Reine and long sleeves.

In the mid-19th century, the term engageante was used for separate false sleeves (Undersleeves), usually with fullness gathered tight at the wrist, worn under the open bell-shaped “pagoda” sleeves of day dresses.