https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:26:55 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-748609 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:47:08 +0000 Anonymous 748609@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>When I think of the word "frock," I think of the days of Robin Hood. Don't ask me why. I just think it has a very old-fashioned ring to it. I like it, though! I should start using it. It fits in nicely here in the Deep South where people call a shopping cart a "buggy." I can picture myself saying, "That's a mighty nice frock you've got on." </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-748589 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:32:55 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 748589@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Lynn, that is very interesting. I find pants to be more common usage than trousers. I always think of the sheer hosiery as pantyhose and the heavier ones as tights. When I was a little girl, the thick ones we wore under dresses were tights and the finer ones our mothers wore were pantyhose. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-748571 Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:05:58 +0000 lyn67 748571@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL, same what Clair said! (Always thought frock is rather an evening gown.) It's same dilema for me like the pants or trousers, bags or purses, and excuse my ignorance but the most annoying for me is tights or panty hose...:-) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697374 Sun, 19 Aug 2012 01:28:47 +0000 Gaylene 697374@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've always thought of the word "frock" when applied to a woman's dress as a more European way of referring to a dress. Both my grandmothers always referred to their good dresses as "frocks", so, when I saw Angie using the word, that was my immediate association. On the other hand, both grandmothers referred to their everyday dresses as "house dresses". </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697326 Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:10:12 +0000 Anonymous 697326@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Haha! I thought frock was just British English for a dress. But in *my* head, it was best used to describe a party dress, certainly nothing I own. </p> <p>Lol about pants, Ceit. Panties, knickers, there are such fun words to play with! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697313 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:55:57 +0000 Anonymous 697313@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have had to switch to saying trousers because one of my colleagues is British and when I say pants he laughs because pants are underwear in the UK! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697310 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:52:33 +0000 Transcona Shannon 697310@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I actually never used the word frock in my life until I picked it up from Angie. Somehow it just seems more playful and fun than the word "dress". I never thought about the real meaning though.</p> <p>I've also wondered why some people use the word trousers vs slacks vs pants? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697288 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:24:26 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 697288@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I am sensing that you are also a lover of words. I love to try to figure out explanations for old sayings - even if they are just silly. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697285 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:16:53 +0000 fern 697285@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, funny - I think a frock is always full-skirted (in the world inside my head!).<br /> I keep thinking of Alice in Wonderland. No idea where these word associations come from. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697267 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:45:22 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 697267@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Interesting Fern. I think of a frock as something more like a tunic and a dress as a more fitted or formal garment. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697249 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:12:58 +0000 fern 697249@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Frock always makes me smile because it seems more playful.<br /> Maybe I just associate "frock" w/ "frolic". </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697058 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 17:29:24 +0000 Angie 697058@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Not when I interchange the words. Frock is just slang for dress in my vocab. All dresses are frocks and all frocks are dresses. But you are 100% right about the origins of the word frock. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/frock-vs-dress---terminology#post-697056 Sat, 18 Aug 2012 17:26:47 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 697056@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have noticed that the fabbers seem to use these terms interchangeably but I always thought the term frock was a looser fitting garment as it references the frocks worn by the clergy in the days of old and that dresses were the more fitted garments worn by ladies in the courts of the 1700 and 1800s. </p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frock" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frock</a></p> <p>Is there a difference between a frock and a dress or is this just a regional dialect preference? </p>