Frock vs Dress - terminology - YouLookFab Forum

Frock vs Dress - terminology

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frock

Is there a difference between a frock and a dress or is this just a regional dialect preference?

13 years ago

General

12 replies

Latest reply was from

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

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.

13 years ago

fern

Veteran

Frock always makes me smile because it seems more playful.
Maybe I just associate "frock" w/ "frolic".

13 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

Interesting Fern. I think of a frock as something more like a tunic and a dress as a more fitted or formal garment.

13 years ago

fern

Veteran

Oh, funny - I think a frock is always full-skirted (in the world inside my head!).
I keep thinking of Alice in Wonderland. No idea where these word associations come from.

13 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

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.

13 years ago

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

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.

I've also wondered why some people use the word trousers vs slacks vs pants?

13 years ago

Anonymous

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!

13 years ago

Anonymous

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.

Lol about pants, Ceit. Panties, knickers, there are such fun words to play with!

13 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

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".

13 years ago

lyn67

Veteran

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...:-)

13 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

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.

13 years ago

Anonymous

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."

13 years ago

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