Flounces have been around in the textile industry for a couple of centuries now and although ruffles and flounces are often considered to be the same, there are however some differences. A flounce is a textile embellishment that is sewn onto a finished piece of clothing rather extensively, whereas ruffles are mostly attached much more “ruffled” and hence they look more playful. In contrast to dresses with ruffles,
flounce dresses are less the symbols for romance or frumpy pomp.
Flounces often give the certain “je ne sais quoi” to plain and
single-coloured dresses and they are highly modern. In the 1920’s, the days of the swinging jazz clubs, flounces were a big thing in the world of fashion for the first time. Women became more and more confident, constricting corsages had been taken off and the victory march of straight-cut dresses, flowing around the figure, was about to begin. In those days, Charleston dresses and Marlene trousers were steady companions of every fashion-conscious woman. Multi-rowed flounces or fringe embellishments were important parts of many of the common party dresses; this was what made the swaying effect possible when the ladies started to dance.