Pronounced [bye-is] 

If you’ve ever put on something slinky and felt like it perfectly draped to your body’s curves, it probably was cut on the bias. Cutting on the bias is a technique where the fabric is cut at a 45-degree angle diagonal to the grain instead of straight or cross-grain cutting. Fabrics stretch more on the bias, which lends this technique to beautiful draping. 

Designer Madeleine Vionnet is credited with popularizing this technique in the 1920s. You can see it in many dresses from her namesake label, Vionnet. She used this technique to accentuate the female form rather than adapt it, as most garments sought to in the previous decade. 

So next time you're feeling yourself in a silk slip dress, thank Vionnet! 

Illustration by Leah Shkolnick. Frame by Sharon Dennard.