- Dickie redirects here. For other meanings, see Dickey.
A dickey (alternately written as dickie or dicky[1]; sometimes known as a tuxedo front or tux front) is a type of false shirt-front - originally known as a detachable bosom - designed to be worn with a tuxedo or men's white tie, usually attached to the collar and then tucked into the waistcoat or cummerbund. The rigid plastic dickey came into fashion in the latter years of the 19th century, and was one of the first successful commercial applications of celluloid. Dickeys were popular for their waterproof and stain-resistant properties. Unlike traditional cloth shirt-fronts, they remained sleek, bright white, and did not wilt or wrinkle. For this reason, they were popular with entertainers, musicians, and other performers. Nevertheless, they were frequently maligned and spoofed for their stiffness, unmanageability, and tendency to pop out of place. In one notable Looney Tunes segment, Bugs Bunny conducts an arrogant opera singer and makes him hold a note so long that his dickey snaps out of his waistcoat and rolls up to his throat. "The flapping dickey", a famous Vaudeville cliche, involves a dickey which has been intentionally rigged to flap in a comical fashion. Hard plastic dickeys have long since gone out of fashion, but cloth turtleneck-style dickeys are still sometimes seen.
References
- ^ Merriam-Webster, Oxford English Dictionary
