Word of the Day: Peplum

10/16/2011

While browsing one of my favorite shopping sites, I came across this lovely Ponte Peplum Top. I was absolutely in love with the skirt-like detail towards the bottom of the top, and I thought to myself, "What on earth is peplum?" This lead to the origination of today's Word of the Day. Side note - this top would be absolutely office-chic with a nice pencil skirt and pumps...simple but classy.

Peplum (plural pepla) originates from the Greek word meaning "tunic," and I found about four different meanings for the word. It is a genre of Italian Historical or Biblical films also known as "Sword and Sandal." In the late 1950s to mid 1960s, the pepla attempted to imitate the big Hollywood Historical Epics such as "Spartacus," "Samson and Delilah," and "The Ten Commandments." Peplum referred to the togas or robes that the ancient Romans wore. Clearly this had nothing to do with the top that I found, but this definition was rather interesting. Peplum is also a short overskirt that is commonly attached to a fitted jacket, blouse, or dress. That sounds more like the picture above!

Such an interesting word...peplum. I honestly had never heard of it before. I know of the style, but I didn't know it had a name. Maybe this is a common term, maybe it isn't. Either way, I was very curious as to what other peplum-inspired items I could find just for fun, so, I went googling and came up with these other ensembles. Am I seriously the only person who didn't know this word??? I'm even here wondering if I'm pronouncing it correctly lol. Ah well, at least I can share my findings with others who are as oblivious to this word as I am. Enjoy!