What is the difference between a bishop and a basic yoke dress?
Bishop A bishop dress is a raglan sleeved (or angel wing sleeves) dress, blouse, or romper that is smocked all the way around the neckline. It evolved from the round smock worn by farm workers in England and Victorian Times Liberty Dress adapted for children and ladies. In today’s fashion world it is now mostly worn by little girls and I have noticed in department stores imported ragland sleeved blouses with a little smocking. I have also seen this style in major pattern companies, which makes a lot of sense as it is an easy style to fit to a wide range of body shapes. Here is an example of a typical Victorian smocked neckline. Today we point to this example as something to avoid: “the dreaded turtle neck”. The raglan sleeve came about through the centuries of women and men wearing clothing and discovering which style was most comfortable. The raglan sleeve style was mostly worn as night shifts as it was a comfortable style to sleep in. In the smocking world a bishop dress is one of th
