Engineered Garments Gather Skirt – White Rayon Embroidery Eyelet

Eyelet, or broderie anglaise, is embroidery that works by subtraction. A hole is punched or cut in the cloth, the raw edge is bound with close overcast stitching so it cannot fray, and the pattern is built from the holes rather than from thread laid on the surface. That is why an eyelet fabric is see-through in a controlled and deliberate way, and why the pattern is legible from both sides of the cloth. It is a nineteenth-century English and Central European technique that became a summer cloth for the obvious reason: it does the two things a summer cloth has to do at once, being decorative and being perforated.

Rayon changes what it does. Rayon is regenerated cellulose, wood pulp dissolved and extruded back out as fibre, and it drapes far more heavily and fluidly than a cotton of the same weight. On a gathered skirt that means the fullness falls in long soft columns instead of standing away from the body, and the cut holes open and close as the cloth moves rather than sitting still.

The skirt is lined in cotton, and on a white eyelet the lining is the whole question. A cloth built out of holes is transparent in a single layer, so a lining is what decides whether the perforations read as a pattern or as a transparency. A cotton lining behind a rayon shell also does something to the way the skirt moves: the cotton holds its own shape underneath while the rayon travels over it, so the holes read against a solid pale ground rather than against whatever happens to be behind them.

Why we selected it

Eyelet in cotton is a summer cliché and eyelet in rayon is not, because the drape turns the same technique into something closer to a slip than to a sundress. Lined, it is a skirt you can put on without thinking about the light.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent rayon with eyelet embroidery, lined in one hundred percent cotton, made in the USA. Button-down closure, gathered waist detailing, belt loops, side pockets, and ties at the hem to adjust the fit and shape. Colour: White.

Fit notes

The gathered waist sits at the natural waist and sets the fit; everything below it hangs. Rayon has little recovery and considerable drape, so it follows rather than holds, and a rayon garment will relax and lengthen slightly as it is worn. The cotton lining sets the length that reads as solid and the shell falls over it. The hem ties close the silhouette when drawn.

Styling

With the Square Neck Shirt. With the Polo Shirt in white, tonally. Under the Cutaway Jacket Crochet, where two kinds of openwork are in conversation.

Care

Rayon loses a large part of its strength when it is wet, and this is the one care instruction on this page that genuinely matters. Wash it cool by hand or on a gentle cycle, never wring it, and dry it flat rather than on a hanger: a wet rayon garment will stretch under its own weight and will not come back. The cotton lining would tolerate more, and it does not get to, because the shell governs and the two are sewn together. Press cool, from the back. Untie the hem ties before washing. Our guidance for viscose and regenerated cellulosics covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Gather Skirt in white and blue is the same pattern cut in cotton with polyester. The Square Neck Shirt and the Polo Shirt in white are the shirts above it, and the Cutaway Jacket Crochet the openwork layer beside it. There is more on the house on the Engineered Garments designer page. Everything we carry from Engineered Garments is listed together.