A piece of clothing or accessory worn under a low-cut dress to cover the chest and shoulders, or a short blouse worn under a jumper dress.
From French guimpe, possibly from Germanic gumpa (covering). Historically used in medieval and Renaissance fashion, it became especially popular for modest coverings under revealing necklines.
The guimpe is a forgotten piece of fashion history that solved the problem of wanting fashionable but modest clothing—it's the ancestor of modern undershirts and shows how people have always wanted to control what they reveal!
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