fichu

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from French fichu (“(noun) triangular scarf; (adjective) got up, put together”) (in the sense of something thrown on without much thought), from ficher (“to drive something (such as a nail) by its point”), ultimately from Latin fīgō (“to fasten, fix; to pierce, transfix; to drive (a nail)”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeygʷ- (“to set up”).

1. A woman's lightweight triangular scarf worn over the shoulders and tied in front, or tucked into a bodice to cover the exposed part of the neck and chest.

   “No. 2.—Carriage Dress. A dress of taffety of the very lightest tinge of willow-green; with four broad tucks, or bias folds, round the border, carried up almost the whole length of the skirt. The body made quite plain; and an elegant fichu worn over it, made of fine India muslin, with a standing-up collar; finished by a full frill-trimming of very fine lace. This trimming, when the fichu is of crape or of Japanese gauze, is of blond.”

   “The ‘fichu’ proper, introduced by Marie-Antoinette, not before the décolletée style of toilette made it positively necessary, was nothing more than a lace kerchief worn crossed over the shoulders.”