. "In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, elite women\u2019s dress was very decorative. One form of embellishment was the \u2018dress guard\u2019. This was an embroidered band of rich fabric, usually silk, sewn over the seams on garments such as gowns, bodices and petticoats. \n\nThis dress guard has been made from a strip of silk satin, embroidered in a floral pattern with silk and metal threads. It is just a fragment of the many yards that would have been required to completely embellish a woman\u2019s ensemble."@en . . .