A martingale (also martingale belt) is a strap on a dress or a half- belt on a

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

or a

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which ...

, used to adjust the fullness of the cloth. The martingale is typically attached to the piece of clothing by buttons. In a military overcoat, a martingale is a common and practical feature, as a pleated coat can be spread out as a blanket once the strap is unfastened.

Etymology

The name comes from a martingale strap used in the horse tack to restrict the movements of the horse's head; another theory suggests that the martingale coat originated in the 15th–16th centuries when a design of a man's martingale breeches included a flap between the legs buttoned to the belt in the back. The word ''martingale'' comes from oc, martegalo through french: martingale. The Occitan word is a feminine version of "from Martigues", where martingale breeches with (in the words of Rabelais) "a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

on the ass that makes excretion easier" supposedly originated. It is also possible that the association between the pants and inhabitants of Martigues is due to the latter having a reputation for naiveté and extravagance.

History

In France, martingale breeches were apparently popular, being worn by Francis I of France, "

mignons Les Mignons (from ''mignon'', French for "the darlings" or "the dainty ones") was a term used by polemicists in the contentious atmosphere of the French Wars of Religion and taken up by the people of Paris, to designate the favourites of Henry I ...

" of the royal court, and Rabelais'

Panurge Panurge (from el, πανοῦργος / ''panoûrgos'' meaning "knave, rogue") is one of the principal characters in ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'', a series of five novels by François Rabelais. Especially important in the third and fourth books, ...

. The first use of the martingale in a woman's dress dates to 1951 (

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

at the autumn Paris Fashion Week). The strap was placed between the

shoulder blade The scapula (plural scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either ...

s, and since then martingales have been used by couturiers everywhere, but avoiding the waistline.Martingale coats became fashionable for women post-war in 1950s and are still being made for men.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{cite journal , last1=Mansuy , first1=Roger , title=The Origins of the Word "Martingale" , journal=Electronic Journ@l for History of Probability and Statistics , date=2009 , volume=5 , issue=1 , pages=1–10 , url=https://emis.dsd.sztaki.hu/journals/JEHPS/juin2009/Mansuy.pdf , trans-title=Original publication "Histoire de martingales" in French in 2005 in ''Mathématiques et Sciences Humaines'' Parts of clothing