---
title: "Bias cut"
description: "A bias cut means cutting a garment so that the fabric’s grain runs diagonally down the body, letting the cloth stretch and drape closely."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/bias-cut
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Bias cut

*A bias cut means cutting a garment so that the fabric’s grain runs diagonally down the body, letting the cloth stretch and drape closely.*

In a bias-cut dress, the [warp](https://teazle.art/glossary/warp.md) and [weft](https://teazle.art/glossary/weft.md) run diagonally instead of up and down the body. The cloth stretches along the curves and falls in soft, fluid lines, without darts or fastenings.

## Who made it famous?

The Paris couturière Madeleine Vionnet, active from 1912 to 1939, is known as the master of the bias-cut dress. Museums note that she did not invent cutting on the bias, which was used earlier for small parts and finishes, but she made it the structure of whole garments, draping on a small-scale dress form.


## Sources

1. [Madeleine Vionnet, evening dress (catalogue entry)](https://metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/search/765647). The Metropolitan Museum of Art
2. [Madeleine Vionnet, day dress (catalogue entry)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O15564/day-dress-madeleine-vionnet). Victoria and Albert Museum
3. [Bias cut (Q10670644)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10670644). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/bias-cut