in historical usage, particularly in victorian and early 20th century fashion, a "bodice" (in earlier sources, "body") instead indicates the upper part of a dress that was constructed in two parts (i.e., with separate skirt and bodice, such as a ballet tutu), but of matching or coordinating fabric with the intention of wearing the two parts as a unit. in dressmaking, the term "waist" (sometimes given as "dress waist" to distinguish it from a shirtwaist) was also used. during wear, the parts might be connected by hooks and eyes. this construction was standard for fashionable garments from the 18th century until the late 19th century, and had the advantages of allowing a voluminous skirt to be paired with a close-fitting bodice, and of allowing two or more bodices to be worn with the same skirt (e.g., a high-necked bodice and a low-necked bodice allowed the same skirt to serve for both daywear and evening wear). one-piece construction became more common after 1900 due to the trend for looser, more simply-constructed clothing with narrower skirts.