What is the name for an oval in a woman's top exposing cleavage?

The subject line pretty much says it all, but the pictures of Power Girl on this web page show you what I mean. (They’re pretty much safe for work as long as you aren’t employed by Jerry Falwell.)

Is there a specific name for this fashion choice?

It’s called a “keyhole” although the ensemble in that particular pic is for a very large key, apparently.

Here’s a pic, sans comic book characters:

http://thehousewife.blogsplot.net/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/neck_heyhole.jpg

I’ve never seen one that extreme in a real garment, but allowing for the comics’ exaggeration convention, I’d probably call it a modified “keyhole”. A classic keyhole collar has two panels which may button or zip up top and the cleavage revealing hole on the bottom.

Keyholes can be anywhere from artsy-fartsy to sweet girl next-door to insert dollar bills here to recieve blowjob, please.

Thank you for posting these.

Many thanks for the answers. I’m trying to describe a far more modest than the Power Girl one, but not knowing the appropriate name it was hard to google for it.

Nitpick: Your second link (the “sweet girl-next-door” version") is technically not so much a “keyhole” neckline as a “notched” neckline, because the two ends of the keyhole aren’t touching. A true keyhole style shows a closed simple curve, topologically speaking, juxtaposed against the uninterrupted curve of the neckline; a notch, on the other hand, cuts away part of the neckline itself. A more extreme version of the notched neckline is shown here.

And if you ask me, PowerGirl in the OP’s picture looks like a blonde version of Robin with a parasitic conjoined twin’s ass growing out of his chest. Weird.

I disagree, although I did consider the notch/keyhole debate before posting. I finally decided that the definitive characteristic of a keyhole neckline, in any pattern book I’ve seen, is that the seamstress must cut a curve out of the front of the pattern piece, not just cut in a straight line down before hemming. The t-shirt I linked to shows a definite, albeit small, curve to the “hole”; it’s not a straight notch. If you brought the two top points together, there would still be a gap - you couldn’t put the whole edge together without stretching or distorting the fabric. I have several identical keyhole T’s which have a tiny button up top to close the points if desired, but generally they’re worn open.

The people selling it sort of hedge their bets though, eh?

I didn’t know that one of Supergirl’s powers was the ability to have wind swirling her skirt upward even when she’s standing still inside!

It would make Heroes a much more interesting show when they rip off that superpower. :slight_smile:

No one asked you, but I agree the pics are a bit grotesque, golly-I-never-dated-in-high-schoolish. :slight_smile:

WhyNot: Yeah, I see what you mean, but I still maintain that a keyhole is a cutout whose endpoints touch:

A curved/oval notch may be called a “keyhole notch” if you like, as in this description, but it is not an actual keyhole unless the endpoints touch. That’s my couture-nazi take on the subject, anyway. :slight_smile:

This has always been my understanding as well, with a “notch” being something totally different.

Alright, I think I can compromise on “keyhole notch”. Care to broker peace in the Middle East next? :wink:

(Mostly I was trying to find a “keyhole” that wasn’t slutty, to show the range of possibilities.)

Now I’m just wondering what sort of key would fit the keyhole. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a ta-ta key…or maybe I did but just didn’t know what it was.

Yup, but I think a keyhole top is pretty much supposed to be slutty. To show the range of possibilities, as it were. :wink:

Just look in any Tata key cabinet.

That’s great! You truly can learn everything on the Dope.

Ummm… how many dollar bills?

I don’t know what the cutout is called, but the space between closely-pressed breasts is called the Inter-Boobical Groove.

Not to be confused with the Inter-Biblical Groove, which is the space between the Old and New Testaments.

AKA “cleavage”.

A “keyhole”, eh? I just figured it was the entrance to a parallel universe.

Taco Bell.