Chemisettes by Anne were born out of a desire to have the benefits of a camisole or tank top without the negatives of wearing two layers. I was tired of being dressed and deciding I needed that something extra and then having to take a garment off to put a camisole on, and then putting the original garment back on. If I went out wearing a camisole or tank top and became too warm, I had to live with until I got home. Or, I had to find a ladies room to take the blouse off first, then the camisole off, then put the blouse back on – and then hope my handbag was large enough to put the camisole or tank top in until I got home.

About fifteen years ago I found something that was called a lace dickey. It was one-size fits all and attached to bra straps using plastic garter clips. The one size really didn’t fit me. While it did stretch some, it didn’t stretch enough, causing it to pull the bra straps in so much that they were uncomfortable and that showed through some of my outergarments. Also, stretching it as far as it could, made the lace look odd. The lace was tall and floppy, so it didn’t always stay up. I really don’t care to wear lace anyway and would have preferred something without lace. The plastic garter clips didn’t fit well on my wider or thicker bra straps and they made my skin raw and sore if I wore it for more than an hour or so. Eventually the clips broke. Still, I recognized the idea as a good one.

I got to work on designing something similar that would fit many sizes of women well, work with any bra, be comfortable, have many functions, have many styles, be high quality and look nice. I then asked some women to wear our new modesty panels and report back to me what didn’t work for them or what they didn’t like. After several months of feedback, trial and error, and design changes, I arrived at what you see today. While researching lots of different names for my new product, I came across the chemisette [pronounced shem-uh-zet’] garment from the mid-19th century that served a similar purpose. It seemed appropriate to use the same term.

Women seemed to quickly fall madly in love with my chemisettes. They started writing to us with clothing issues that they solved for them personally. Read 12 clothing issues women commonly experience and how our modesty panels solve those issues.

Lots of imitations have appeared on the market since I began selling my chemisettes in 2007. Even the lace dickey has reappeared on the market. Because Chemisettes by Anne owns a patent (U.S. Patent No. 8,371,901 B2) on this design, the imitations simply don’t offer the same level of functionality. You can view our chart comparing our chemisettes to other modesty panels.  You will also find chemisettes come in a variety of fabrics and styles, and a broad range of colors. Because our chemisettes are handmade by skilled seamstresses, using high quality materials, here in the United States, our quality exceeds that of the imitations.

Superior quality and functionality, and excellent customer service, will always be our top priorities. You can read feedback we’ve received from lots of customers. Of course, if you have your own reasons for loving our chemisettes, we would love to hear from you

As we hear from customers, we research, test and introduce new products for women who want to shop freely for outergarments, knowing that they can accessorize with Chemisettes by Anne products. We are currently working on two new products. Check back to see what we have come up with!