Décolletage

Décolletage is a term of French origin used in English with two principal senses: fashion and manufacturing.

In fashion, décolletage refers to the neckline of a garment, especially a low or open neckline that reveals the neck and upper chest. The term can also describe the exposed area itself. It is used in fashion journalism, design, and retail to discuss styles, silhouettes, and jewelry coordination.

In manufacturing, décolletage denotes a class of precision machining operations that produce small turned parts from bar stock on automatic lathes. These processes include turning, drilling, tapping, and threading, often performed on multi-spindle machines or Swiss-type lathes. Parts are typically small in diameter and length, and a wide range of industries—such as watches, electronics, automotive connectors, medical devices, and optics—rely on décolletage production for high-volume parts. The term emphasizes bar-fed production of small, complex components efficiently.

The term in English is usually written with or without the accent (decolletage or décolletage). Its use in fashion and in engineering is unrelated aside from the shared root in the French language.