A bodice refers to the part of the pattern or the garment that goes from waist to shoulder. An example of this is a shirtwaist dress, which is pictured to the right of this description; it is the part of the garment which goes into the waistline (in most cases the bodice is the part on a shirtwaist dress with buttons) is considered the bodice. In the past bodices were detachable from the rest the garment.