dickie

A dickie (sometimes known as a tuxedo front or tux front) is a type of false shirt-front designed to be worn with a tuxedo or men's white tie, usually attached to the collar and then tucked into the cummerbund. The rigid plastic dickie came into fashion in the latter years of the 19th century, and was one of the first successful commercial applications of celluloid.

Dickies were popular for their waterproof and stain-resistant properties. Unlike traditional cloth shirt-fronts, they remained sleek, bright white, and did not wilt or wrinkle. For this reason, they were popular with entertainers, musicians, and other performers. Nevertheless, they were frequently maligned and spoofed for their stiffness, unmanageability, and tendency to pop out of place. In one notable Merrie Melodies segment, Elmer Fudd attempts to conduct an orchestra while his shirt-front keeps popping out of his cummerbund. "The flapping dickie", a famous Vaudeville cliche, involves a dickie which has been intentionally rigged to flap in a comical fashion.

Hard plastic dickies have long since gone out of fashion, but cloth turtleneck-style dickies are still sometimes seen.

Dickie is also slang for an annoyance that is small in nature.

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