A fold in fabric used to manipulate fullness. Multiple pleats are usually grouped together. There are many different types of pleats. Some of the most common, according to Women’s Wear Daily, are: “ knife pleats, which are pressed to keep an edge, and face in the same direction; box pleats, the edges of which face in opposite directions; inverted pleats with edges brought to face each other at a center line; sunburst or accordian pleats that are narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, and kick pleats, generally a single pleat placed at the bottom of a narrow skirt.”