Is eyelet a kind of lace?

Not technically. Lace is fabric built from thread with no woven ground, while eyelet is woven cloth with embroidered holes. Eyelet imitates the look of lace but is structurally a different thing, which is why it is named for its holes (eyelets) and its embroidery (broderie anglaise) rather than called a lace.

What is broderie anglaise?

Broderie anglaise is French for English embroidery, and it is the formal name for eyelet: the technique of cutting or punching small holes in cotton and oversewing their edges, arranging the holes into floral and scalloped patterns. In English the cloth is usually just called eyelet.

How can I tell them apart on a garment?

Look at the fabric between the decorative holes. If there is a flat, solid woven cloth there, it is eyelet. If the whole fabric is an open mesh with no plain ground, it is lace.

Side by side

Lace vs Eyelet

Lace and eyelet both read as decorative openwork, but they are made in opposite directions. Lace is built from thread alone, looped, twisted, or knotted into a fabric that is mostly holes with no woven ground beneath it. Eyelet, properly called broderie anglaise, starts as ordinary woven cotton, then punches holes in it and binds their edges with embroidery. Lace is cloth made of holes; eyelet is cloth made holey.

Lace

No. 107

looped, twisted, or knotted openwork · first documented 1500s

Eyelet

No. 108

woven cloth with embroidered punched holes · first documented 1800s

The differences

Aspect	Lace	Eyelet
How it is made	Thread is looped, twisted, plaited, or knotted directly into fabric. There is no woven base.	Woven cloth is pierced and the cut edges are oversewn with stitching.
The ground	There is no ground. The net and the figures are the whole fabric.	A solid woven ground remains between the holes; the holes are the decoration.
Structure of the holes	Open mesh everywhere, with denser worked figures (flowers, scallops) floating in it.	Discrete punched holes, usually ringed and grouped into floral or scalloped clusters.
Cost and history	Hand needle and bobbin lace was a luxury; a yard could outvalue the gown it trimmed.	A cheaper, washable nineteenth-century substitute for lace, made for everyday white cottons.
Best for	Veils, trims, overlays, anywhere a sheer figured net is wanted.	Summer blouses, children's wear, pinafores, christening gowns.

Which to choose

If the fabric is essentially holes held together by worked thread, it is lace. If you can see a solid woven cloth between the decorative holes, it is eyelet. The quickest tell is the back: lace has no plain ground to find, while eyelet always does.

Common questions

Is eyelet a kind of lace?: Not technically. Lace is fabric built from thread with no woven ground, while eyelet is woven cloth with embroidered holes. Eyelet imitates the look of lace but is structurally a different thing, which is why it is named for its holes (eyelets) and its embroidery (broderie anglaise) rather than called a lace.
What is broderie anglaise?: Broderie anglaise is French for English embroidery, and it is the formal name for eyelet: the technique of cutting or punching small holes in cotton and oversewing their edges, arranging the holes into floral and scalloped patterns. In English the cloth is usually just called eyelet.
How can I tell them apart on a garment?: Look at the fabric between the decorative holes. If there is a flat, solid woven cloth there, it is eyelet. If the whole fabric is an open mesh with no plain ground, it is lace.

Full entry: Lace Full entry: Eyelet

Sources & References

1.Lace, Wikipedia
2.Bobbin lace, Wikipedia
3.Broderie anglaise, Wikipedia
4.Eyelet, Wikipedia