Padding is thin cushioned material sometimes added to clothes. Padding may also be referred to as batting when used as a layer in lining quilts or as a packaging or stuffing material. When padding is used in clothes, it is often done in an attempt to soften impacts on certain zones of the body or enhance appearance by adding size to a physical feature. In fashion, there is padding for:

• Breasts – sometimes called falsies
• The male crotch – usually called a codpiece.
• Height – usually in shoes and often called elevator shoes
• Width of shoulders, called shoulder pads – in coats and other garments for men, and sometimes for women.

Bombast, consisting of horsehair, flock, bran, wool, rags, or cotton, was the padding used to give the required bulk to certain fashionable items of dress in Western Europe around 1600. It was used in particular for men's trunk hose, but also for women's trunk or cannon sleeves (1575-1620).