Swags and cascades are a dramatic treatment for windows. The swag is a drape of fabric which hangs in front of the curtains; the cascades are the elegant lengths of fabric that frame the window on either side. The more formal version is fixed to a valance board, but fabric can be draped informally over a rod as the only form of window dressing. Although the formal swags look best on tall windows, dressing full-length curtains, they can be effective scaled down to suit smaller windows.