What Is a Blouse?

Where does the blouse come from?

The blouse began as a French workman’s smock and became a women’s fashion garment during the 19th century. The French word blouse is recorded in 1788 for a workman’s or peasant’s smock, and its ultimate origin is unknown. The Online Etymology Dictionary dates the English word to 1828, with earlier use as a French word in English from 1822.

In English, the word was first used for men’s and boys’ shirts. The women’s blouse has an older ancestor in the smock, shift or chemise, an undergarment worn next to the skin to protect outer clothes. The French working garment was, in the Online Etymology Dictionary’s words, “later adopted fashionably for women and children, not without objection”.

From Garibaldi shirt to shirtwaist

In the early 1860s, loose bodices with full sleeves came into vogue as “Garibaldi shirts”. They were modelled on the red shirt of the Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi and worn with a separate skirt. A boned waistband called a Swiss belt could ease the join between top and skirt.

By the 1890s these tops were called shirtwaists, or simply waists. They ranged from severely tailored styles with detachable starched collars to lace-trimmed versions in light fabrics. Women wore them for housework, sport, cycling, afternoon events and evenings out.

According to the Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, the shirtwaist was the first women’s garment to be successfully mass-produced, helped by their loose fit. Sears, Roebuck and Company sold them for as little as 25 cents in 1897. Low prices depended partly on sweatshop labour. On 25 March 1911, fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in Manhattan, which kept its exit doors locked; 146 workers died.

The 20th century

By the 1910s the middy blouse, modelled on the loose sailor-collared shirts of seamen, was popular with girls and for sport. Through the mid-20th century, blouses suited almost every occasion. Couture suits often had blouses matched to the jacket lining, and college women wore blouses with Peter Pan collars in permanent-press cloth.

By 1960 nearly a third of the American labour force was female, and the blouse was everyday wear for clerical workers, teachers and service staff. In 1977, John T. Molloy’s The Woman’s Dress for Success Book recommended a skirted suit and blouse for executive women, including a style with a built-in bow at the neck. That “floppy bow” became a dress-for-success cliché. From the late 20th century the blouse was overshadowed by T-shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters and man-tailored shirts.

What makes a blouse a blouse?

A blouse is a light, loose upper-body garment, now worn mainly by women, that ends around the waist or hip and is worn with separate trousers or a skirt. No single detail defines it. A blouse can open at the front, the back or not at all, and can carry any collar or sleeve.

The line between a blouse and a shirt is blurred. FIT’s Fashion History Timeline defines the shirtwaist as “a woman’s blouse that resembles a man’s shirt”, so a shirt-style blouse is both at once. By convention, women’s shirts and blouses have their buttons on the left side and men’s on the right.

What are the main types of blouse?

Blouse types are named mostly after their collar, closure or historical model. The table gives the main ones, with dates only where a source records them.

How do you tell a well-made blouse?

A well-made blouse has small, even stitches, buttonholes fully covered in thread, matching collar points and a button at the bust line so the front does not gape. All of these can be checked in a fitting room.

Buttons and buttonholes

• Fasten it and look at the bust. New Mexico State University’s buttonhole guide places a buttonhole on the bra line specifically to prevent gaping at the bust, which it calls “gaposis”. If the front pulls open between two buttons there, the placement does not suit you.
• Look at the buttonhole edges. The thread should completely cover the cut edges, with no fabric showing or fraying.
• Check direction. Vertical buttonholes are best for a banded or placket opening and are generally found on blouses and shirts; horizontal ones suit closely fitted styles without a placket.
• Measure the spacing by eye. Buttons should sit an equal distance apart and be sewn on securely, with no loose threads.
• Pinch the front band. It should feel firmer than the body of the blouse, because interfacing reinforces the strip where the buttons and buttonholes sit.

Collar, seams and stitching

• Compare the collar points. They should be uniform. Interfacing gives the collar enough stiffness to lie flat.
• Count the stitches. A University of Tennessee at Martin checklist asks for about 12 stitches per inch (roughly 5 per centimetre), which keeps seams secure.
• Run a hand over the sleeve seams. They should be smooth, without unplanned gathers or puckers.
• Follow the pattern across the seams. Prints, stripes and checks should match where pieces meet.
• Look through sheer cloth. In chiffon and similar fabrics the seams show through from the outside, so check whether they are enclosed, as in a French seam, or left with an overlocked edge.

Red flags

• Puckered seams or loose threads at the shoulders and underarms
• Frayed buttonholes or buttons hanging on a few threads
• Collar points of different lengths
• Stripes or checks that jump at the centre front
• A front that gapes between buttons when you sit down

How do you wear a blouse?

Wear a blouse as the top half of a two-piece outfit: tucked in when it has long tails, or left out when the hem is cut straight and finished to be seen.

• With tailoring: a shirt-style or bow blouse under a blazer works with a pencil skirt or trousers. Spread a flat collar over the lapels, or keep it inside for a neater line.
• Sheer blouses: wear a camisole or slip underneath in a matching tone.
• Bow blouses: tie the bow loosely so it sits flat below the collar rather than at the throat.
• Peplum and boxy styles: wear them untucked; the hem is part of the design.
• Under knitwear: choose a small, flat collar that lies over a crew neck without bunching.

How do you care for a blouse?

Follow the care label: in the US, the Federal Trade Commission’s Care Labeling Rule requires it to give complete instructions for regular care, or warnings if the garment cannot be cleaned without harm, and to warn about procedures a buyer might assume are safe but that would harm it. Two details are worth knowing when you read it.

• One method may be all you get. If an item can be both washed and dry-cleaned, the label needs to give only one of these instructions. A label reading “Dryclean” therefore does not by itself mean washing is unsafe.
• “Dryclean Only” is a warning. It tells you the garment cannot be washed. A plain “Dryclean” means any solvent may be used safely.

Under the same US rule, labels must be attached permanently and stay legible for the garment’s useful life, so on a new blouse sold in the US a missing or unreadable care label is worth asking about. For silk and other delicate cloths, undo buttons and untie bows before cleaning so they do not snag.