blouse
The term blouse originally referred to a loosely falling piece of clothing that covers the upper body and was worn by workers, farmers, artists and children. In the meantime, the word blouse mostly refers to a shirt-like cut of clothing that girls and women wear with a skirt or trousers .
history
Blouses are made of light fabrics such as silk or thin cotton fabrics. Since the advent of plastics, fibers made from these materials have also been used, such as polyester . Either this is done exclusively, or the synthetic fibers are simply mixed with cotton fibers. Sometimes blouses are decorated with ruffles , embroidery or bows . The classic among women's blouses is the white shirt blouse (based on the classically elegant white men's shirt); the possible combinations are particularly diverse here. The open spade or lapel collar is another common type of classic women's blouse.
In 1913 Die Woche wrote about the women's blouse in equestrian sports :
"Even if the casual blouse is being increasingly justified on hot summer days, the classic riding dress made of bast silk or English linen remains incomparably more elegant."
At the end of the 19th century, sailor blouses derived from sailor suits became popular for girls with blue pleated skirts. In the time of National Socialism , this item of clothing was rejected as bourgeois-decadent. In the 1950s, the sailor look found its way into adult casual wear.
During this time, the high collar on blouses was increasingly replaced by the non-neck version. In addition, specialist shops also offered “women's collars”. The KaDeWe in Berlin advertised in its main illustrated catalog: 1913, among other things, a Backfisch clothing with eight blouses between 2.75 and 9.50 marks. The simplest model was a “wash blouse, navy blue, white dotted”, the most expensive one was a “blouse, white, wash voile, with lace and embroidery”. One of the novelties of the season was the pointedly cut “Charmeuse blouse, very elegant shape, pure silk, with very fast crepe and lace trimmings” for 19.75 marks.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Peter Pan collars appeared again, later extra-wide collars and double cuffs on blouses, often made of synthetic materials (mostly polyester ). In the 1980s, fashion saw stand-up and waist collars, bows and the particularly small shirt collar, sometimes with a concealed button placket (“tuxedo blouse”), stitched folds and accentuated shoulder pads . Thin and often shiny synthetic fibers were common. Towards the end of the decade, extra-long blouses were worn over trousers or skirts, optionally combined with a wide, wide belt around the waist. In addition, women in particular, who felt they belonged to the then growing eco-movement , wore wide-cut (also folkloric) blouses made of coarse and natural materials such as flax ( linen ) or cotton (men often wore Frisian blouses as their counterparts ).
Many fashionable styles of the 1970s and 1980s were picked up again by fashion after the 2000: double cuffs, extra-wide pointed collars, belts around the waist. Often the blouses also have embroidery or rhinestones , especially on the collar and button placket. Blouses with three-quarter sleeves were a phenomenon in the 1990s.
In the past, the "good blouse" was part of the going out clothes that a woman wore to church at least on Sundays. Today, apart from its use as a formal office wardrobe, the blouse is less important and often serves as a colorful piece of clothing among many, which is also worn casually open over a T-shirt or top.
Word meaning
Blouse is a loan word from French: blouse means "carter smock , dust coat". It should be a souvenir from French crusaders . They put on a so-called "p (e) Lusian garment" over their armor, a blue-colored smock against the dust, which got its name from the Egyptian town of Pelusium . According to other sources, the word blouse comes from prov. Lano blouso "short wool", lano "wool" and blos, blouse "deprived, naked".
Related items of clothing
- Blouse jacket, a cuffless blouse made of stronger material or with an inner lining that can be worn alone, or as a jacket over a top.
- A body blouse (or blouse body) is a piece of clothing in which, like a bodysuit , the front part is connected to the back part through the crotch area. So it can't slip out of the skirt or pants. The top is made as a normal blouse and is not as tight-fitting as the bottom (panties).
- A blouse dress is a dress whose upper part is cut like a shirt blouse.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ The week of April 26, 1913, p. 719.
- ^ Illustrated catalog of the Kaufhaus des Westens, Georg Olms Verlag, 1913
