Blouse

A blouse is a loose-fitting upper garment that was formerly worn by workmen, peasants, artists, women and children. It is typically gathered at the waist or hips (by a waistband or belt) so that it hangs loosely ("blouses") over the wearer's body. Today, the word most commonly refers to a girl's or woman's dress shirt but can also refer to a man's shirt if it is a loose-fitting style (e.g. poet shirts and Cossack shirts). Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to a shirt which blouses out or has an unmistakably feminine appearance.

The term is also used for some men's military uniform jackets.

Blouse is a loanword to English from French: blouse means "dust coat". It possibly was brought back from their travels by French Crusaders. They moved on their armor a so-called "p(e)lusisian shirt", a blue-colored gowns to the dust, which had its name from the Egyptian town of Pelusium. The derivation may also be from "wool", blouso "short wool" and blos, blouse "deprived, naked" taken off (Provençal dialect). It is first officially noted in 1828, from French blouse ("a workman's or peasant's smock"), of obscure Occitan route.

Blouses (pronounced blause, blauze or blooze) are historically a cask style, mostly mail-like garment, that were rarely part of the fashionable woman's wardrobe until the 1890s. Before that time, they were occasionally popular for informal wear in styles that echoed peasant or traditional clothing, such as the Garibaldi shirt of the 1860.

Blouses usually consist of light fabrics such as silk or thin cotton fabrics, until the early 1990s are often made of softly falling synthetic fibers (eg polyester). Sometimes they are decorated with frills, embroidery or loops. The classic of the ladies' blouses is the white shirt blouse (following the classic elegant white men's shirt). Here the combination possibilities are particularly diverse. The open spade or reverse collar is another common type of classic ladies' blouse.

At the end of the 19th century the sailor blouses derived from sailor suits were popular for girls to the blue pleated skirt. In the time of National Socialism this piece of clothing was rejected as a bourgeois-decadent. In the 1950s, the sailor's look then entered the leisure mode for adults.

The high collar in blouses was pushed out during this time by the halsferne variant. Specialist shops also offered "ladies' cloaks". The KdW in Berlin applied in his illustrated main catalog: 1913 among other things a backfisch-confection, with eight blouses between 2.75 and 9.50 Marks. The simplest model was a "wash blouse, navy, white spotted", the most expensive one "blouse, white, wash, with tip and stick". One of the novelties of the season was the pointed "Charmeuse blouse, very elegant form, pure silk, with very fluffy crepe and lace gown"

...
Wikipedia