The History Behind Our Classic Blouse Styles

At Rose’s Wardrobe, we have three classic blouse styles available to order whatever the season. We know the stories behind the Edna, Lillias and Jean blouses off by heart, but thought it was time to re-introduce the styles and remind everyone of their amazing history!

EDNA

Emma’s Great Grandma Edna inspired her namesake 1940s style blouse. The ruffled collar detail was very popular in this era, but it dates back much further than the twentieth century.

Ruffles were first seen in the 1400s, when German soldiers would tear away layers of their clothing to mark their return from war. Since then, ruffles have been a recurring feature in everything from Elizabethan fashion to modern-day Haute Couture. 

Getty Images

Getty Images

Chanel

Shop the ‘Edna’ blouse here.

Edna was also the muse for our Summer 2021 ‘Edina’ skirt, which looks great paired with the blouse! (Paired here with the short-sleeved ‘Lily’ blouse)

LILLIAS

Also based on a classic 1940s style is the Lillias blouse, named after Leanne’s Great Aunt. It has a sharp revere collar adorned with delicate embroidered flowers.

Revers were traditionally associated with menswear, but the 1940s saw them increasingly used for women’s dresses and blouses. They had a revival in the 1980s and 90s as a feature of Hawaiian and bowling shirts and are we’re now seeing them more and more as vintage styles slip back into the mainstream.

Vintage Sewing Pattern Co.

Vintage Sewing Pattern Co.

Shop the ‘Lillias’ blouse here.

For Summer 2021, we introduced a sleeveless version of this classic style, the ‘Lily’ blouse, which is available in a range of our summer fabrics and is partly inspired a photo of Edna!

JEAN

The Jean blouse is inspired by our friend Rebecca’s Grandmother and features a keyhole details at the back and front with a picot trimmed collar.

We chose to make this blouse in a beautiful embroidery anglais cotton – a fabric with a lot of history. We might think of it as the fabric of choice for Victorian undergarments, but the origins of embroidery anglais can be traced back to the Czech Republic from as early as the 16th century. Traditionally, the process of cutting and stitching the fabric was done painstakingly by hand, but luckily for us, it’s all made by machines these days!

Chloe

London Embroidery School

Shop the ‘Jean’ blouse here.

If you love the style and want more, try our ‘Josie’ dress, a combination of the ‘Jean’ blouse and ‘Rosie’ skirt.

Still looking? You can browse all of our blouse styles here.

Written by Anna Watson

THE TEAM

Rose’s Wardrobe was founded by Emma and Leanne after both having over 12 years of experience between them working in high street, vintage inspired, and fashion supplier backgrounds. The inspiration from Rose’s Wardrobe derived from Emma and Leanne’s muses - their grandmas and great grandma - Patricia, Edna, and Rose. The aim is to produce replicas of the beautiful clothes their grandmas wore, using colours, styles and prints from the 1940’s through to the 1960’s. You can connect with Rose’s Wardrobe on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Have a look at where Rose’s Wardrobe will be here. Read our sustainability statement. Or, shop the collection.