Shirt or Blouse? Pattern Plays a Big Role

I used Butterick 5226 for my No 1. Ladies Detective Agency Shirt I guess it's the more fitted character of the princess seams views that cry blouse! to me. The others strike me as shirts.  

Vogue 8747 is still in print

Vogue 8747 - much like the front-of-the-bust gathered shirts that Lexie in BBC's Monarch of the Glen wore, strike me as shirts. So I guess being more fitted doesn't always say blouse....

Simplicity 9857 is Out of Print
But several used pattern sellers on the web have it

*Simplicity 9857 (out of print). These garments, with their more romantic flowing lines, look blouse-like, don't they? Those front tucks are not at all crisp, so that must be it.

Vogue 2105 80's Blouse (out of print) Seems more blouse-like than shirt like. Why? Is it simply the way the pattern front styles the garment? Is it the deep open neckline? Perhaps it's the nearly hidden buttons and the somewhat formal, dressy look of these pieces.

Vogue 2105 is Out of Print
But several used pattern sellers on the web have it

McCalls 7360 is Out of Print
But several used pattern sellers on the web have it

I'd definitely call this a blouse....McCalls 7360 (out of print), says soft, both in it's romantic flowing lines, and it's traditionally feminine, historically inspired collar details.

Antique Threads:My Life in Costume Drama (Poldark)

Demelza Poldark, in one of her beautiful
Empire Style Day Gowns,
Shown here giving husband Ross a piece of her mind
in the BBC series "Poldark",
Inspired by the novels of Winston Graham

In college and high school I sewed a goodly number of frocks along the lines of Demelza's in the BBC television series Poldark. The high waistlines of Empire dresses spoke not only to the style of the English Regency era, they were how we imagined we would live our lives. Did you live your life as though you were part of some kind of drama when you were that age too?

Nowadays I look to Demelza's dresses more for sewing inspiration as to color, pattern and  details then as clothing I might wear for a walk in the park. As I mentioned in the Enchanted By Sewing December podcast (Ench-004: Good Night My Someone), this kind of gown still inspires my nightgown sewing. I've been mulling over creating a romantically styled spring/summer nightgown inspired by this sort of dress and the Folkwear "Beautiful Dreamer" nightgown pattern I've got tucked away.

It's the men's clothing from that era that inspire my daytime, for-public-view garment sewing. I love the buttons, lapels and fabrics of men's vests and they way they combined with what we might now call a poet shirt.

Imagine what a Buck like Demelza's husband Ross Poldark would have said if he had met a time traveller from today and learned that one day, women would wear trousers as tight as his own!