Butterick 7589

This pattern looks fifties to me! Early 50s, I'm thinking. The "loose-fitting overblouse has convertible collar, button-front, close-fitting band that circles the hips." It can be made sleeveless or below the elbow with cuffed sleeves. The pattern envelope reminds us that "blouse can be tucked in."

I wasn't sure why Butterick added that last comment until I looked up the exact definition of an overblouse--because I wasn't sure what it was. Turns out an overblouse is meant to be worn on the outside of trousers or a skirt, and is designed to be worn over the waist and hips. I just love this particularity.

The lady in View A has a turned-up collar! So that's not a trend that was just born with the fraternity boys just after the turn of the century! I love the lady in View A. I love how her gloves are off and she's wearing bangles. Bangles are the best, whether they're worn in the 50s, 80s or the new millennium.

The pattern is a size 16 (B 34). My grandmother must have made this for herself when she was a very young mother. In the early 50s she had a slightly-older son, and then my dad born in 1949 and my aunt born in 1950. An overblouse seems quite practical--tuck it in when you've got the time to be polished, but otherwise just toss it on and go. This also suits my grandmother's personality--she was sentimental, but also quite practical. She appreciated pragmatism and did not particularly like things that didn't make a lot of sense, from the design standpoint (which is why she always put pockets in my clothes, whether the pattern called for them or not--because a child needs pockets!).

She was also practical in her tastes. Once she had a painter come in to paint a few rooms in her house. She told me that he was listening to country music, and it was pretty loud. She had nothing against country music, but it wasn't really her thing. (Her thing was more Mack the Knife, a song I knew she loved.) Anyhow, the fellow was listening to one song that apparently had one lyric that repeated over and over and over again--something about how the singer wanted to go back to Tennessee. After the song was over, my grandmother walked into the room where the painter was standing on a ladder.

"Excuse me," she said, with her wry, I'm-joking-with-you-smile. "I have a question."

"Yes?" he asked.

"Where, exactly, did that man say he wanted to go?"

They both laughed, and the painter turned his music down a bit.

From the practical point of view, she just didn't care for a song that went nowhere. I can understand!

So I can see her loving a shirt like this. Quick to put on and take off (only about six buttons, it seems). Simple to wear in summer or winter. And it has plenty of ease.