https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1 Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Wed, 10 Jun 2026 06:52:31 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1165204 Thu, 13 Feb 2014 01:53:19 +0000 Ting88 1165204@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Agree with suz. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164978 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 21:01:07 +0000 Caro in Oz 1164978@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yay for Mr Suz </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164970 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 20:51:42 +0000 Ornella 1164970@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ok (Mr) Suz, button UP it is then :-D</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164935 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:59:27 +0000 Helena 1164935@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>what Suz said! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164905 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 19:06:41 +0000 Gracie 1164905@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So many names!... here is a soft crepe button-front (that doesn't button all the way up to the collar), called the Portofino Shirt by Express. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164762 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:15:38 +0000 Anonymous 1164762@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I call them button FRONT blouses, because like others, a "button down" will forever and always mean an oxford-cloth button down collar to me. In fact, when fabbers first started wearing "oxfords" I kept thinking they were talking about the shirts not the shoes,&nbsp;lol! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164747 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:00:52 +0000 Mo 1164747@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I say button front. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164746 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 16:00:44 +0000 Kristin L 1164746@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Suz, are all blouses shirts, but not all shirts are blouses? :P</p> <p>I think Suz has the best explanation on the difference between all of them. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164740 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:49:57 +0000 Elizabeth P 1164740@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL... no wonder I was wondering!<br />Suz, my terminology is much like yours wrt shirts vs blouses.&nbsp; I do get that one :).&nbsp; I also think of shirts as more casual.</p> <p>I'd call any blousy more feminine top a blouse, regardless of if it had buttons.&nbsp; I notice here people are doing their clothing lists and saying "13 button downs" and I'm thinking "whoa, I never realized they were so "preppy"!".&nbsp; Until I had this lightbulb. </p> <p>I like the distinction of button down (collar) vs button up (your top).</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164731 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:38:01 +0000 Suz 1164731@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Here's my understanding.&nbsp;</p> <p>Technically, a "button down" shirt (in men's clothing) is exactly what you describe -- a shirt whose collar can be buttoned down.&nbsp;</p> <p>But on YLF people seem to call all shirts with buttons "button downs."&nbsp;</p> <p>I call them "button up" or button front shirts because Mr. Suz&nbsp;(who hails from New England) would get very fussed about my terminology if I called them (in his view, inaccurately) "button downs."&nbsp;</p> <p>An additional wrinkle: A shirt is not the same as a blouse.&nbsp;</p> <p>A shirt is (like) what men wear. Straighter lines. Definitely buttons up the front. Fabrication can vary but is usually crisp. May be tailored or loose, may have different collar styles.&nbsp;</p> <p>A <b>blouse,</b> on the other hand, is softer, more fluid, often a softer fabrication like silk,&nbsp;may not have buttons or may button in the back. It....blouses! &nbsp; </p> <p>Men haven't really worn blouse type tops for a long time, although maybe some wore them in the 60s, and before that in the Romantic era. In the contemporary world it's more a women's thing.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164730 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:32:42 +0000 abc 1164730@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Haha, funny question but so relevant. &nbsp;For me, a button down is a woven cloth shirt with buttons down the front and a collar. &nbsp;Makes you think about broader definitions with words like shirt, top, blouse, etc (as others have already mentioned) since apparently definitions vary from person to person. &nbsp;I wonder if it is a regional thing? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164728 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:30:02 +0000 Liz 1164728@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think that unless people are being particular or have thought about it, they tend&nbsp;to use button-down and button-front interchangeably.&nbsp;To me, "blouse" and "shirt" are two different kinds of garments. In my mind, a&nbsp;shirt is a tailored garment that buttons down the front.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164727 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:28:27 +0000 carter 1164727@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think Suz calls them "button UP shirts", which is probably more accurate for women's clothing. For men, a button down does have collars that button. I use the term, probably incorrectly, for my woven cotton shirts that button. Other fabrications I call blouses. No idea why, that's just how I think of them. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164726 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:27:15 +0000 JAileen 1164726@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree with you. But in context, YLFabbers call shirts that button up the front, a button down. I would have said an OCBD, or oxford cloth button down, is a shirt the buttons up the front and has a button down collar. I notice I'm also confusing the direction! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/button-down-blouses-1#post-1164723 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:23:45 +0000 Elizabeth P 1164723@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>OK, stupid quesiton here, but what is a button down blouse?&nbsp; I always thought of, and referred to, "button downs" as ones with buttons on the collar.&nbsp; But it seems that people here refer to button downs as blouses, with buttons.&nbsp; Which I'd just call a blouse.&nbsp; </p> <p>But yes, not all blouses have buttons.</p> <p>Help me on my definitions!! </p>