top talk: decoding terminology

Michelle

After acquiring the Graziano turquoise bead necklace with help from Marianna, I dashed to the YLF store to refresh my memory on what Angie had said about it. A sentence in her description revived a few questions I've been wanting to sort out about tops. Here was the sentence:

Wear this over a white knitted top, shirt or blouse
with jeans and a pair of dressy flats and you’re in business.

Could someone please explain to me the difference between a top, a shirt and a blouse? I've always been mystified at the differentiation between buttondowns and blouses, too, since the words were interchangeable in my home growing up.

Another terminology question, while I'm at it. Could someone kindly describe the silhouette of a sheath dress? I'm unable to picture this item when it's referenced. Is it a cut or style that someone of my shape could wear?

Thanks, ladies, and pardon my ignorance!

16 years ago

General

9 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Let's see if I can help....
a sheath dress is generally a sleeveless, fairly close fitting dress, usually hitting somewhere around knee length. These are great for curvy girls, so give one a try.
Here's how I think of the others-
top- any garment worn on the top half of your body with some sort of pants/skirt
shirt- men's style usually button down, usually collared
blouse- a dressier top

16 years ago

Dashrashi

Veteran

I think of a top as a knit in a shape other than basic t-shirt, a shirt as a classic oxford shirt or not far removed from that, and a blouse as a woven that doesn't have the classic oxford style (e.g. no button placket, no shirt collar, etc.). I read blouse to mean more feminine styling and a shirt to be more androgynous/classic. I use button-down interchangeably with shirt as defined above (although to be fair, I often say "shirt" for the entire top-half-covering category).

I would describe a sheath dress as being a pencil skirt for your whole body. It's a straightish cut that follows the contours of your curves. Like a pencil skirt, it can be more straight or more body-conscious (tapered).

16 years ago

bella

(website)

Veteran

I like analogies,so here is one: In order to visualize a sheath dress, think of the sheath of a blade or a knife. The sheath of a blade conforms to the form of the blade, fits tightly around it (so it doesn't fall off), yet leaving enough room for the blade to slide in and out without much difficulty. A sheath dress does the same for your body. In addition, it is knee-length, the sleeves might come in different shapes (sleeveless, spaghetti straps, elbow length, etc).

16 years ago

Ele

(website)

Active Member

Khris described it really well.

A top is anything worn on the top half of your body, though these days it's more usually applied to more casual garments, tees and the like. A shirt would have fairly traditional styling, with buttons and a collar and in a woven fabric (usually). Blouse is a funny term- and sounds very "mum-like" to me, haha. (My Mum definitely called her shirts blouses back in the day!) It's generally any top that is dressier in style, and I usually consider blouses to be more feminine than shirts, often in softer fabrics or knits.

Agree with everyone on sheath- close-fitting, usually sleeveless, with a straight-ish skirt similar to a pencil skirt. People also use the word sheath when they mean something with very simple styling. As in, a dress with that silhouette but covered in applique or frills or something wouldn't likely be referred to as a sheath, even if the basic shape was one.

16 years ago