Blouse
Encyclopedia
Shirt
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers...
but can also refer to a man's shirt if it is a loose-fitting style (e.g. poet shirt
Poet shirt
A poet shirt is a type of shirt made as a loose-fitting blouse with full bishop sleeves, usually decorated with large frills on the front and on the cuffs. Typically, it has a laced-up V-neck opening, designed to pull over the head, but can have a full-length opening fastened by buttons...
s and Cossack shirts). Traditionally, the term has been used to refer to a shirt which blouses out or has an unmistakably feminine appearance.
The term is also used for some men's military uniform jackets.
Word meaning
Blouse is a Loanword to EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
from French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: blouse means "Hydraulically carrier coat". It should be a small present French Crusaders . They moved on their armor a so-called "p(e)lusisches style", a blue-colored gowns to the dust, which had its name from the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian town of Pelusium . The derivation may also be from "wool", blouso "short wool" and blos, blouse "deprived, naked" taken off. It's first officially noted in 1828, from French blouse ("a workman's or peasant's smock"), of obscure Occitan route.
Description and History
Blouses (Pronounced Blause or blooze) are historically a cask style, mostly mail-like garment, that were rarely part of the fashionable woman's wardrobe until the 1890s1890s in fashion
Fashion in the 1890s in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by long elegant lines, tall collars, and the rise of sportswear.-Women's fashions:...
. Before that time, they were occasionally popular for informal wear in styles that echoed peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
or tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
al clothing, such as the Garibaldi shirt
Garibaldi shirt
A Garibaldi shirt was a woman's fashion, a red wool shirt named after the Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi first popularized in 1860. It was the direct ancestor of the modern women's blouse.-Garibaldi's Redshirts:...
of the 1860s.
During the later Victorian period, blouses became common for informal, practical wear. A simple blouse with a plain skirt was the standard dress for the newly expanded female (non-domestic
Domestic worker
A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...
) workforce of the 1890s, especially for those employed in office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
work. In the 1900s
1900s in fashion
Fashion in the period 1900–1910 in European and European-influenced countries continued the long elegant lines of the 1890s. Tall, stiff collars characterize the period, as do women's broad hats and full "Gibson Girl" hairstyles...
and 1910s
1910s in fashion
Fashion in the years 1910–1919 is characterized by a rich and exotic opulence in the first half of the decade in contrast with the somber practicality of garments worn during the Great War. Men's trousers were worn cuffed to ankle-length and creased...
, elaborate blouses, such as the "lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
blouse" (so-called because they were heavily decorated with lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
and embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
in a style formerly restricted to underwear) and the "Gibson Girl
Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girl was the personification of a feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen-and-ink-illustrated stories created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States.Some people argue that the...
blouse" with tucks and pleat
Pleat
A pleat is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference....
ing, became immensely popular for daywear and even some informal evening wear. Since then, blouses have remained a wardrobe staple and since then, so by now blouses have not ceased to be fixed in the 'poular cloakroom' style.
Blouses are often made of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
or silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
cloth and may or may not include a collar
Collar (clothing)
In clothing, a collar is the part of a shirt, dress, coat or blouse that fastens around or frames the neck. Among clothing construction professionals, a collar is differentiated from other necklines such as revers and lapels, by being made from a separate piece of fabric, rather than a folded or...
and sleeve
Sleeve
Sleeve is that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period...
s. They are generally more tailored than simple knit tops, and may contain feminine
Feminine
Feminine, or femininity, normally refers to qualities positively associated with women.Feminine may also refer to:*Feminine , a grammatical gender*Feminine cadence, a final chord falling in a metrically weak position...
details such as ruffle
Ruffle
In sewing and dressmaking, a ruffle, frill, or furbelow is a strip of fabric, lace or ribbon tightly gathered or pleated on one edge and applied to a garment, bedding, or other textile as a form of trimming...
s, a tie
Tie
Tie may refer to:* Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders* Tie , a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports...
or a soft bow at the neck
Neck
The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
, or embroidered decorations
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
.
Tailoring provides a closer fit to the wearer's shape. This is achieved with sewing of features such as princess seams
Princess seams
Princess seams are long rounded seams sewn into women's blouses or shirts to add shaping or a tailored fit to closely follow a woman's shape. They are sewn into the front and/or back of a shirt, and extend from the waist up to the arms....
or darting
Dart (sewing)
Darts are folds sewn into fabric to help provide a three-dimensional shape to a garment. They are frequently used in women's clothing to provide a fit that closely follows the shape of the wearer.Two kinds of darts are common in blouses for women:...
in the waist and/or bust.
Button
In modern clothing and fashion design, a button is a small fastener, most commonly made of plastic, but also frequently of seashell, which secures two pieces of fabric together. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact. In the applied arts and in craft, a button can be an example of...
s reversed from that of men's shirts (except in the case of male military fatigues
Battledress
Battledress, or fatigues in the general sense, is the type of uniform used as combat uniforms, as opposed to 'display' dress or formal uniform worn at parades and functions. It may be either monochrome or in a camouflage pattern...
). That is, the buttons are normally on the wearer's left-hand and the buttonholes are on the right. The reasons for this are unclear, and while several theories exist none have conclusive evidence. Some suggest this custom was introduced by launderers so they could distinguish between women's and men's shirts. One theory purports that the tradition arose in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
when one manner of manifesting wealth was by the number of buttons one wore. Another that the original design was based on armour which was designed so that a right-handed opponent would not catch their weapon in the seam and tear through, and also that a person could draw a weapon with their right-hand without catching it in a loose seam of their own clothes. Female servants were in charge of buttoning their mistress's gowns (since the buttons were usually in the back). They tired of attempting to deal with buttons that were, from their point of view, backwards and as such they started reversing the placement when making or repairing them. Another possible reason is so men can easily undo blouses as, from the front, buttons are on the same side as a man's shirt. One other theory is that women were normally dressed by their maids, while men dressed themselves. As such, women's blouses were designed so it could be easily buttoned by the maid but that of men were designed so it could be easily buttoned by the person wearing it.
Although in all the cases proposed the reasons for the distinction no longer exist, it continues out of custom
Convention (norm)
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....
or tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
.
While most women prefer to have the top button open for better comfort, some blouses made for women have looser necklines so the top button can be fastened without compromising comfort, but giving the same stylish appearance.
Some women attach various pins and ornaments to their blouses over a fastened top button for style. Some of these attach directly to the button itself, others to the collars.
Some blouses do not have a top button at all, and collars are styled to be open. They also form part of some nations' traditional folk costume.
The "good blouse" concept is part of the nightlife
Nightlife
Nightlife is the collective term for any entertainment that is available and more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning...
's clothes and a status symbol of the so-called "elegant woman" who was wearing it at least on Sundays in the Church formerly. Today is the blouse, important other than its use as a formal office wardrobe, and is often used as a colorful garment among many that also is likely to put openly is worn over a T-Shirt or a knitted top.
Post WW2 styles
Various new and different forms of collar emerged in the 1920s. They diminished in sizes by the 1950s, but were huge in the 1930s. At the beginning of the 1970s was the rounded collar, sausage dog collar, then extra wide collar and double cuffs from shirts, that fell on them often from fashions relating to synthetic fabrics like usually polyester. The fashion of standing and federal collar, loops, rounded collars, haemoglobin collars and the smallest collar, sometimes with concealed button fly on a "smoking blouse", attached folds and stressed set-in-followed in the 1980s. Again, thin and often shining synthetic fibres were very popular. Towards the end of the 20th Century they were of an extra-long blouses of pants style and worn over trousers or skirt worn, optionally combined with a rather wide belt around the waist in the GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, the UK, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the USA.
The sleeves had been shortened during the early 1950s to the ½ and ¼ length in Europe. They were reduced again in the mid 1990s and are now regularly at the ⅞, ½, ⅓ and ¼ length around the world. Sleeveless tops were fashionable and a topical item in Western Europe and America during the mid-2000s.
Many fashionable styles of both the 1970s and 1980s were on the go again after the Millennium in the blouse fashion: double cuffs, extra wide pointed collar, belt around the waist, synthetic fibre and the like. Often the blouses also embroidery or 'crystal stocking', have especially on collar and string. The blouses with the so-called three-quarter arm were a striking phenomenon of the 1990s. Blouses can be combined well and easily with a blazer
Blazer
A blazer is a type of jacket. The term blazer occasionally is synonymous with boating jacket and sports jacket, two different garments. A blazer resembles a suit coat cut more casually — sometimes with flap-less patch pockets and metal buttons. A blazer's cloth is usually durable , because it is an...
, tank top
Tank top
Tank top may refer to:* a type of sleeveless shirt worn by men and women * a sleeveless sweater, also known as a sweater vest * the plating forming the inner bottom of a ship hull...
, bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
or sweater
Sweater
A sweater, jumper, pullover, sweatshirt, jersey or guernsey is a garment intended to cover the torso and arms. It is often worn over a shirt, blouse, T-shirt, or other top, but may also be worn alone as a top...
, with or without some colourful silks or bead chain necklaces.
Eco movement
There was also the women who felt the then growing Eco movement's part, far cut 'also folk blouses' from rough and natural materials such as flax, linen and cotton men also use these 'Frisian blouses' on occasion.The Fishing blouse (clothing) is today the term "(purse) blouse" is still in the area of military clothing is worn for a part of the uniform with epaulets - of the trousers, also for working clothes (milker’s blouse, Mariniere, Frisian blouse). It is known but the term in the above classical clothing.
A body blouse (or blouse body) is a blouse, which, as a body, the front step range through associated with the back piece. So, can slip the blouse from the skirt or pants cut figure and is always perfect.
The blouse jacket or blouson
The blouse jacket or blousonBlouson
A blouson or blouse jacket is a coat that is drawn tight at the waist, causing it to blouse out and hang over the waistband. Some of them have a hood. It takes most of its modern traits from the American flight jacket and police blouson. It is related to the Eisenhower jacket...
is garment drawn tight at the waist with blousing hanging over the waist band. The new style of man's chetten lose blouse coat is made of stronger material or with inner lining, which can be worn alone or as a jacket or over a separate top is related to. It is related to the Eisenhower jacket
Eisenhower jacket
The Eisenhower jacket, or "Ike" jacket, is a type of military uniform blouson, or shortened coat, terminating in a waistband.-Overview:...
.
Use in Aboyne dress
In one version, a tartan pattern skirt is worn with an over-the-shoulder plaid, a white blouse and petticoat, and a velvet bodice. The alternative is a white dress over a petticoat, together with a tartan pattern sash. A typical Aboyne dress consists of a dark bodiceBodice
A bodice, historically, is an article of clothing for women, covering the body from the neck to the waist. In modern usage it typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern dress to distinguish it from...
or elaborate waistcoat
Waistcoat
A waistcoat or vest is a sleeveless upper-body garment worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear, and as the third piece of the three-piece male business suit.-Characteristics and use:...
, decorative blouse, full tartan skirt
Skirt
A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs.In the western world, skirts are usually considered women's clothing. However, there are exceptions...
and some times a petticoat
Petticoat
A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing for women; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress. The petticoat is a separate garment hanging from the waist ....
and apron
Apron
An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...
. Some have a tartan
Tartan
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...
sash (usually draped over the shoulder and coming down towards the hem of the skirt in the back) rather than an apron.
Use with a Dirndl
A woman wearing a Dirndl with white blouse is usual in Bracaria in BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and rural Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. They are usually made of light fabric (textile), such as silk or cotton thin, until the early 1990s still often from soft covered by art faserstoffen (such as polyester and satin). They often have fanciful decorations (such as frills, embroidery, or grinding) and are a classic among the women's blouses - here the fashionable combination possibilities are especially varied. The open Spaten-or lapel collar is another common type of a classic ladies blouse.
The Choli
A choli (HindiHindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
: चोली), (ravike in South India Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
: రవికె, Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
: ರವಿಕೆ) is a midriff-baring blouse shell garment in the Indian sari costume worn in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, and other countries where the sari
Sari
A sari or sareeThe name of the garment in various regional languages include: , , , , , , , , , , , , , is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal,...
is worn. The choli is cut to fit tightly to the body and has short sleeves and a low neck. The choli is usually cropped, allowing exposure of the navel
Navel
The navel is a scar on the abdomen caused when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby...
; the cropped design is particularly well-suited for wear in the hot South Asian summers. Cut-out backs and front-opening buttons are some of the features of contemporary designs.
Saris are often woven with an extra length of material meant to be cut off and fashioned into a matching choli. The choli may be sewn so that the elaborately woven borders of the sari material form the bottom edges of the choli sleeves. However, cholis need not match the sari. There is a growing trend towards stretchy, comfortable cholis made from knit materials.
Expensive designer cholis are sewn with padding and reinforcements so that a bra is not needed and backless or off-the-shoulder cholis can be worn with ease.
Women of the Gujarat, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
& Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
countryside may also wear the choli with a skirt, or lehnga. Their cholis are often loosely fitted and heavily ornamented with embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
and mirror work, or shisha
Shisha (embroidery)
Shisheh embroidery, or mirror-work, is a type of embroidery which attaches small pieces of mirrors reflective metal to fabric. The term "shisheh" means glass in Persian, from where the word transferred to Urdu/Hindi and other related languages...
embroidery.
When wearing a semi-transparent kameez, women usually wear a sleeveless choli as an undergarment similar to a camisole
Camisole
A camisole is a sleeveless undergarment for women, normally extending to the waist. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, or cotton.- Historical definition :...
or a bustier
Bustier
A bustier is a form-fitting garment for women, which is traditionally worn as lingerie. Its primary purpose is to push up the bust by tightening against the upper midriff and forcing the breasts up, while gently shaping the waist. Nowadays, it might also be worn as a push-up bra under a low-backed...
.
Office dress codes usually prohibit cropped, sleeveless cholis; similarly, women in the armed forces, when wearing a sari uniform, don a half-sleeve shirt tucked in at the waist.
Some Western women have started wearing the choli as part of their belly dance
Belly dance
Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...
costume. They typically wear backless cholis (held together with strings) so that the audience can see a dancer's bare back as she sways.
Backless cholis have become a fashion in India after the movie Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!, in which Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit
Madhuri Dixit is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Hindi films. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses and most accomplished dancers. She appeared in numerous commercially successful films and was recognised for several of...
wears one.