Ruffle Blouses UK | Ruffle Shirts By Paul Brown

There is nothing more feminine and beautiful than a frill and ruffle blouse. I designed and launched my first ruffle blouse in 2017 when I had my boutique store in Bury St Edmunds, UK. The design was simple and yet proved popular from the outset. What would be defined as a front ruffle, the frill or ruffles are confined to the front of the shirt which is finished with a traditional soft collar and single button cuff.

The original frill shirt was made from a 100% Egyptian white cotton poplin fabric using the same tried and tested block that every ladies shirt and blouse continues to be produced from. The design is clean and simple with two darts in the back for shape and a split yoke cut close to the bias for comfort and manoeuvrability around the shoulders.

While the principal design and block have remained the same we have updated the fabric and today use a white Oxford cotton with 3% elastane which makes the shirt extra comfortable to wear throughout the day and has a touch and finish that is second to none. In addition to white, we also offer our front ruffle blouses in black and navy along with a 100% cotton burgundy shirt.

Brief history of the ruffle blouse

Ruffle tops started in 16th century Spain, when soldiers often slashed off the sleeves of the top layer of clothes, to reveal the garment underneath. Garment makers started to incorporate this into their clothing and added a flexible string to make the fabric wrinkle and give a stronger ruffle.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I those of high standing and royal blood, both male and female, wore ruffled clothing with sometimes as much as an internal wire to keep everything in place.

Move forward to more recent times and ruffle tops became a disco favourite and prevalent in the new romantic movement. Ruffle blouses are still a key wardrobe top for many women and are often worn as part of a country and equine outfit.

Traditionally worn with wide leg trousers, ruffled blouses now often find themselves companion to slim leg jeans in various colours as well as with a skirt in the office.

Our Ruffle Shirts are hand cut and made in England

Like all our clothing, our ladies blouses and shirts are all hand cut and made at our Suffolk factory in England. Using traditional British tailoring techniques throughout, each shirt is cut with scissors and completely sewn together using only single needle stitching to ensure a first class finish.

We source our shirting fabrics from coveted mill Soktas and the collections are a combination of 100% cotton or 97% cotton with 3% elastane. We do not use polyester fabrics.

Further we are conscious of the environment and many of our blouses now use sustainably sourced corozo buttons from British button maker Courtney and Co.

Our ladies blouses are available in a wide selection of sizes from a 6 up to a 20.