Ties, Scarves and Bow Blouses: A Shared History

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When I saw Melania Trump’s outfit for a White House state dinner, the oversized white bow at her neck immediately caught my eye. 🤩

The rest of the outfit made me look even closer.

A white blouse, tailored black brocade trousers, a black silk cummerbund and black heels.

There was no traditional evening gown, yet the outfit felt thoroughly formal: beautiful, assured and elegant.

Looking into the details made it even more interesting. According to information released by the First Lady’s office, the white blouse was by Saint Laurent, while the black silk cummerbund and trousers were by Dolce & Gabbana. The trousers were not plain black fabric, either: they were brocade with a peony pattern.

As people who work with brocade, we could hardly resist another look. The official description called the overall look tuxedo-style outfit . But what held my attention most was the neckline.

What do you call that oversized bow?

This type of neckline is often called a bow blouse or pussy-bow blouse。

The bow is not simply a finished ornament sewn onto the blouse. Look closely and you can see two long strips extending from the neckline, tied by the wearer like a scarf. Undo the bow and you are left with two long strips of fabric—which helps explain why it is more closely related to ties and scarves than we might first think.

Its place in dress history also brings to mind the earlier lavallière : a wide, long neck scarf tied around the neck, with its ends falling over the chest.

The same scarf can hang loose, form a relaxed knot or be tied in a bow, creating different effects at the neck.Often, it is not the fabric that changes, but the way it is tied.That is one reason I find neckties so interesting.

The bow and the suit in women’s dress

In the second half of the twentieth century, especially as more women entered professional workplaces in the 1970s and 1980s, power dressing became a distinctive way of dressing.

Women increasingly wore elements associated with men’s business clothes:

suits, broad shoulders, trousers, shirts…

But they did not necessarily pair them with a conventional men’s tie.

A soft blouse with a generous bow became one characteristic alternative.

The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York holds a women’s tuxedo by Yves Saint Laurent from around 1982: a black suit with an ivory silk blouse, finished with a soft bow at the neck.

So the combination of a woman’s suit and a large bow is no sudden invention. It has several decades of dress history behind it.

That makes this outfit even more interesting

The tuxedo traditionally belongs to formal evening dress.

One easily overlooked detail is the cummerbund.

In traditional men’s black-tie dress, it wraps around the waist between the shirt and trousers.

Rather than wear a complete conventional tuxedo, Melania brought its elements together in a different way:

a formal white blouse,
a black silk cummerbund,
black brocade trousers,
black heels,
and, finally, a large, soft white bow.

That combination gives the outfit the clean lines of men’s evening dress while retaining a distinctly feminine silhouette.

For me, that is its most appealing detail.

⸻

We tried a little experiment in the photographs here, too.

Using one of MOONSART’s own brocade ties, we paid tribute to this way of shaping the neckline.

A regular necktie does not always have to hang straight down the centre of a shirt.

After all, a tie is a long piece of fabric.

Change where you wrap it, the direction of the knot, and how much of the wide and narrow ends you leave showing, and a “tie” can become quite a different neck accessory.

If you have a tie at home, take it out and try a few ideas. ✨