Boho Chic Part II

As promised, here's our second installment of the 'Bohemian' post, with some great boho blouses and tops perfect for the summer...

1970s brown embroidered top

'Made in Hungary', hand-embroidered black & white top

Early black & white gingham shirt with lace trim

1970s white embroidered top

The word 'Bohemien' dates back to early 19th Century France when artists and creators (who arrived via Bohemia) began to concentrate in lower rent, lower class Gypsy neighborhoods. Popularized and adapted to 'Bohemian' in the English language by the mid 19th Century, as defined in the Westminster Review, 1865;

'A 'Bohemian' is simply an artist or litterateur who consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and art'

Bohemianism spread across Europe and to America, and has drifted in and out of style through various movements and countercultures over the past 150 years, notably the 'Beats', and the 'Hippies', a movement informed by the Beat generation via writers such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs. It was popular throughout this time period to wear vintage gypsy style blouses & skirts from Eastern Europe along with lacey embroidered Victorian blouses & dresses, vintage clothing and bohemian lifestyles have been closely liked ever since.

1970s Victorian style lace blouse

1970s Victorian style ruffled lace blouse

1970s 'Gunne Sax' Victorian style ruffled blouse

Victorian white cotton blouse with pin-tucking

Victorian embroidered lace cotton blouse